Transfer Processes within Sufi Rituals: An Example from Istanbul

Abstract

For years, Oruç Rahmi Güvenç, his German wife Azize and his loosely organised group of musicians, singers, and dancers (TÜMATA) from Turkey and various Western European countries are practicing a (post)modern form of dervish ritual, incorporating musical forms, songs and dance practices from different parts of the Turkic world and several Islamic traditions, but also from Central Europe. Focussing on the ritual dance of the ‘Whirling Dervishes’ (Mevleviye), but also practicing forms of modern western ‘(Musical) Therapy’, this ‘hybrid’ kind of complex ritual2 became very attractive to the modernised citizens of Turkey as well as to Western Europeans. This paper is an attempt to analyse some elements of this ritual practice and their application in varying contexts (such Turkey or Germany). Sources for this description are several participant observations, biographical data, publications and internal working materials of the Sufi group, as well as media coverage on their activities.