Originally Posted by kaplan
if we knew a little more about Jalal ed-Din Rumi, the 13th century founder of the Turkic tariquat that was associated with the whirling dervishes, we would have been less surprised by Islam's compatibility with democracy, & Islamic fundamentalism might not seem so monolithic & threatening. Rumi dismissed "immature fanatics" who scorn music & poetry. He cautioned that a beard or mustache on a cleric is no sign of wisdom. Rumi favored the individual over the crowd, & consistently spoke against tyranny. Rumi's legacy is more applicable to democratiizing tendencies in the muslim world than are figures of the Arab & Iranian pantheons with whom the West is more familiar. The eclectic nature of Turkish Islam, as demonstrated by Rumi, goe4s together with Turkey's very Westernization.
