Sema…A Mystical Journey

Abdullah AbbasiNida Noor

Rabab RizviSaroosh

Zahid

Members:

The Journey Begins….

History• Sema, the whirling dervish dance, originated in

Konya, Turkey• Inspired by the songs and teachings of the Sufi

poet Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi.• There, however, are several narrative of how

Mevlana Rumi came across Sema

• One of the most popular myth states:

• Rumi was inspired by holy man known as Shems of Tabriz

• Shems spun incessantly and he repeated the name of god – la illa-ha illa' llah – until he fell into a trance state of deep worship.

• On the other hand, a second one implies:

“Rumi heard the ‘Dhikr’ "la ilaha ilallah" in the hammering of goldbeaters.”

• He was so entranced in happiness he stretched out both of his arms and started spinning in a circle.

• With that the practice of Sema and the dervishes of the Mevlevi order were born.

• Has roots in Persian and Turkish culture, and is associated with oriental traditions.

• Abu Sa`id, (357 A.H.) (967 C.E.) is noted for establishing a rule for conduct in the khanaqah.

• Introduced music, poetry and dance, as part of the Sufi collective devotional ritual of Dhikr.

SEMA AND SUFISM

• Sufi masters Hujwiri and Al Ghazali classified people influenced by Music

• Music, Song, movement are essential for Sufis as religious aids

• Sufis stress on the importance of “Dhikr”.

• The Sema dances includes Dhikr in various forms.

• Dhu’l-en Nun Misri spoke about the Power of Listening.

PURPOSE

• “The thought of the unseen world and his dependence upon it”

• To connect to the Islamic principle of Tawhid 

• To bring in evidence the three essential principles of Islam: Tawhid, resurrection and Prophet hood

• Ignite a trance like state striving for a "glimpse of the unseen world" not dissimilar from the Afterlife

• To bring out a person’s love for God

• Gaining spiritual knowledge through Wajd

• To erase doubt and open a gateway of communication between a person and God

• To purify the Soul• To expose what’s in

the heart

Symbolism

• Sema uses several materials and dance movements that hold different meanings

• The dress they wear is very special as it the components symbolize concepts behind Sema

• The each of the movements that semazen make has a meaning attached

Sikke

Tennure

Elifinemed

Destegül

MEANING BEHIND DANCE STEPS

Part 1: Testifying to God's unity:

Part 2: Drums; God order to the Creation

Part 3: Ney; The Divine Breath

Part 4: Greeting

Part 5: The Whirling

Part 5: Salutes

Part 6: Reading of Quran

Part 7: Prayer

AND THE JOURNEY CONTINUES…