The Music of Islām: Volume Nine - Mawlawiyah Music of the Whirling Dervishes

Turkish classical (Ottoman/Turkish art music) is a refined modal art tradition centered on the makam (scale/melodic behavior) system and cyclical rhythms called usul. It developed in the Ottoman court, Mevlevi lodges, and urban salons, using an intimate chamber instrumentation (ney, tanbur, ud, kemençe, kanun, keman) and highly ornamented vocal lines. Compositions follow characteristic forms such as peşrev and saz semaisi (instrumental), as well as vocal forms like beste, kar, semai, yürük semai, and the later şarkı. Improvisation (taksim) introduces and connects sections, exploring the seyir (melodic path) of the chosen makam with nuanced microtonal inflections. Its aesthetic emphasizes subtle emotion, controlled ornamentation, and measured development, with repertoire spanning sacred (Mevlevi ayin) and secular works. The tradition balances composed structure and spontaneous improvisation, cultivated through the meşk (master–apprentice) pedagogy.

Turkish Mevlevi music is the sacred repertoire of the Mevlevi (whirling dervish) Sufi order founded in the milieu of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī in Anatolia. It is a modal, monophonic, and highly ornamented tradition performed for the Sema ceremony, where music, poetry, and ritual movement converge to induce remembrance of the divine. The core large-scale form is the Ayîn-i Şerîf (Mevlevi ayin), a multi-movement work in a specific makam (mode) and usul (cycle), typically for voice and a chamber ensemble centered on the ney (end-blown reed flute), with kudüm (kettledrums), tanbur, kemençe, kanun, and occasionally rebab and ud. The ayin unfolds through four selâms (sections) that guide the spiritual progression of the rite. Improvisation (taksim), refined intonation of makam microtones, and the poetic texts of Rūmī and later Mevlevi authors are hallmarks of the style.

Sufi is a devotional musical tradition rooted in Islamic mysticism that seeks to induce remembrance of the Divine (dhikr) and transport performers and listeners toward spiritual ecstasy (wajd). It is not a single uniform style, but a family of practices that vary across regions—most notably Persian/Iranian, Anatolian/Turkish (Mevlevi), Arab, and South Asian (qawwali, kafi). Musically, Sufi repertoire tends to revolve around repetitive, mantra-like refrains, call-and-response between lead and chorus, and gradual intensification over cyclical rhythms. Melodic language draws from regional modal systems such as the Persian dastgāh, Ottoman/Turkish makam, and South Asian raga, and is often supported by drones. Texts are central: poetry by mystic masters like Rumi, Hafez, Bullhe Shah, and Amir Khusrau is sung in Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Arabic, Turkish, and other languages. Instrumentation varies by locale—harmonium, tabla/dholak, tanpura, and clapping in South Asia; ney, kudüm, bendir, and tanbur in Turkey; oud and frame drums across the Arab world—yet the unifying aim is spiritual uplift and inner transformation.

Islamic religious music and recitation encompasses the sacred vocal arts of Islam, centered on Qur'an recitation (tilāwah/tajwīd), the call to prayer (adhān), devotional chant (dhikr), praise poetry (madīh, na‘t), and paraliturgical song traditions such as nasheed, qasidah, and Sufi samā‘. While many Muslims distinguish Qur'anic recitation from "music" and regard it as a unique sacred art bound by rules of tajwīd and pious intent, its sound-world overlaps with regional musical systems (especially the Arabic maqām tradition) through modal nuance, melisma, and ornamentation. Across regions, the genre ranges from unaccompanied, metrically free recitation and adhān, to percussion-accompanied nasheed, and to more elaborate Sufi traditions (e.g., qawwali) with call-and-response, rhythmic cycles, and ecstatic crescendos—all unified by devotional texts, ethical themes, and reverence for the divine.