Tuesday, June 3

"Sufi Day" was today. Not sure if the prof planned it this way, but this morning we traveled to go see a Sufi mystic who had started an NGO and then made it to an actual Sufi dhikr.

Sufism is the most mystical branch of Islam, and is based on the "inner-meaning" of the Qu'ran. It is what some may consider the "hippie" branch,foucsing on the philosophical nature of love in the Qu'ran and the individual "spark" of every person. I think it is a very beautiful religion, especially after speaking with the Sufi woman today. She said "Masala" about every other word, which means something along the lines of "Thank God!" and also has a connotation to mean kind of like "Thank God you have that - I'm not jealous!" We asked her several questions about Islam and other issues in Turkey, and all her answers were very philosophical, poetic responses. Although sometimes I think we were hoping for more concrete answers, it was very cool to speak with an actual Sufi mystic, and especially one who has started her own NGO.

After that, we headed to Sirekeci Station for Emily's and my presentation. After giving the history of the building and poking around the museum, we treated our classmates and professors to tea and chatted about the Orient Express.

Then it was time to go to our ultra-secret Sufi dhikr. Prof. Shields and William had happened upon this religious ceremony performed by Sufis under the pretense that it would just be a "jam session" for these musicians. For Sufis, the dhikr consists of singing, instrumental music, and recitation of God's name. Since the secularization of Turkey by Ataturk, the Mevlevi Sufis (the whirling dervish sect of Sufism) was outlawed. Now the sema, or the Mevlevi dhikr which includes the whirling dervidsh dance, can only be performed as a folkloric event, e.g., you have to buy tickets to see a show. Prof. Shields told us that she thought this was almost derogatory to the religion, to make a very sacred religious ritual into just a show for tourists to watch. I completely agree with her, especially after observing the dhikr.

So we made it to the address on the business card that the prof. had given us, and to our surprise, we found William, who then, in his usual way, led us to Prof. Shields and the Sufi dhikr. Like I said, they hold their dhikr under the pretenses of it being just a musical session, which is easy for them to do because they hold it in a music store that restores and makes traditional Turkish instruments. They played many songs, distributing the words and music to everyone so we could follow along. I even got to beat on a tambourine-like thing! After a while, the dervish came out in his traditional garb and began to whirl. I was sitting on the floor, and I was so close to him that his skirt kept hitting my legs. He was amazing - I have no idea how he was able to turn for so long staying in one spot. Clearly, everyone there was moved by this dervish and I could tell that the Sufis were really able to complete their devotional practice through him. After that was over, it was one of the musician's birthday, so we stayed for dinner, dessert, and dancing. Once, again, we were overwhelmed by Turkish hospitality.