Hajii Farishta Loras, Konya, 1994

MOTHER OF DERVISHES

This year's (1994) Sema is dedicated to Hajii Ana Ferishta Loras Hanum. Ferishta is the last host of her generation of lovers of Mevlana, passing peacefully on September 10th, 1994.

Ferishta was born in Rumania shortly after the turn of this century. Her family migrated to Istanbul to avoid the invasion taking place in her homeland. At seventeen she met Suleyman Dede. They married soon after, and began their family. Two sons were born in western Turkey. Dede then brought the family to Konya in central Anatolia.

After a short time in Konya, Dede began working in the kitchen of Mevlana and moved the family, which now had four children, to a one room house next to the tomb of Mevlana. Ferishta and Dede cooked for the poverty stricken of Konya, with the help of fellow citizens and the Red Crescent (the equivalent of the Red Cross in Muslim countries.) Ferishta began to meet Mevlevi and Sufi people. Slowly and surely she felt her heart melting with love of Mevlana. Her next son was born in the one room house near Mevlana's tomb, and named Jelaluddin in honor of Pir Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi.

When Jelaluddin was five years old, they moved to the land of Dede's father in Konya. Their house became a meeting house for the lovers of Allah under the guidance of Sheikh Suleyman Hayati Dede. Those years were rich with gatherings for music, zikr, and sema. Hajii Ferishta Hanum led the women's circle at this time, still following the tradition of separation and remaining isolated from the men doing zikr. Dede was inspired to dissolve this barrier and invited the women to participate in the Ayin-i Jam and Zikr. From this point on, men and women usually practiced together. (He dreamed of men and women participating in Sema together. His dream has become a reality.) Several times Suleyman and Ferishta traveled internationally, and as Ferishta said, they connected with "the beautiful peoples, the lovers of Allah."  Many international pilgrims also came their home in Konya. Ferishta became Mother to these seekers. This humble couple, dedicated to the work of Mevlana, had murids in Turkey and around the world.

Her kitchen served west and east. Her heart raised to Allah in this atmosphere ofproviding nourishment to the many.

In April of 1994 a few of us were blessed with visiting Ferishta at her home in Konya. Although tired and ill, she received us with graciousness, humor, and eyes overflowing with light. She fed us and invited the women to join her in her room, where she was primarily confined to bed in these last months of her life on earth.

With tear filled eyes she recalled being in California and seeing the giant redwood trees, and in Canada the cedar trees. In her broken English she shared the importance of reforestation, being compassionate with the earth. Then she said, "BOOM BOOM ALLAH. Boom boom Allah. I asked, "What is this boom boom Allah?" She said, "Remember. With every heart beat, boom boom of the drum of the heart. Remember. This is the boom boom Allah."

She instructs us all to feel this rhythm and REMEMBER.

--Postneshin Jelaluddin Loras & Mariam Baker