Encyclopedia of Islam

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practices as un-Islamic innovations. Nevertheless,
they are still conducted among some Rifai groups
today.
See also ahl al-bayt; badaWi, ahmad al-; bidaa;
maqam; mawlid; miracle; sUFism.


Further reading: Frederick De Jong, Turuq and Turuq-
Linked Institutions in Nineteenth-Century Egypt (Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1978); John S. Trimingham, The Sufi Orders
in Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971); Peter
Van Der Veer, “Playing or Praying: A Sufi Saints Day in
Surat.” Journal of Asian Studies 51, no. 3 (August 1992):
545–564.


rosary See prayer beads.


ruh See soul and spirit.


Rumi, Jalal al-Din (Mawlana, Arabic:
Our Master) (1207–1273) Persian Sufi master
and mystical poet who lived much of his life in Konya,
Turkey
Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi is perhaps the most
famous Sufi poet, and he is one of the most
cherished poets in Persian literature, due to the
beauty and exuberance of his voluminous poetry,
which has inspired Muslims for centuries and,
more recently, spiritual seekers in eUrope and the
Americas.
Jalal al-Din was born in Balkh (in modern-
day aFghanistan) in 1207, but when still a child
migrated with his father to Anatolia (known in
Islamic history as Rum, hence the name Rumi),
shortly before the Mongol invasions. They settled
in Konya, which was then the capital of the selJUk
dynasty of Rum (1077–1307), and Rumi’s father
secured a position as a teacher of Islamic sciences.
When his father died, Rumi took over the posi-
tion, and was widely respected. In 1244 his life
changed when he met a wandering dervish named
Shams al-Din Tabrizi (d. 1248), and the two


became inseparable friends. Under the influence
of Shams, Rumi was inspired to write exuberant
mystical poetry and was introduced to the ecstatic
whirling dance known as samaa (Arabic: audi-
tion). Many of his verses were in fact composed
while Rumi was whirling in samaa. After Shams
died, Rumi found similar spiritual friendships
with a goldsmith named Salah al-Din Zarkub (d.
1258), and later Husam al-Din (d. 1284–85), with
whose inspiration Rumi began to compose the
verses that would become his most famous work,
the Mathnawi. Rumi died in Konya in 1273. His
life was described in hagiographical works not
long after his death, such as Aflaki’s Manaqib al-
arifin (The virtues of the gnostics).
Rumi’s most important works include a large
collection of short lyric poems called Divan-i

Tomb of Jalal al-Din Rumi in Konya, Turkey(Juan E.
Campo)

Rumi, Jalal al-Din 593 J
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