Gul 2014 mary charlotte paper

Instruments of the Divine: Devotional Music in Houston and Istanbul Mary Charlotte Carroll 4/25/14

The Jones Family Singers perform gospel music during a service in Houston (Dansby 2014)

The whirling dervishes spin during a sema ritual in Istanbul (Romuar 2011)

Created for Global Urban Lab Rice University: School of Social Sciences & Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Executive Summary Music, in a devotional context, is something essential to Istanbul, Turkey, and Houston, Texas. In both of these global cities, music performed in religious settings makes up an integral part of worship, but in very different contexts. The research presented here seeks to investigate the different ways in which devotional music finds a home in Houston and Istanbul by examining the role of Christian gospel music in Houston and the music of the Mevlevi sema ritual of the whirling dervishes in Istanbul. Devotional music in both cities has emerged from minority religious traditions (namely, from those of slavery and the Sufi branch of Islam) as a vehicle to bring listeners closer to God by helping them to leave behind worldly problems and experience the rapture of knowing the Beloved. Although the styles utilized by these two traditions at first seem vastly different—gospel is vibrant and full of energy, while sema music is thoughtful and contemplative—they have a common devotional impulse. Ultimately, these two cities are united by their use of music to seek the divine.

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Table of Contents Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 1 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Report ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Issue Statement ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Research ................................................................................................................................................. 4 I. Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 4 II. Limits ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Findings................................................................................................................................................... 5 I. Houston: Background.................................................................................................................... 5 II. Houston: The Many Faces of Houston Gospel ............................................................................. 6 III. Istanbul: Background .................................................................................................................. 8 IV. Istanbul: The Whirling Dervishes, the Sema, and the Music of Sufism ...................................... 9 Implications .......................................................................................................................................... 11 I. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 11 II. Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................ 13 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 14 Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................................... 17

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Report Introduction The great French military leader Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “If the earth was a single state, Istanbul would be its capital.” Indeed, from the first glimpse of this enormous global city, the sheer number and diversity of people, bridges, vendors, waterways, musicians, and markets overwhelms the senses. Moreover, Istanbul is rapidly modernizing but still maintains its traditional roots. Juxtaposed with brand new office buildings are centuries old mosques still in use. This speaks to a city proud of its Ottoman heritage as part of an Empire “inspired and sustained by Islam” (BBC 2009). Throughout Istanbul today, the Islamic call to prayer, or ezan, can be heard echoing through the streets as the faithful make their way to one of the city’s many mosques. Devotional religion in Istanbul begins early in the morning, when the muezzin declares that “Prayer is better than sleep” (Hamilton 2010), but dig a little deeper, and one finds that kneeling upon a prayer rug is not the only way a devoted Muslim might worship God in this city. Alongside the mosque-riddled facade of Istanbul is the ancient tradition of the whirling dervishes, practiced by the Mevlevi Order of Sufis. Nowhere is the devotional element of Islam more evident in Istanbul than in the music and practice of the Mevlevi sema ritual. In the performance of the whirling dervishes, music serves as a vehicle to bring listeners and participants alike closer to God. On the other side of the Atlantic, in Houston, Texas, devotional music carries the same spirit of closeness with God but is practiced in a different—though no less intense—manner.

Nestled in the so-called Bible Belt, Houston abounds with churches of every faith. Still, a common thread links the majority of Houston’s places of worship: devotional music. This special form of music with a message dates back to the oral tradition of the days of slavery and plays a vital role in Houston’s culture. Through gospel music, thousands of congregations in this Texas city are brought to their feet and moved to join in singing hymns of praise to God as they let go of their earthly troubles and seek the divine.

Issue Statement To the casual observer, the music of devotion in Istanbul and Houston is indeed very different. The former is practiced by adherents of Sufism and focused on ancient Persian and Qur’anic verses read by a religious specialist, while the latter is Christian and involves giant choirs raising their voices as one in praise. However, the devotional impulse in these two cities is similar. Both of these musical forms arose out of minority religious traditions, but differences can be found in the amount of freedom with which these traditions were allowed to develop.

Mevlevi music was constrained to only a few regions in Turkey by official repression of the Sufi religion, while gospel music, originating in the days of African American slavery, remained a robust musical tradition and was able to spread to other communities. Nevertheless, in both Istanbul and Houston, music functions as an essential channel through which devotional religion finds its expression and achieves direct contact with the divine.

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Research I. Methods In order to get a sense of devotional music in Istanbul and Houston in the most experiential and accurate way possible, a variety of methods were used with a focus on qualitative analysis. Before beginning my field research, I conducted a general literature review of the whirling dervishes and Sufism through books and journal articles in order to get a sense of the topic and ensure that a viable comparison could be made between the sema ritual and Houston gospel music. Happily, there is a wide range of literature and web sources available in English for those curious about the Sufis. Following this, I had the opportunity to travel to Istanbul for 10 days to conduct fieldwork. During this time, I was able to get a feel for the Islamic religious culture of the city but had difficulty conducting formal interviews due to unforeseen health complications. However, I was able to connect with my Istanbul contacts extensively through email, and they answered many of my questions through online interviews, which more than made up for any meetings that did not come together during the trip. One particularly useful component of my research was a visit to the Hodjapasha Dance Theater in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. There, I was able to directly observe a Mevlevi whirling dervish ritual. This was an incredibly helpful opportunity to witness the ritual in its entirety, listen to the musical accompaniment, and determine questions for further research.

In Houston, with the luxury of a freer schedule and much more time, I was able to take a more in-depth approach. I made it my mission to conduct small sessions of participant observation by filling every Sunday morning with a different church service. This enabled me to cast as wide of a net as possible to understand Houston’s gospel music scene. In some cases, I used YouTube and online video streaming of church performances that I was unable to attend in person, or ones that were mentioned to me in interviews. Outside of church observations— which were fascinating—I conducted interviews with those familiar with gospel music in the greater Houston area. My most interesting interview was with John Hardin, a freelance Minister of Music and Fine Arts who has previously conducted gospel choirs at churches in Houston and its suburbs, including the choir at Antioch Church in Beaumont, Texas. I used qualitative interview techniques as well as an interview guide to help structure our discussion about the role of music in Houston, which was invaluable.

II. Limits Although any research project hopes to be comprehensive in its investigation of the topic, it is necessary to limit the focus of this paper in order to maintain accuracy. While there are many facets of devotional music in Istanbul, the research found here will focus on the music of the Sufis, specifically the Mevlevi Order. Likewise, in Houston, one could attend a different church every Sunday for years and still not cover half of the immense variety this city has to offer. The research presented here in no way presumes to apply to all churches in Houston.

Rather, it is the result of firsthand studies of a small sampling of churches as well as interviews with those who are familiar with the role devotional music plays in Houston (especially in places of worship to which limited research time did not permit a visit). A 2013 survey by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University estimated that among those who have a religious affiliation in Houston, 44.2 percent are Protestant, 34.2 percent Catholic, less than 1 4|Page

percent are Jewish, 4.8 percent responded “other,” and 11.7 percent reported no religious preference (Kinder Institute 2013). Another survey estimates that about 1 percent of Houstonians are Muslim (Cowen 2013). However, the research findings here will focus on the gospel music of Christian Churches, specifically during services celebrated at Lakewood Church, the Church in the Center, the New Faith Missionary Baptist Church, the New Life Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, Windsor Village United Methodist Church, and others described below.

These churches were chosen based on their proximity to Rice University (or, for those I was unable to visit in person, based on whether or not church services were available for internet streaming) and because they were recommended to me as research sites during interviews.

Demographically, I emphasized African American churches in my research because gospel finds its origins in an African American context, but many churches that I visited did have racially mixed congregations. I observed worship services between March and April of 2014.

Findings I. Houston: Background Houston has a lot of churches. In fact, Houston has thousands of churches. A quick browse through the Yellow Pages lists some 2,500 results for churches or places of worship in this city of 2.1 million people (Yellow Pages 2014). These are not the small, white buildings with double doors and a single steeple that spring to mind when the word “church” is mentioned. In many cases, the churches in Houston are, like many other things in Texas, enormous. Houston’s Lakewood Church (pictured below, Basu 2014) is the largest church in America with a staggering 43,500-person congregation that is ethnically diverse, with a large number of both whites and African Americans in attendance (Cowen 2013). Each Sunday, the façade of this nondenominational megachurch (formerly the arena of the Houston Rockets), stands ready with a praise band to match its audience. The only thing bigger than the churches in Houston is the city’s enormously rich gospel music scene.

Gospel can be defined as a form of devotional Protestant music with dominant vocals and lyrics referencing religious themes. According to Joyce Marie Jackson, a scholar of African American cultural music and performance-centered studies, gospel music for African Americans in particular as well as in a wider urban context, “forms an important part of the community’s aesthetic expression and is a synthesis of music, dance, poetry, and drama distilled into a unified whole” (Jackson 1995: 185). It is devotion in its most intense form. There are many forms of gospel—including urban contemporary, southern, jazz, and traditional—but this research focuses on the varieties of traditional gospel music played in religious settings specifically for the purpose of worship. This type of gospel represents a fusion of the past and present that carries many of its traditional roots while also addressing the concerns of a 5|Page

modern congregation (Jackson 1995). Much like the music of the dervishes, gospel involves movement (often repetitive swaying or clapping, a characteristic of many forms of minority musical traditions) and expresses a deep devotion that, through song, allows worshippers to feel closer to God.

II. Houston: The Many Faces of Houston Gospel Gospel music in Houston is central; it is something irrevocably woven into the city’s culture. Houston is known as “the hub of gospel. Everybody here sings” (Hardin 2014). Houston as a city has a wealth of gospel musicians, including the Jones Family Singers (pictured below, Dansby 2014), The Walls Group (also made up of siblings), and the late Eugene Williams. Even Beyoncé, one of Houston’s most famous former residents, sang in the gospel choir at St. John’s United Methodist Church in her youth. Like many Houstonians, she once noted in an interview, “I grew up in the church” (MTV 2008). Gospel is deeply engrained.

Minister of Music and Fine Arts John Hardin says that he, too, was raised on a diet of gospel music in a family that had been attending church for generations. As a music minister, he directs choirs in the greater Houston area and has recoded his own gospel albums. Currently, he is working with the World Harvest Outreach Seventh Day Adventist Church in Houston. For Hardin, gospel music is a way of communicating “what roads [he has] walked down, and what things [he is] carrying” (Hardin 2014). Gospel music sings of a love that drives you; it never dies. It is a way of overcoming life’s struggles, big and small, and reaffirming faith in a loving God. In the darkest times of his life, music was there for Hardin, and millions like him. He says singing through his pain, “took me somewhere else” (Hardin 2014), into a trancelike state. The Houston Chronicle’s Andrew Dansby has called gospel as a phenomenon, “music that remains when nothing else does” (Dansby 2014). Gospel music itself is distinguished by “its declaration of faith. Everything else is kind of null and void...Gospel is different. Gospel tells of a struggle, and sometimes a triumph, and sometimes it's a struggle and it’s not a triumph yet” (Hardin 2014). When rehearsing songs with the choir, Hardin says its essential to think about the purpose of the song, which might be reverence, love, adoration, praise, or trial and testimony. Each choir interprets and performs these songs a little differently—part of what makes Houston gospel so fascinating.

Fountain of Praise, Abundant Life Cathedral, and Windsor Village United Methodist Church are all very animated. Windsor Village UMC, which has a mostly African American membership, sways to a rock beat as they praise God and His love with a congregation of some 13,500 people who have come to hear pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell (Evans-Crawley 2007). The level of movement and dance depends on the beliefs of each particular church and the doctrine they follow, though many still shy away from up-tempo dance, which might become something too sensual (Hardin Interview). The New Life Tabernacle Church of God in Christ combines strong vocals with an enormous, energetic choir that sways to a cymbal beat and sometimes even 6|Page

jumps, spins, and shouts during particularly powerful worship songs. The congregation gets on their feet and joins in the vibrant praise music with a true spirit of jubilation. (To hear excerpts from a gospel performance by the New Life Tabernacle, see the bibliography at the end of this paper.) At the Church in the Center (pictured below), a Christian Church that is open to all denominations, the congregation may be small, but the music is big and central to the service.

In this modern church, which has a diverse body of attendance due to its location in the Texas Medical Center, gospel lyrics are projected onto a screen so that everyone can join in with the seven piece praise band, which features an array of instruments as varied as the congregation: acoustic guitar, bass, electronic drums, accordion, electric guitar, piano, and mandolin. Although the pastor is white, the congregation, numbering around 80 people, is an eclectic mix of whites, African Americans, and people of East Asian and Indian descent. As one, they raise their voices and their arms in response to calls to “Praise with your hands.”

Though music, they say thank you to God and celebrate that they have decided to follow Jesus.

Miming is another unique way in which some of these choirs show their devotion. The praise dance team at the evangelical Bethel Church of Houston—which officially identifies as independent although many of their doctrines are derived from Presbyterianism—performs interpretive dances to gospel music while sporting faces painted white. (To view a gospel performance by the Bethel Church of Houston, see the bibliography at the end of this paper.)

Some of the older, more conservative churches tend to cling to their African roots. According to Hardin, these churches favor metered hymns, which involve a sort of back-and-forth between the choir and the congregation. These have a slow tempo and find their origin in the songs of slavery. This can be traced back to the style of repetition and call-and-response characteristic of African music, which strengthened community bonds and took slaves into a kind of trance to escape the drudgery of their daily work. The congregation in churches that use this music tends to be older in general. The New Faith Missionary Baptist Church of Houston is another example of a more traditional gospel choir. Here, the songs are based on three part harmonies and classic hymns. The choir at this church, which is predominately African American, is much more subdued, although still very passionate. (To view a gospel performance by the New Faith Church, see the bibliography at the end of this paper.)

Music is the central element to worship services in almost all of these churches. In describing the experience of a performance, Hardin says everyone waits for the “call to worship…[then] the lights go down, lights on stage come up, the music starts up, and it gets everyone’s attention. Everybody claps their hands because it’s beginning [emphasis added]…Music never stops” (Hardin 2014). Gospel music typically centers upon an organ (usually the Hammond B3) or piano. However, not all churches in Houston necessarily use these. For example, the Church of Christ does not believe in using instruments for worship.

They seek to follow the model of the early Christians who did not use instruments. Moreover, 7|Page

the Church of Christ argues that “the only musical instrument God ever created is the human voice; man created all the rest” (Roberts). At the North Houston Church of Christ, gospel music is completely a capella, but what it lacks in instruments, it makes up for in energy. The choir claps, sways, and sings with all their heart. The bass men balance the higher women’s voices, with one or two people providing a beat in the background. (To hear a gospel performance by the North Houston Church of Christ, see the bibliography at the end of this paper.)

Most gospel choirs in Houston are funded through the general church fund, which is donation-based through tithes and offerings. Still, many choirs have enormous budgets, because they are the source of salaries for the minister of music, directors, musicians, separate bands for youth praise, and so on. Hardin notes that although the recession was difficult for many of the faithful financially, it changed the black church very little because the African American community has known about tight financial living all their lives and gone through many times when things were not easy (Hardin 2014). All churchgoers may not be wealthy, but they give what they have. In most of the services in Houston—from the small gathering of The Church in the Center to the massive Lakewood Church—people in the congregation stand and lift their hands in praise to God as the music becomes more intense. I asked Hardin what he felt motivated this, and he explained that “It’s a chance to release and say ‘Yes, I agree. It’s rough.

It’s not easy’…It’s a time of release” (Hardin 2014). You hear and see people crying out in worship and “feel the presence of something bigger than what you are” (Hardin 2014).

Demographically, many choirs tend to be mixed. Hardin notes that his choir is from every socioeconomic background. The poorer members—“sometimes they're just crying out because they're going through a rough time. Middle class—in America—they’re there praying, ‘God, just help me get my son or daughter through college’” (Hardin 2014). They are all trying to worship with a thankful heart through their music, which always points toward what the pastor is saying. People may come for the music, but they stay for the message.

III. Istanbul: Background Unlike Houston, which has a comparatively wide variety of popular religions, Istanbul boasts a population that is majority Muslim. Ethnically, about 99 percent of those living in Istanbul are Muslim Turks, with two-thirds of them Sunni Muslims. The rest of the residents are members of the Alevi sect, similar to Shi’ism, with Christians and Jews in a shrinking minority (Library of Congress 2008: 10). This is further illustrated by the total number of mosques— about 3,028—versus the number of churches—about 40 (Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality 2010). The city itself is over six times as large as Houston, with a population of more than 13.5 million people (OSAC 2013). Although Istanbul is a rapidly growing city, it is steeped in Ottoman heritage. Mosques, palaces, and hamams from days gone by abound—and, in some cases, are still in use. However, few traditions are as mystical (and celebrated) as the Sufi sema ritual performed by the ancient Mevlevi Order of whirling dervishes, a Sufi sect of Islam.

The Mevlevi Order of dervishes, originally founded in Konya, can be traced back over 700 years to the great poet and mystic Jalalu’ddin Rumi, who first performed the whirling dance. The world’s foremost translator of Rumi’s work and author of The Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks, tells of the founding of the dervishes thus: “The story goes that [Rumi] was walking in the gold-smithing section of Konya when he heard a beautiful music in their 8|Page

hammering. He began turning in harmony with it, an ecstatic dance of surrender and yet with great centered discipline. He arrived at a place where ego dissolves and a resonance with universal soul comes in” (Rumi 1995: 277). The term dervish “literally means ‘doorway’” (Rumi 1995: 277), because through the sema ritual, the dervish moves into a different state of conscious presence. To be a Sufi means to have a higher awareness in life than others, to be “at the door to enlightenment” (Friedlander 1992: xix). Barks continues, “Turning is an image of how the dervish becomes an empty place where human and divine can meet” (Rumi 1995: 277). Since the death of Rumi in 1273, the whirling dervishes have performed his dance, known in English as the Turn (Friedlander 1992: xix), almost without halt. The ritual was only interrupted in 1924 with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and subsequent secularization policies. However, the sema was reintroduced 25 years later and has since been named one of the “Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO (UNESCO 2005).

IV. Istanbul: The Whirling Dervishes, the Sema, and the Music of Sufism Central to the sema ritual is a special kind of Sufi music, known as ayin, which is based on four cycles of vocal and instrumental compositions. The music is a fusion of Persian and Turkish sounds, using a combination of a singer, reed flute player (neyzen), kettledrummer, and other instruments (UNSECO 2005). During the ceremony, the dervishes enter the semahane, the hall, led by the semazsenbashi, or dance master (Friedlander 1992: 90). The dervishes line up on one side of the hall, while the musicians sit on a raised platform. The sema begins with praise to God and Muhammad in poetic form, known as the Nat-I Sharif, or “Noble Eulogy” (Gamard 2000). This praise, recited by the hafiz, comes in the form of a poetic ode believed to have been composed by Rumi himself. Since his death, additional praise for Rumi has been incorporated into pauses in the original poem, a characteristic feature of Sufi music (Gamard 2000). The hafiz also recites a selection of verses of his own choosing from the Qur’an during the ritual. Most common are those that begin, ‘“Which ever way you turn, there is the Face of God’ (Qur’an 2:115)” (Gamard 2014). Following this, the musical Taksim begins, consisting of a solo on the ney, which evokes the pain of longing for God as well as the divine breath. According to Dr. Ibrahim Gamard, a former whirling dervish trained in the traditional Mevlevi style, the music combined with the constant whirling “helps one to concentrate on the silent repetition of the name of God—Allah—in the heart, called the remembrance of God” (Gamard 2014). The dervishes then slap the floor, calling to mind the thunderous Day of Resurrection, circle the hall counterclockwise, and bow to each other (contemplating the divine in each of them) as peshrev music in 56/4 or 28/4 time begins (Gamard 2000). After the third circling, the dervishes bow in unison and remove their cloaks, kiss them, and let them drop to the floor” (Friedlander 1992: 91), leaving their worldly attachments.

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The dervishes then embark upon the first of four Salams, or segments. They unfold their arms, with their right palm facing up (letting energy from above enter) and their left down (allowing grace to use the body as a channel and pass back into the earth) and begin to spin (pictured above, Bergner 2013). The four Salams mimic the many purposes of Gospel songs and together seem to form a continuous hymn of praise. The first Salam represents human acceptance of “his condition as a creature created by God” (Sufism and Dervishes 2007). The second Salam “expresses the rapture of the human being witnessing the splendor of creation in the face of God’s greatness and omnipotence” (Sufism and Dervishes 2007). The third Salam involves the dervish dissolving in complete submission to the Beloved, and the fourth Salam allows the dervish to return back to his servanthood on earth (Sufism and Dervishes 2007). As the dervishes enter an ecstatic state of oneness with God, music builds in the background, with a different tempo and quality for each Salam (Friedlander 1992: 93). The music here is devotional in the same sense as gospel, but the tone, composition, and instrumentation are distinct. Finally, “After the vocal part of the Fourth Salam has ended, the musical composition continues with two brief instrumental sections in 4/4 and 6/8 time, followed by a final musical solo improvisation” (Gamard 2000). When the ceremony concludes and the dervishes once again don their cloaks, it symbolizes that they “have returned to their tombs but in an altered state” (Friedlander 1992: 92).

A distinctive dress is required for participation in the ceremony, which helps the dervishes to let go of their ego. Tall felt hats represent their tombstone, and the black cloak removed before whirling begins symbolizes the darkness of their own grave (Friedlander 1992: xix). When he is ready to begin turning, the dervish removes his cloak, and “like a fledgling bird, unfolds and stretches out his arms as the long white tenure, the shroud of their future, engraves a circle in the air. With each turn they invoke the Name of Allah, and perhaps for a moment experience their death before dying” (Friedlander 1992: xix). The dress of the dervishes, like the choral uniforms worn by gospel choirs, shows a unity of purpose and understanding. As the dervish spins, “His goal is to loosen himself from the earth’s glue which binds him and become one with God, to become a channel for His light” (Friedlander 1992: 19), just as the Houston singers use music to channel their praise to God. Gospel choirs may sway and occasionally jump, but the dervishes spin almost constantly. During the sema, dervishes rotate on their left feet, using their right foot to propel. The dervishes then stare through half-closed lids until images blur together and they see nothing at all. For minutes at a time, the dervishes turn without a break, and as soon as they stop, no one stumbles. It is as though they have been standing still all along.

Music in this devotional context has been allowed to flourish freely. The music, like the sema, expresses a devotional longing for God. This longing can be seen in gospel, too, in Bible verses such as Psalms 42: ‘“As the heart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O 10 | P a g e

God”’ (Özdalga 2001: preface). Rumi used the reed flute (or, ney), the principle instrument of the ayin, as a metaphor for his longing for God, and it has since become a longstanding symbol of Sufism. The reed of the ney has been cut off from its root and longs always for a reunion, as does the faithful one long for a reunion with God. The flute expresses this yearning through soft calls when it is played during ceremony. Elisabeth Özdalga writes, “The fact that the ney, a musical instrument, is chosen as an essential symbol for the mystical longing of the Mevlevi dervishes, is telling evidence of the importance of music in this order” (Özdalga 2001: preface).

The ney’s distinctive, low register and hoarsely sensual sound is “especially associated with spirituality” (Hammarlund 2001: 3). Other salient instruments include the long-necked lute, or tanbur; the pear-shaped lute, or ud; the bowed, three-stringed kemençe; the kanun, a plucked zither; and the kudüm, a pair of small kettledrums (Hammarlund 2001: 4). Quite a departure from the Hammond organ of Houston! Some of these—as well as the traditional black cloaks and hats of the dervishes—can be seen in the photograph above (Swiss Coopers 2012). Dr. Gamard notes that music is “very central” to the sema ceremony (Gamard 2014). It is “considered to be ‘classical Turkish,’ with similarities to Ottoman court music” (Gamard 2014), and in general, it is serene and contemplative. Unlike the three part harmonies heard in gospel music, Sufi sema music is “basically monophonic” (Hammarlund 2001: 4) with one melodic line played in unison. (To examine translations of authentic Mevlevi musical compositions, visit http://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/ayinler.html.) Music in this Sufi context draws one’s could closer to God, mirroring the function of Houston gospel. The difference here is that gospel is almost like a shout for God, while sema music supports “the dervishes in the silent remembrance of God in the heart while they whirl” (Gamard 2014). In the handbook of Sufism

by Hafs Omar as-Suhrawardi, he writes, ‘“Music does not give rise, in the heart, to anything which is not already there. So he, whose inner self is attached to anything else than God is stirred by music to sensual desire, but the one who is inwardly attached to the love of God is moved, by hearing music, to do His will”’ (Schimmel 2001: 12).

Implications I. Conclusions Although I sought to be reasonably comprehensive in my comparison, much room for research on the current issues faced by churches in Houston and the Sufi whirling dervishes remains. One thing that became clear during my survey of Houston churches is that there are quite a lot of them, and they’re often large. Houston is a growing city without any strict zoning laws. As such, churches can and do spring up just about anywhere. Although some might argue that Houston’s lack of zoning regulations creates a disorganized, poorly planned city, in fact, it is one of the most crucial elements to Houston culture. The absence of zoning codes creates a dynamic atmosphere in which churches, and by extension, gospel music, are able to bring all sorts of communities together within the city and flourish unimpeded.

In terms of gospel music specifically, there seems to be lack of scholarship on gospel’s role in the white population in Houston or even the United States in general. Gospel at its origin is an African American aesthetic form, the product of an oppressed minority. Most of my research sites were predominately African American (like gospel itself), but gospel is no longer just an African American phenomenon. Gospel has become a movement, spreading its 11 | P a g e

devotional energy to many other communities, including whites. Many spectacular publications exist on the African American connection to gospel, but work remains to be done on its popularity amongst white Americans. James Goff Jr. argues, “Southern gospel among the white population is a musical subgenre that has been largely overlooked by music historians as well as historians of American popular culture” (Goff 1998: 723). Although African American gospel has a rich and interesting history, it is very well documented; the historiography on the place of gospel in other ethnic groups, however, is sorely lacking. Clearly, there is a research void that begs to be filled.

One issue that Istanbul faces much more than Houston is tourism. Tourism, as a whole, is great for the economy, but it has both positive and negative effects on the culture of a city that hopes to keep old traditions alive. Today, and really since its banning in 1925, the sema ritual has become commercialized. After it was brought back and given UNESCO status, the sema drew great interest from Westerners. The Turkish government responded accordingly and sought (successfully) to make it a tourist attraction. While Houston gospel is funded mainly through the general church fund discussed earlier, whirling dervish performances get funding through the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, nongovernmental organizations, and private donations (Göymen 2014). However, as the Mevlevi Order is still technically illegal in Turkey, this has come at the expense of many of the religious elements of the ritual. Tourists do not have the time and patience for a two or three-hour ceremony, and in many cases, the sema has been truncated to under 45 minutes. Gamard notes that in Turkey, it is still difficult to get authentic dervish training because of the 1925 ban, even though the sema was permitted again starting in 1953 (Gamard 2014). In Turkey today, “Sufi traditions can only have the legal status of non-dervish educational organizations (such as the International Mevlana Foundation)” (Gamard 2014). The original sema “was a private remembrance-of-God ceremony for centuries” (Gamard 2014), while the sema common today functions “not as a private dervish ritual, but as a public ‘folkloric’ performance allowed only on stages (for the express purpose of promoting tourism)” (Gamard 2014). He adds that many of the so-called dervishes that perform for tourists in Istanbul today are in reality “young men chosen to have the arm strength to hold up their arms during the performances” (Gamard 2014). The religious significance of this ritual threatens to slip away, and “a number of musical styles related to the rituals are in danger of disappearing altogether” (UNESCO 2005). The touristy, shortened sema rituals that pervade Istanbul today, “[reflect] the profanation that occurs when sacred rituals are brought out on the market” (Özdalga 2001: preface). It is a cause for concern that this centuries-old ritual, and the music that accompanies it, may lose their true religious purpose.

That being said, tourism’s positive effects on the sema far outweigh its drawbacks. For decades after Turkish independence, the Sufis and their practices were intensively oppressed and outlawed in Istanbul. However, because of its commercialization for tourists, the sema has been able to live on instead of being lost to the ages. Tourism, in fact, is what keeps this ancient ritual alive. Sema reenactments are done with the utmost respect in a very somber atmosphere, and the dignity of the ritual remains intact. The whirling dervish performance may be commodified, but it is now opened to a much wider audience than ever before (for a small fee). For instance, in February 2014, I was able to witness a traditional Mevlevi sema ritual 12 | P a g e

firsthand at Hodjapasha Dance Theater. The ritual of the whirling dervishes has gained a sort of global prestige because of this and been able to survive despite its precarious legal situation. As a whole, tourism has had a positive effect as well as a negative one; the sema ritual is preserved but at the cost of some of its religious significance.

II. Final Thoughts Houston without its abundant churches and rich gospel scene would be woefully bereft, and—perhaps because of tourism—the whirling dervishes and their musical sema have become a treasured element of Istanbul culture. Devotional music, both Mevlevi and gospel, is like a golden thread woven into the fabric of both Istanbul and Houston and cannot be replaced.

Through music as a part of religious performance, Christianity and Sufism are united by a single impulse, which finds its origins in the songs of historically oppressed minority groups. Though the method may be slightly different, the devotion is the same. I would like to conclude with an excerpt from Rumi’s poetry, which helped to inspire the sema ritual and shows the unity of thought behind gospel and sema: Dance, when you’re broken open.

Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.

Dance in the middle of the fighting.

Dance in your blood.

Dance, when you’re perfectly free (Rumi 1995: 281).

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Acknowledgments This paper would not have been possible without enormous help, inspiration, and support from people both at Rice University and in Istanbul. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Rice School of Social Sciences and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research for the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to Istanbul with some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. I would especially like to thank Dean Ipek Martinez for her flawless organization of the trip, her unending patience and guidance during the topic selection process, and her assistance with arranging meetings both in Houston and abroad. I would also like to thank the brilliant Dr. Nia Georges, who helped me find what I was passionate about and supported me all the way through the research process. To Abbey Godley, thank you for making our trip to Turkey run seamlessly. To Giray Özşeker, no one could ask for a better Turkish translator than you; thank you for helping us get around the language barrier as well as for giving us your perspective on research topics. To Mitchell Massey, thank you for your advice on how best to approach the city and your help in coordinating a trip to see the whirling dervishes.

I am incredibly thankful to the fabulous Dr. Lisa Balabanlilar, whose history lectures are a constant source of inspiration in my life and research. I am also thankful to Dr. Korel Göymen, who provided valuable feedback on my research both in Houston and Istanbul, and to John Hardin, who shared so much of his perspective on gospel in Houston with me. Finally, I owe all the thanks in the world to my family—Charlotte Yust, John Carroll, and Ryan and Amber Carroll—for their constant love, support, and understanding. I would never have been in Istanbul or at Rice without you!

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