Dervishes whirl back to BR

By RICHARD ALAN HANNON AND WILLIAM TAYLOR
Advocate staff photographer and Assistant People Editor
Published: Apr 21, 2007 - Page: 5E

As the son of a whirling dervish, Kamil Tekelioglu had opportunities to learn the ways of Jalal al-Din Rumi, the renowned Muslim mystic and poet.

However, an outsider Tekelioglu met at age 13 provided one of the most persuasive lessons.

Tekelioglu recalled how the young outsider, Joseph, after seeing the dervishes perform in Konya, Turkey, pleaded for the opportunity to become one of them.

Tekeliogluâ€^TMs father and the other dervishes agreed to teach Joseph, who pledged, “Iâ€^TMm ready for anything.”

Anything included converting to Islam, taking a new name and learning the Sema Ritual.

The dervishes teach that everything in the world revolves: the blood that circulates in a body, the stages of a life, the tiniest particles that make up atoms.

But whereas most revolutions are natural and unconscious, the dervishes spin intentionally to consciously participate in the revolution of other things.

Joseph, Tekelioglu said, did the impossible by learning the spinning ritual in just one month, instead of the usual three to nine.

“After that I go like, ‘Look at this man. Heâ€^TMs changing his religion for a dance, for a ceremony. How can this happen?â€^TM

“And I say, ‘Come on Father, I want to learn this,â€^TM” Tekelioglu recalled.

“This is how I became a whirling dervish.”

Tekelioglu, now 22, has been a whirling dervish for nine years and was with the group that performed Tuesday in Baton Rouge.

The appearance was sponsored, in part, by the Institute of Interfaith Dialog, a Muslim-formed organization devoted to promoting understanding through education and cultural exchanges.

Tekelioglu explained the spiritual journey of the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi.

The journey begins with the removal of black jackets, symbolizing the earth.

“What you do is you get away from earth and feelings,” he said. “You are just with your God. Every turn you say your godâ€^TMs name, Allah! Allah!”

And so they spin with right hands turned upward to receive gifts from God â€" gifts such as hope â€" and left hands turned down to give to the people.

“You take from God,” Tekelioglu said. “Give to people.”