MEVLANA

 

Today is MEVLANA DAY,so I want to talk about this wonderful mystic poet of Islam. Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi, known as one of the greatest mystic poets of Islam. In Turkey, he is known simply as 'Mevlana,' and his followers go by the title of 'Mevlevi.' But his poems and mystical teachings are known throughout the  world. Mevlana  is was born in Balkh, Mazar-i Sharif (present-day Afghanistan) on September 30, 1207, to a family of well-known mystics and scholars. His full name was Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi but he became known as 'Rumi' - meaning from Rome - because his father Baha-uddin Balad later moved to Anatolia, once the base of the eastern Roman empire, in the wake of the Mongol invasion in 1219. Mevlana’s  first teacher was his father, but he was also greatly impressed by Şems Tebrizi, whose shrine is close to the Mevlana's in Konya, where the family finally settled after pilgrimage to Mekke and stays in Arzanjan, a small town in Armenia, and Syria. The family's relocation to Konya was made through the request of the Selçuk  king, who had made the city his capital.Mevlana travelled far and wide, including to Aleppo and Damascus to study; but Konya remained his permanent abode, and it was there that he died on December 17, 1273. His mausoleum is built in the garden presented to his father by the Selçuk  king Keykubad I . Next to the mausoleum, there is a mosque built by the Ottoman prince Selim who was an ardent admirer of the Mevlana.

 

Followers of the Mevlana can be found in all parts of Turkey as well as the neighbouring countries. They converge on the mausoleum in large numbers in May and December of each year to perform their famous whirling dance, circling from right to left to commemorate the dance performed by the Mevlana himself. The main event occurs from December 10-17 and climaxes on the last night, the date of the Maulana's death. His followers call it the 'wedding night,' that is when Mevlana was married to eternal life. The May festivities mark the arrival of the Mevlana into the city.

 

The fundamental teaching of the Mevlana was the unification of the mind and the heart. His perception of mysticism differs from others in that he was a moralist and a reformer. He advocated these principles throughout his life. He writes: "Without demolishing religious schools (medreseler) and minarets and without abandoning the beliefs and ideas of the medieval age, restriction in thoughts and pains in conscience will not end. Without understanding that unbelief is a kind of religion, and that conservative religious belief a kind of disbelief, and without showing tolerance to opposite ideas, one cannot succeed. In the 21. Century,we need Mevlana’s advices and opinions about life.I recommend everyone to learn more about Mevlana.