The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (Turkish: Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; Persian: طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the "whirling dervishes" due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.

In 2008, UNESCO confirmed "The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony" as amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Approximately 750 years old, the Mevlevi Order is a living tradition based on the teachings of Rumi, also known as Mevlana, who is perhaps Turkey's most celebrated poet and in Iran, second only to Hafiz. He is also venerated as a divine mystic within Sufi Islam. Rumi's friend and spiritual mentor, Shams of Tabriz, is also revered within the order and within Sufism more widely.[4]

Rumi said, "As long as I have life, I am the slave of the Quran. I am dust at the door of Muhammad the Chosen", and the Mevlevi path is based firmly on Islamic principles. Kabir Helminski, a Mevlevi shaikh, writes 'It is a rigorous path of initiation and service continually adapting itself to changing circumstances and times.... Mevlevis have always been progressive and liberal in spirit while at the same time conserving the best of tradition.'

The Mevlevis insist that love is at the centre of Islam. Mevlevi shaikh Şefik Can writes, 'Rumi tells us to take the love of God to the forefront, to abstain from being attached to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it, to find the essence of the faith, and to raise our faith from the level of imitation to the level of realization.'

Origins of Sema
According to a popular story, Rumi was first inspired to whirl when he heard the hammering of the goldsmiths in Konya's bazaar, however, Mevlevi historian Abdülbâki Gölpınarlı believed that Rumi must have learnt whirling from Shams of Tabriz. Şefik Can claimed that whirling was practiced among Sufis at least as early as Abu Sa’id Abu’l-Khayr (d. 1049). Though they have cultivated it to the highest degree, Mevlevis are not the only Sufis who practice whirling, and Kabir Helminski suggests primordial origins: "The practice of whirling may have its origins in the timeless shadows of Central Asian spirituality where shamans used it to induce altered states of consciousness."

History
Early expansion
The order was established after Rumi's death in 1273 by his son Sultan Veled and Husameddin Chelebi (who inspired Rumi to write the Mathnavi).[4] Like his father, Sultan Veled is celebrated for his poetry. Lyrics he wrote are often sung during the sema ceremony itself,[12] and both he and Husameddin Chelebi are honoured within the order as accomplished Sufi mystics in their own right. It was they who had Rumi's mausoleum built in Konya, which to this day is a place of pilgrimage for many Muslims (and non-Muslims). A number of Rumi's successors, including both Sultan Veled and Husameddin Chelebi themselves, are also buried there. Their personal efforts to establish the order were continued by Sultan Veled's son Ulu Arif Chelebi.

During the Ottoman period, the Mevlevi order spread into the Balkans, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Palestine, especially in Jerusalem. The Bosnian writer Meša Selimović wrote the book The Dervish and Death about a Mevlevi dergah in Sarajevo. Eventually, there were as many as 114 Sufi lodges, the order becoming well established within the Ottoman Empire when Devlet Hatun, a descendant of Sultan Veled, married Bayezid I. Their son Mehmed I Çelebi became the next sultan, endowing the order, as did his successors, with many advantages. Many of the members of the order served in various official positions within the empire.

Though the Sufi lodges were forced to close down, Mevlevi practice continues within Turkey but in a more restricted and private mode. Sufism is still officially illegal in Turkey, and sema ceremonies are therefore officially presented as cultural events of historical interest rather than as worship. (Wikipedia)