Egypt’s First All-Girls Sufi Whirling Dervishes Reclaim Girls’s Place In Sufism

When watching a Sufi whirling dervish spin, it might appear as in the event that they’re following one factor unseen, led by an invisible energy that strikes by way of every flip. However when one appears to be nearer, one begins to understand that the dervish simply isn’t the one following. It’s the world, and all who watch, that observe their orbit.

Very just like the Earth shifting in its eternal orbit throughout the photo voltaic, the motion itself is just seen to the watcher. For a lot of who dwell upon the Earth, there isn’t a way of movement, solely stillness, unity, and harmony with the underside beneath them. It feels as if the Earth stands nonetheless, and the universe revolves spherical it.

Within the equivalent strategy, the Sufi whirling dervish lives contained in the dwelling of their very personal physique, seeing it as a planet unto itself, a mirror of the large universe and its orbiting planets. Seeing all of creation as interconnected, the Sufi philosophy lives contained in the whirling dervish, instructing that to be completely present inside one’s physique is to be in harmony with the orbit of your complete universe. 

As a result of the Earth orbits, so too does the physique; and just because the Earth is a spot we inhabit, the physique is a planet we reside inside.

To encapsulate this philosophy in a single sentence, Afnan Shaher, the founding father of Dory Problem, Egypt’s first all-women Sufi whirling collective that began in 2023, locations it enigmatically: “Educate me soften and to not disappear.” 

For Shahr, as a female Sufi whirling dervish, the act of whirling is the act of melting into the oneness of the universe, the place the self, the ego, and all worldly needs soften inside the presence of God, fundamental to complete hand over and selflessness.

“We don’t need to keep caught within the idea that Sufism is just chanting or hymns,” Shaher shares with Egyptian Streets. “For me, on the lookout for God is a apply in every single second. It’s about melting into the availability of being, releasing the ego and the self, and understanding that Sufism calls us to surrender to the present second. Life exists solely inside the now; we’re nevertheless a drop inside the ocean, returning to its vastness.”

As a result of the founding father of an all-women Sufi whirling collective, Shaher sees whirling not as a effectivity, nevertheless as a non secular self-discipline; a meditative act that heals, nurtures, and attracts one nearer to God.

“Our our our bodies, the vessels of our souls and minds, already preserve each factor inside them,” she says. “We’re miniature universes. The question is: which part of that universe can we awaken? That awakening can solely happen by way of our reference to the higher cosmos.”

From guiding completely different women inside the apply to organizing workshops, her journey has been thought-about certainly one of deepening her private reference to God, whereas moreover opening an space for others to witness the universality of Sufism, and the best way its essence can unfold for anyone, regardless of their origins. 

Girls in Sufism 

Most Sufi whirling dervishes one encounters, whether or not or not in photos or on stage, are males, and ladies should not typically, if ever, seen or heard in these areas. 

Shaher’s journey as a female whirling dervish began unexpectedly by way of her early work as an actress. Her first encounter with the apply received right here whereas performing in a Sufi-themed play impressed by The Forty Pointers of Love, the place she portrayed Wird al-Sahra (Desert Rose), a character who learns the whirling practices from the disciples of the Sufi mystic Shams al-Tabrizi.

“It felt as if whirling was already a part of me,” she remembers. “It was like a fire inside, and God merely opened the path sooner than me.”

From that second, her path as a female whirling dervish began to unfold. However alongside the best way through which, she confronted criticism. “Initially, I met an extreme quantity of resistance. People would ask me, ‘What are you doing? You’ll be capable of’t do this as a girl.’ Nonetheless I saved shifting forward. Even my family hesitated at first, however over time, they received right here to only settle for my whirling, recognizing that it’s a path in direction of God,” Shaher shares. 

Such reactions, nonetheless, stand in distinction to Sufism’s private historic previous. College students and historians have confirmed that ladies have prolonged held an important place inside Sufi traditions, while cultural and societal changes over time sought to obscure their presence.

Numerous the earliest figures in Sufism have been, in fact, women. They held formal positions as leaders and directors, and as well as took on a lot much less formal roles as mentors and preachers. Because the paranormal dimension of Islam developed, it was a girl, Rabi‘a al-Adawiyya, who’s normally credited as the first to articulate Sufi philosophy in clear phrases, referring to God as a result of the ‘beloved.’ 

For Rabi‘a, spirituality was not at all rooted in fear of hell or want for paradise; it was pushed completely by love for God. Her teachings centered on the understanding that God is love, and her intention was to melt her private being into that divine presence. She believed that the path to God might probably be found by turning inward into oneself. 

The celebrated Egyptian Sufi grasp Dhul-Nun al-Misri will also be well-known for acknowledging a girl as his coach and finest have an effect on: Fatima of Nishapur, a distinguished Ninth-century Sufi saint from Nishapur, in present-day Iran. 

Over time, as societal and political dynamics shifted, women’s presence grew a lot much less seen, and the manuscripts documenting their contributions have been an increasing number of missed. It’s solely these days that new evaluation has begun to uncover and revive these forgotten manuscripts. 

For Shaher, founding an all-women Sufi whirling collective was every a deliberate various and a reflection of her personal journey; an exploration of the distinctions between masculine and feminine expressions of spirituality, and a response to what she sees as a result of the gradual fading of women’s voices in spiritual apply over time. 

“Girls have been diminished to symbols of want because of that’s how males see us, and since masculine vitality dominates globally,” Shaher explains. “This has confined women’s presence, defending us out of political, philosophical, and non secular areas.”

Early on, certainly one of many first criticisms Shaher confronted as a result of the founding father of an all-women whirling collective was that they’ve been “daring,” “exposing their our our bodies,” and “breaking social codes.”

“At first, these phrases bothered me,” she admits, “nevertheless I shortly realized it was merely their projection, how the masculine sees us, not who we really are.”

By the act of whirling, the boundaries between men and women dissolve, Shaher explains. In that movement, one begins to witness the unity of all points and all of creation, the interconnection between masculine and feminine, and the unity that exists between them.

“Each of us carries every masculine and feminine vitality,” Shaher explains. “Once you acknowledge that stability inside your self, you stop looking for completion in others. You don’t need marriage to actually really feel full, not out of rejection, nevertheless from the understanding that you just already embody every forces. From that consciousness, your actions come from abundance, from a spot of sunshine, not from the need to fill an emptiness.” 

Even on stage, Shaher’s whirling rituals usually carry a distinctly feminine contact. Her various of music normally choices women’s voices, artists like Youssra El Hawary, whose songs carry collectively elements of spirituality and philosophy. 

Whereas Shaher incessantly dons the traditional white Mevlevi robe, she moreover infuses her attire with shade, considerably shades like pink, that embody and channel feminine vitality.

A countless spiritual journey

At its core, the all-women whirling mission is, for Shaher, a non secular journey; one which began and continues to unfold. 

To her, whirling is a kind of movement that bridges the connection between the self and God, guiding one once more to their most real being. 

“For me, whirling is every an inside and outer motion,” she says. “Human beings are alleged to switch. God didn’t create the universe to be nonetheless. There are seasons, cycles, rhythms. Our our our bodies, too, switch in cycles.”

Amid the noise of the trendy world, it’s easy to lose oneself and drift from spirituality. Nonetheless for Shaher, the Sufi act of whirling is a reminder in itself to on a regular basis flip once more to the availability: to God, to the essence of who we’re, and to the stillness that exists inside movement.

“We neglect our oneness,” she shows softly. “As soon as we’re born, we keep linked to the availability. Nonetheless as time passes, we neglect until one factor happens that wakes us up, and we begin to recollect. It happens to all of us.”

In a world the place science and experience are shifting prior to ever sooner than, Shaher believes it’s now further important than ever to allow spirituality to speak in new strategies to a expertise rising up in an ever-changing world.

“The long term shall be powerful, for us and for people who will come after. We must always examine to speak to this new expertise of their very personal language, so that we’re in a position to attain these which are on the lookout for understanding, they usually additionally, too, can uncover their choice to deeper layers of which implies.”