The Young Businessmen’ s Association of Strasbourg is composed mainly of second generation Turkish-Frenchmen whose families immigrated from eastern Anatolia. They value their Turkish traditions within their lives as French Europeans. Since The Contemporary Lovers of Mevlana Association is the only group which presents the thoughts and ways of the Exalted Mevlana by including men and women together in the choir and Sema Ceremony, these modern businesspeople invited 20 members of our association, choir and Semazens, to Strasbourg. We left Istanbul Sunday morning, December 2 and returned Wednesday morning, December 5,2001. To an audience of close to 1500 people, we presented a concert and Sema Ceremony. The concert was of joyful exuberant hymns composed mostly by Hasan Çıkar with music by various members of the choir. The hymns are in praise of God, the Prophet Mohammed, and our patron saint, Mevlana. The ceremony wa s in the Ussak makam, in honor of Mohammed with words by Hasan Çıkar and music by Mete Edman. The audience was greatly moved by the music, and watched the ceremony in respectful admiration. There was limited opportunity for close contact with the people of Strasbourg but Hasan Çıkar did engage some who were interested in a lively discussion concerning the Mevlevi Way, the Sema Ceremony, and the philosophy of Mevlana. A priest said that he felt there was something mysterious secreted in the Sema. Hasan Çıkar replied that it is the human being who is the secret of the Sema. The human being is the ultimate creation. After creating the whole world and everything in it God created man, then created Himself within man. And it is through the eyes of man that God surveys all His creation. The businessmen’ s association was generous in its welcome, and also provided the opportunity for us to take a tour of the city by canal. We hope to continue our close contact with them in future endeavors.
