Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Barbara Daly Metcalf, Islamic Revival 

in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900 (Princeton, N.J.: 

Princeton University Press, 1987); Muhammad Qasim 

Zaman,  The Ulama in Contemporary Islam (Princeton, 

N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002).

dervish

 

(Persian: 

darvish, also spelled 

darwish, darwesh)

A dervish is an individual who has chosen the Sufi 

path. The origin of this Persian word is unclear, 

but it is generally taken to refer to someone who 

is poor or a beggar. In s

UFism

, the term, like the 

Arabic term 

faqir

 (poor), refers to someone who 

is humble and who has renounced the world in 

order to follow the Sufi path. While this often 

involves actual poverty and a renunciation of 

K  192  

dervish

---

material possessions, which may necessitate beg-

ging for subsistence, a more spiritual sense of 

poverty suggests the control of desires, so that 

the dervish can focus on God. Many Sufi guides, 

in fact, warn dervishes against extreme poverty, 

since poverty itself must be forgotten, as it is only 

a stage on the path and can distract one from 

focusing on God.

In early Islamic history, piety was often expressed 

through individual 

asceticism

. Inevitably, some 

ascetics gained fame, followers were attracted to 

their example, and in this way schools developed. 

By the 12th century, Sufi orders such as the Qadiris 

had begun to take definite shape around the person 

or the tomb of a famous master, with formal rules 

and special buildings designed to accommodate 

and feed resident dervishes and provide space for 

rituals. Each order developed its own forms of 

worship, including chanting the names of God or 

special formulas (

dhikr

); the singing of mystical 

poetry to music, often accompanied by dancing; 

and sometimes ecstatic practices, which might 

include, as with the r

iFai

 s

UFi

 o

rder

, dervishes eat-

ing hot coals or piercing their bodies with spikes. 

Dervish thus came to refer to a member of such an 

order, and in some orders, such as the Mevlevis 

and Bektashis, it refers to a particular rank in the 

hierarchy of the order. Whirling dervishes is a name 

used by Westerners for members of the m

evlevi

s

UFi

 o

rder

, who perform circular dances as part of 

their musical ceremonies. Some orders, such as the 

Qalandaris, were more loosely organized, and their 

disciples traveled constantly from place to place, 

being known as wandering dervishes.

See also b

ektashi

 s

UFi

 o

rder

; 

saint

.

Mark Soileau