dervish
Sign in to savethumb|200px|right|Dervish with a lion and a tiger, Mughal painting, thumb|200px|right|Ottoman Turks|Ottoman Dervish portrayed by [[Amedeo Preziosi, , Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României]]
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A dervish is a member of a Muslim religious order who practices spiritual disciplines, often including asceticism and mystical devotion, as depicted in historical Mughal and Ottoman artistic traditions. These figures held cultural and religious significance in Islamic societies, as evidenced by their portrayal in period paintings and artworks.
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Article
11 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Religious practice
- Whirling dervishes
- Orders
- In literature and art
- Views on Dervishes
- Gallery
- See also
- Books
- References
- Relevant literature
thumb|200px|right|Dervish with a lion and a tiger, Mughal painting, thumb|200px|right|Ottoman Turks|Ottoman Dervish portrayed by [[Amedeo Preziosi, , Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României]]
A dervish, darvesh, or darwīsh (from ) is a Muslim who seeks salvation through ascetic practices and meditations. It can refer to an individual or to a member of a Sufi order (tariqah). Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reach God. This is usually done by performing a lifestyle which decreases bodily function to a minimum in order to attain what would be called "esoteric knowledge" in Western terminology. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. Their most popular practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi.