Jamal J. Elias

A pre-eminent scholar of Islamic history chronicles the rise of the Mevlevis, the influential Sufi community founded by Rumi. The thirteenth-century Persian poet and scholar Rumi is revered to this day. However, less attention has been paid to the Sufi community he founded: the Mevlevis, sometimes called the "Whirling Dervishes." Centered on the descendants of Rumi and the disciples of...