30 Sept 2007

Happy birthday Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī: A big date today for cool Islam


It't the 800 birthday of the sufi poet and thinker Rumi, have blogged on him before, he wrote beautiful and amusing stories and poems.

More from the BBC here

More from Rumi org here

I like the story about the Mullah and the Donkey....one of the best Mullah Nasruddin nonsense stories....teachings from Rumi and other Sufi masters which are very zen.

Sufism is a mainstay of eco Islam, although of course eco Islam is not practised by just one type of Muslim.

Wiki on Rumi

Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī[2] (Persian: مولانا جلال الدین محمد رومی, Turkish: Mevlânâ Celâleddin Mehmed Rumi, Arabic: جلال الدين الرومي), also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (Persian: محمد بلخى), but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi, (September 30, 1207–December 17, 1273), was a 13th century Persian (Tājīk)[3][4] Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian. His name literally means "Majesty of Religion", Jalal means "majesty" and Din means "religion".[5] Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he died and lived in later parts of his life in Anatolia which was part of the Byzantine Empire two centuries before. [6]

Rumi was born in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), then a city of Greater Khorasan and died in Konya (in present-day Turkey). His birthplace and native language/local dialect indicates a Persian (Tājīk) heritage.[7] His poetry is in Persian and his works are widely read in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and in translation especially in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the US, and South Asia. He lived most of his life in, and produced his works under, the Seljuk Empire.[8] Rumi's importance is considered to transcend national and ethnic borders. Throughout the centuries he has had a significant influence on Persian as well as Urdu and Turkish literatures. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world's languages in various formats.

After Rumi's death, his followers founded the Mevlevi Order, better known as the "Whirling Dervishes," who believe in performing their worship in the form of dance and music ceremony called the sema.


There is a lot more I could post, Rumi shows that Islam is plural, tolerant, rises from culture such as music, dance and poetry.

Rumi's philosophical ideas are a root into green ideas of holism....Rumi's work is above all to be enjoyed....so party for Rumi today.

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