Everyone is familiar with  the whirling  dervishes; more likely, everyone at sometime has seen a film  on Turkey and its  folklore, where it is  impossible to  ignore dance of  the dervishes, dressed in  long white robes and high felt headdresses, whirling  to  the monotonous rhythm of  a haunting music. Some know  that the dervishes are originally  mystics of  the Middle East, whose roots are to  be found in  Islamic culture in  a broad sense. But  very  few  know  the real philosophy of  the dervishes: the way  of the Sufi. Some think Sufism is an Islamic sect, which for them makes it  suspicious and frightening. Others think  it  is just  another Eastern religion, such as Zoroastrianism; Hinduism; or Yet, Sufism is  neither a sect nor  a religion. Sects are recognized by  two  main  characteristics, easy to  identify, which  should stir  suspicion: proselytism, that is,  a  constant search for  new  followers, and a tendency to  extort money from  followers.

These characteristics go  together: the more followers there are, the more money flows  into the funds and into  the pockets of  leaders or the so-called gurus. Sufism by  no means looks for  new followers, though postulants are very welcome. To  follow  the way  requires no  financial investment. These two  arguments should clear Sufism from  any doubt or  suspircion of  sectarianism. Could it  be a religion? A  religion is characterizedby  dogmas, a  set of  beliefs officially  established, to  which  the follower must adhere to be a member of  the “church” or community. Sufism preaches no particular dogma, except the great truths that are the basis of  all  religious beliefs: the belief in  the existence of  divinity,  of  an invisible world,  and of  the immortality of  the soul. Unlike  the mosque, the Sufi’s gathering is  open to  all  people; everybody  can go  in  the circle  of  a  Sufi  Master as an  observer without changing his religion. If  you are Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or even if  you  have no  religion, your  entrance to  a  Sufi  gathering is  not  refused. Sufi circles are not exclusivelv for Muslims.

Written by dr mostafa azmayesh.