The whirling dervishes performing a form of meditation, turning in circles, practiced by the Mevlevi order.
Sufism is the mystical part of Islam that seeks to achieve the perfection of worship for Allah, with Muhammad being the spiritual guide of Sufism. Sufi orders follow one of the four schools of Sunni Islam, while some branche later converted to Shia Islam and ceased to be Sufi, such as Ismailis.
History[]
Sufism was formed as the mystical part of the religion of Islam, and it followed the teachings of Muhammad, their spiritual leader and prophet. While not a distinct branch of Islam such as Sunni or Shia, it was a major part of the ways that Muslims worshipped, and it sought to repair the heart and achieve the perfection of worshiping towards Allah. The Sufi orders were followers of one of the four schools of Sunnism, and Sufi missionaries spread the religion through North Africa ahead of any Islamic army, and they had shrines as far as Mali in West Africa. Sufism had several ways to worship God, with the Mevlevi order of Rumi using turning in circles to achieve perfection of worship. Both a form of meditation and a way to worship God, twirling became the main practice of the "whirling dervishes", who mostly live in Turkey. Today, Sufism is practiced in many parts of the world, even by non-Muslims, in several distinct orders such as Naqshbandi, Mevlevi, and Bektashi.