dervishes to attain union with God. (The term still designates certain types of folk dances.) In their attack against the Sufi mystical dance, the Islamic jurists likened it to non-Islamic genres such as the ‘Golden Calf’ dance or Christian dances, thus rendering it heretical ( bid‘a ). Religious prohibitions extended to other types of popular entertainment, with or without dance. The legists condemned pre-Islamic rituals which were enlivened with impressive music, such as the celebration of now-rūz (the ancient Persian New Year) and the different Nile festivals in
