Whirling dervishes are a famous sect of Islamic dancers/musicians, practitioners of Sufism, which can be regarded as a Turkish-Anatolian interpretation of Islam. Sufism focuses heavily on the inner peace of man, and has meditation-like practices to feel closer to God. What whirling Dervishes do is also a way of feeling closer to God.

Aside from these there are a few bands called Whirling Dervishes - one being the now defunct new wave band which famously covered "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch"

The other is still quite alive; a Los Angeles based Math-Rock/Jazz quintet. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.