Whirling Sufis

The Whirling Sufis of Cairo and Khartoum
Revised: September 20, 2009

Word count: about 700
Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, has produced some of the more lasting poetry and
dance traditions in the Muslim world. The word Sufi, is often said to be derivative of the word
‫صوف‬, suf, meaning ‘wool’ in Arabic, as a reference to the simple wool clothing that Sufis and
early Muslim ascetics wore.
The Afghan-born poet Rumi still resonates today, even in the West, and never seems to
have waned in popularity since he wrote in the Thirteenth Century. When reading Rumi, it is not
clear whether he is addressing God, a lover, or another aspect of himself—it is generally thought
best to consider Rumi talking to all three entities at once:
Since we’ve seen each other, a game goes on

Secretly I move, and you respond
You’re laughing, you think it’s funny
But look up from the board now, look how

I’ve brought in furniture to this invisible place
So we can live here
(1245)
The Sufi dance tradition can be equally moving. Ecstatic religiosity frequently inspires
intense art, literature and music. These whirling Sufis, also called dervishes, can spin for hours
with one hand turned down toward the ground, the other up toward heaven. The whirling is
intended to induce, enhance or arise from religious intoxication and spiritual exaltation. The
dance is also a means of devotion to, and contact with, God. The Sufi tradition extends across the
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Maghreb, the Levant, up into Turkey and down across Asia. There are also Sufi orders in sub-
Saharan Black Africa.
I was able to see whirling Sufis in Cairo and Khartoum.
Though Cairo has Sufi mosques with devoted followers, I never saw those religious men
dance. The whirling Sufis popular in Cairo exist as performers, professional dancers, who put on
one of the most entertaining Orientalist events in the city at the bustling and labyrinthine Khan
al-Khalili bazaar. This choreographed Sufi dance performance is accented with a tasteful light
show, sensible sound system, raised stage, and live band. The dancers, exclusively men, spin and
whirl with their brightly-coloured robes lifting into the air in ethereal celebration, while
musicians pound drums and play the lively Arabian music.
Sometimes the dancers whirl across the stage, all the while spinning around each other, to
the clanging sound of finger cymbals. Further into the dance, a solitary performer takes the stage
and never stops spinning until the end, while he removes and tosses what appears to be an
endless layer of hand-stitched quilted robes, one-by-one, into the air. These performances occur a
few days throughout the week at eight pm, ‘Egyptian time’, meaning the time varies.
The whirling Sufis of the Sudan are different, in that they dance and whirl out of religious
devotion, following Friday prayers. Sudani Sufis whirl near the capital of Khartoum, in the city
of Omdurman, at the tomb of Hamid al-Nil. Following their devotional prayers, the Sufis make
their way out of the mosque while chanting—often the ninety-nine names of Allah—into a dry
dusty courtyard in the middle of a cemetery. These dervishes spin, whirl, bang drums and dance
as the spirit moves them. Their robes are usually solid colours: green or white, while some of the
dervishes wear elaborate and ornate quilted gowns.

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Rhythmic chanting and frankincense smoke fill the air, in this austere part of the Sahara
where scorching temperatures frequently reach forty-five degrees Celsius. Aid workers,
petroleum workers and visiting diplomats attend this ceremonial dance, with local men, women
and children sitting on the small stone buildings, and camped-out on carpets among the tombs.
Sufism exists outside of the Sunni-Shiite split in the Muslim world, and some believe
Sufism arose out of pre-Islamic peoples adapting to the new religion of Islam. Sufism and its
traditions of dance, chanting, music, poetry, art and asceticism have attracted controversy at
various points in this mystical sect’s historical development, with some groups facing
persecution to the point of execution. But today Sufism is an accepted sect of Islam among
scholars.
 Pete Willows is a Canadian freelance writer who has lived and worked in Egypt, the
United States, New Zealand, the Sudan and Canada. He attended the American
University in Cairo, and is a contributing writer to The Egyptian Gazette and its weekly
magazine The Egyptian Mail.

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The Whirling Sufis of Cairo and Khartoum

Revised: September 20, 2009

early Muslim ascetics wore.

best to consider Rumi talking to all three entities at once:

Since we’ve seen each other, a game goes on

But look up from the board now, look how

Saharan Black Africa.

I was able to see whirling Sufis in Cairo and Khartoum.

musicians pound drums and play the lively Arabian music.

dervishes wear elaborate and ornate quilted gowns.

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