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music. There’s no religion of notes. If you perform calmly, earnestly, you can show that it’s Sufi music. But it’s much clearer when there are words. The Anatolian Mevlevi masters – Pir Sultan Abdal, Hacı Bekta Veli – are like Mevlana to me. They are telling the same truth – try to be a perfect, beautiful human being.”
“W
“There’s an idea that there’s no music in Sunni Islam but think of all those composers around 1400. There was no music ban. The Sun- nis called the masters to make music – for example Ismail Dede Efen- di – he was a dervish. And during the period of Muhammad, there was a discussion about whether music should be forbidden or not. Muhammed liked music – he wanted Bilal-I Habes¸ i [the first muezzin] to recite the Azan because of his great voice. If music cre- ates beautiful feelings, it’s fine by religion. So I don’t think that Sunni Islam doesn’t accept music.”
“Atatürk built a wall against the old traditions. This had many
effects and maybe we still suffer from this. But some of the tekkes were abusing people and even today one person is saying that he is a sheikh, and suddenly 150 people start believing him and do weird things. Atatürk went to Konya in 1925 and said in front of the door of the Mevlevi Tekke ‘We closed all the doors but this one will stay open’. The tekkes continued like a secret organisation.”
“My father was presenting a radio programme on TRT [Turkish state radio and TV] in 1972. He made Sufi music programmes, and was suspended because of this. During 1978 I was a student at Istan- bul University and I was playing the ney and they threatened me for that. Even at the Conservatory, fifteen years ago, I could hardly make the commission accept the religious music courses I wanted to teach.”
“Mevlana was whirling even when he was on his way to visit his neighbours. He was not doing this to be watched. But now, these whirling shows are just about the show; the ritualistic parts of the belief are already lost.”
“I can’t see any connection between the AKP and Sufism. All the parties in political power are visiting Konya during the whirling festi- val but it’s just a political platform. Real Mevlevis don’t like the show at all. Anyway, I think the issue is that the government is not really interested in this culture.”
Mercan Dede, ney-player, electronica composer & DJ:
“I don’t consider myself a Sufi but someone greatly influenced by Sufism and especially Rumi. Sufism is a unique perspective on life. It helps you understand who really you are and what this life is about. Once you start to apply certain principles of Sufism in your life by meditation or other forms, you start to change and with this change the world around you opens up in different levels. In a way my music is the most honest reflection of who I am and, since Sufism is a crucial part of who I am, it naturally speaks through my music.”
“Rumi has had a tremendous impact on my life. His teachings are timeless and more about unifying humanity then dividing it. Rumi focuses on self-discovery and self-understanding and through this understanding he provides universal peace, kindness and respect between not only people, but also with the whole environ- ment we live in.”
“The banning of Turk- ish music and especially Sufi music caused us a very important loss of cultural memory. Now we are try- ing to remember again. I am extremely optimistic about this recovery. In a way what was banned was more related to conserva- tive religious teachings while the peaceful and humanistic view of Sufism always survived.”
“I’m a big supporter of Atatürk, in fact I consider him a Sufi master himself since he promoted peace in our land and created a coun- try where people have free- dom to choose to believe whatever they wish.”
Sami Savni Özer
e understand that it’s Sufi music from how it’s performed. And especially from the words [often by Sufi poets like Rumi and Yunus Emre]. When you drop the words, you can also listen simply as instrumental
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