Sema (Persian: سَمَاع - samā‘un) is a Persian Sufi ceremony performed as dhikr, which often includes song, dance, customary symbolic attire, and other rituals. It is a particularly popular form of worship in the Chisti order of the Indian sub-continent. The dancing style of the Sema often takes the form of the whirling dance of the Mawlawi Order, although many forms of Sema do not include whirling.
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The term stemming from the root-verb meaning etymologically acceptance by tradition, from which derive the words سَمْع (sam‘un) and اِسْتِمَاع (’istimā‘un, listening), often paired with نَقْل (naqlun) and تَقْلِيد (taqlīdun, tradition).[1] It may have been in use since the 10th century to refer to a type of dhikr (remembrance of God), a spiritual concert, a musical ceremony used by various Sufi orders, particularly the Chisti order of the sub-continent. It often involves prayer, song, dance, and other ritualistic activities.[2]
Origin of Sema
The origin of Sema is credited to Rumi, Sufi master and creator of the Mawlawi's. The story of the creation of this unique form of dhikr is that Rumi was walking through the town marketplace one day when he heard the rhythmic hammering of the goldbeaters. It is believed that Rumi heard the dhikr, "la elaha ella'llah" or in English, "no god, but God" in the apprentices beating of the gold and so entranced in happiness he stretched out both of his arms and started spinning in a circle. With that the practice of Sema and the dirvishes of the Mevlevi order were born.
Meaning
The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect". Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives at the "Perfect". He then returns from this spiritual journey as a man who has reached maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation. Rumi has said in reference to Sema, "For them it is the Sema of this world and the other. Even more for the circle of dancers within the Sema who turn and have in their midst, their own Ka'aba." which relates Sema to the pilgrimage to Mecca, in that both are intended to bring all who are involved closer to God.
See also
- Qawwali - A form of sema in South Asia
- Hadhra - Arab Sufi dhikr.
Notes
- ^ Arabic: قاموس المنجد — Moungued Dictionary (paper); Farsi: Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb — Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary 2 (paper), by Johnny Cheung, Brill Academic).
- ^ Avery, Kenneth S. (2004-09-24). A Psychology of Early Sufi Samāʻ: Listening and Altered States. RoutledgeCurzon. pp. 3-4. ISBN 0415311063. http://books.google.com/books?id=HBcsCkzEE58C&pg=PA3&dq=sama&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
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