Mawlawīy(y)a

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Mawlawīy(y)a. A Derwīsh order, known colloquially as ‘whirling dervishes’. The name is derived from mawlānā (‘our master’), a title of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī. The dance induces trance- and ecstatic-states, and is undertaken by pivoting on the right foot, while engaging in dhikr (concentration on God). The name of the Order is often transliterated as Mevlevi.