We were shown around Khartoum by a wonderful group of couchsurfers who showed us incredible hospitality and amazing friendship. On Friday evening we went to the Sufi Dance (whirling dervishes) in nearby Omdurman. It was an incredibly intense experience, not only for the believers themselves, but also for us from a cultural point of view.
As the chanting grew louder and louder believers began to move almost as though they were possessed. Completely withdrawn in deep meditation and prayer from the continuous chanting and drumming, a few took to spinning in circles while others began to repeat physical motions, like bobbing their head or throwing up their hands. The man in the picture whirled around the inner circle for several minutes before the prayers and chanting came to an end.
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