Nimetulahites

Nimetulahites an order of Turkish monks, so called from their founder, Nimetu-lahi, famous for his doctrine and the austerity of his life. The Nimetulahites originated in the 777th year of the Hegira, and are now quite extensively spread in Mohammedan countries. They assemble once a week to sing hymns in praise of God. The candidates for this order are obliged to continue shut up in a chamber for forty days, where their daily allowance is but four ounces of food, and no one is permitted to visit them. At the end of this fast the other devotees take the novice by the hand and perform a kind of dance, in which they make several extravagant gestures. During this exercise the novice commonly falls down in a trance, and at such time the Mohammedans say he receives some wonderful revelation. See Broughton, Hist. of Religion, s.v.