Mevlevi

This is a photograph I took a few years ago of Hasan Dede and one of his dervishes at the Nurman Dede Tekke in the Uskudar section of Istanbul. That was a wonderful experience. That dergah is still very much a working dergah, versus the performances that these same dervishes do at the famous (and much easier to get to)Galata Mevlevihane. The semas are open to the public, and it does have a bit of an odd feel-- the tension between functioning dergah and tourist attraction is intense. Nevertheless, they do what they have to do to keep the Mevlevi tradition going. Mashallah.

Notice the Edep Ya Hu sign in the background-- Edep is a Turkish pronunciation of Adab (literally manners). This is a common phrase in Turkish Sufism, essentially indicating that the best service to God is how we treat people.