Overview of Sufism
Sufism, simply put, is Islamic mysticism. Sufism is also popular by the name Tasawwuf in the Arab world. It is essentially a movement of the followers of Islam in pursuit of discovering celestial veracity and love by way of the direct encounters that they seek to have with God. Sufism evolved out of Islam, precisely between the 8th and 9th centuries C.E., in the form of a frugal movement.
This ascetic movement was given the name Sufism due to the coarse wool garments that denotes their denunciation of worldly pleasures. Conventionally, the Sufis were also known to have taken oaths of dearth in their lives and celibacy. Sufism essentially paved way to several religious practices that focused on aspects of severe extents self-control that help the follower of Sufism in both psychological as well as celestial acumens and even losing one’s own self, with the final objective of attaining spiritual unification with God.
Sufism is more a philosophy that deals with the “actualization of divine ethics.” It essentially encompasses an open-minded inner being that is enlightened, which does not claim of any intellectual validation; believes in disclosure and experiencing, rather than believing in logic.
Divine ethics essentially denotes to those set of ethics that surpass ordinary social treaty, and is more a way of life that focuses on the actualization of the characteristics of God. Simply stated, Sufism is neither a religion nor a cult, but is rather a form of purifying one’s heart and making it devoid of any bad intentions or characteristics.
Origins of Sufi Music
Sufi music and qawwali have been a part of the very soul of Oriental culture for countless centuries now. Sufism has a simple notion of spreading universal brotherhood with the help of love (expressed through poetry) as well as music. It, thus, mandates containment of the aboriginal instances and forms for transforming into an acceptable form to one and all, regardless of their caste, creed, and religion. “Maulana Jallaludin Rumi, with the help of Shadi Sheerazi, developed the dance form of ‘whirling dervishes’ to the beat of the daff from the sound of copper vessels used by potters of Turkey .”
This form of dance is precisely referred to as ‘sama,’ and is possibly one of the most renowned method of cultural communication popular in Turkey and also performed in many parts of the world. Interestingly, each of every performance of ‘sama’ begins with a brief introduction given to the audience about the religious nature of the dance form and even requesting an appropriate conduct on part of the audience during the course of the performance.
In Egypt, the verses pf Sufi music are crooned after the same being adapted into the local languages and even complementing the same using musical instruments that are popular in the local folk music, which the peasants in Egypt use. Another similar instance of Sufi music localization is with respect to Morocco, where pre-Islamic theology was present since ages and Sufism was eventually accepted and acknowledged. The people of Morocco also are known to use their local instruments even today, for international performances of Sufi.
In actuality, the original philosophical poetry of the original Sufi Masters are adapted into local dialect and are sung in conformity with the local folk culture. Even in the case of India, Sufi music is known to have been localized, and the same is popular by the name ‘qawwali,’ which is massively different from the several Sufi music that are popular in various international locations all over the Arab world.
Qawwali music holds a pivotal position in the Sufi culture as well as worship and has transformed into a Muslim expression of art. The cultural arms of Qawwali have also expanded to areas beyond the mere epicenter of Qawwali music, and has spread in extensively in the norther part of India. As already mentioned, Sufism is a very remarkable and a profoundly mystical tradition of the Muslims, which revolves around this dynamic and vibrant form of music that has actually inspired several millions of music lovers till date and continues to do so.
With the advent of globalization, Indian music today, particularly the classical Indian music, is progressing towards adapting and appealing to a global audience as well as background and has started integrating sophisticated technology. The trend is also being followed even for qawwali as well as Sufi music, which have their origins in the semi-classical Indian music.
Qawwali is not only popular in India alone but is even highly renowned and revered in Pakistan. Shankar-Shambhu and Nustrat Fateh Ali Khan were the two great artists who have led to the global popularity of Qawwali music, both in India and Pakistan, by making the audience feel a sense of emotional ecstasy with their qawwali performance.
In fact, in the Indian subcontinent, Sufi beliefs are expressed in a number of ways and through various genres of music like for instance, “Qawwali, Qaul, Qalbana, Ghazal, folk forms from Rajasthan, Sindh & Punjab, Sufiyana kalam from Kashmir, etc..” Even so, it is Qawwali, the household Indian genre credited to Amir Khurau Dehlavi (1253 - 1325), the renowned Sufi scholar, poet and musician, being one of the highly renowned 'food for the soul'.
Undoubtedly, this household form of Sufi music shares several common characteristic with the classical Indian light music; yet, with factors like transcendent poetry and influential tempo and cadence signifying incessant reverberation of God's name, known as zikr in Urdu, the Qawwali music justifies a religious purpose – i.e. arousal of spiritual love and divine delight, which is at the heart of the experience of Sufism.
The Qawwali Songs and their verses
The text of the Qawwali songs is essentially spiritual poetry written in dialects of Farsi, Hindi and Urdu, and contains a rhythmical expression that is opulent with allegory and symbolism, which several generations of Sufi poets known to have endowed with a treasure of exceedingly extravagant content that is high in metaphors. Eventually, extensive in terms of meaning that could possibly be expressed with the use of minimal words drawn out of this acquainted and extensively like the Sufi simile.
The final effect is that, such an expression is both instantaneous and also universal. The Qawwali songs “are sung in a fluid style by alternating solo and group passages characterized by repetition and improvisation.” The energetic drum beat that accompanies the dholak (a barrel-shaped Indian musical instrument) is reinforced further through clapping of hands by the performers while the small harmonium they carry while singing, highlights the melody of the specific song that is being sung. The portable harmonium is normally carried by the lead singer.
For several centuries now, the Sufi communities of the India have upheld this tradition of music in the mahfil-e-sama, the 'assembly for listening', which continues as the most important ritual even today, specifically at the shrines of Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia in New Delhi and Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, which is in Ajmer. These people are the most popular Sufi saints who are considered as holy and sacred by the Sufi communities. In addition, a number of Sufi musicians in India trace their lineage to the original Qawwali singers who were apparently considered to have been trained by Amir Khusrau, one of the most influential follower and believer of Shaikh Nizamuddin Aulia.
Basis of Sufi Music
“Zaman (the path), maqan (destination, that is, closeness to Allah) and riqwan (the practice and dedication)” are the three important prerequisites of the Sufi music and they even form the basis of this form of music.
Sufi music is a form of music that is heavily poetry oriented – which in the Inidan dialect of Hindi is called ‘shabdhpradhan,’ and this is accompanied by aamad (rhythm). Aamad is nothing but clapping of the hands by the singers.
The following are the most important elements of Sufi music:
“1. shazeena—nagma (melody);
2. rubaee—qatat (four verses of poetry);
3. uthan—girehbandi (music and some part of poetry are on high note and repeated many times);
4. khirat—khyal (lost some were in music and poetry); and 5. improvision—do angkagana (qawaali)”
Both Amir Khusrau and Baba Bulleh Shah are known to have been instrumental in the expansion of the catalogue of Sufi verses and music in a few local Indian languages like for instance, Punjabi, Purbi and Braj. In addition, the expansion of these verses is also believed to have taken place by their adaptation into various other languages apart from the above, like the Deccani Urdu as well as Bengali.
The rendition of qawwali also is known to have apparently initiated as an annual occasion, precisely during the urs of Baba Faridi and the same was subsequently adopted at other Sufi shrines as well. According to historical information, Ala’ al-Din Khilji, the Sultan of Delhi who ruled Delhi between the period 1296 and 1316, had apparently invited Khusrau to give a Sufi performance at the majesty’s royal court, bringing out qawwali form its original shrine confines for the very first time in history. The royal backing of the Sufi music as well as the qawwali songs continued even during the Mughal rule.
During the British rule in India, Sufi music endured the patronage offered by the landlord (locally popular by the name zamindars) and the rich people belonging to the jajmani system, which marked the inauguration of qawwali as a form of entertainment.
One of the primary motives of the qawwali music and the singer of qawwali music is to encourage a sense of spell in the audience in a collective traditional setting. The receptivity of the audience, despite being connected with the motives and enthusiasm of connecting with the trance, is focused more on the cultural mechanisms in contrast to the natural forces that are, more often than not, attributed to some kind of enigmatic power that is beyond description and reason.
The incoherence of individual presence is supported with the permanency of the very culture of this musical form. The proficiency of the lead singer (commonly referred to as the qawwali) is intensely tested before a group of audience who have very little or almost no knowledge of the concepts of this musical form, but only a master is capable of moving the whole group of listeners to a halt, even if they have no knowledge of anything of relevance at all and also fail to understand at least one word of the Sufi versus that is being sung.
The patriarchic nature of Qawwali music
Right from the early days of the evolution of Islam as a religion, the public domain was an entirely a male realm. Women, however, did take part in scholarship and are known to have participated in battles in unusual and special situations, but the dominion of adoration, at best, allowed equivalent yet discrete action.
Women were permitted to go into the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine of a Sufi pir or saint. However, a religious or a musical performance and gathering saw the presence of men only, and this continues in the same way even in the current day contemporary world. A few famous exceptions have emerged with the emergence of female qawwals like Abida Parveen and Reshma.
The Setting and performance of Qawwali Music
Typically, the qawwali music is performed predominantly in the shrines of Sufi saints or alternatively at the gathering point of a Sufi community. Qawwali performances at the shrines normally happen on Thursdays and an extravagant qawwali performance takes place every year at the annual urs festival. Urs is the day of the passing away of a spiritual reader to the eternal world.
At this annual festival, one can see a number of qawwals singing and showering praises through their songs in honor of the Sufi saint or spiritual leader (referred to as pir) whose urs is being feted.
A competition (locally called as the muqabala) is presumed to have been initiated in these urs as all the qawwals try to give out their best performance by praising the pir during these celebrations. Conventionally, it is a holy religious ceremony and performance devoid of any form of technical assistance.
Everyone present at the ceremony, including the qawwals as well as the audience, sit cross-legged on the ground in an enclosure that faces the shrine of the pir. Even in case the numbers of audience is massive, conventionally, no microphones or speakers or any other form of musical aides or support systems are not known to have utilized and the strong and dynamic voice of the qawwals rings in a clear manner to the entire audience, irrespective of how large the gathering is.
Conclusion
It may thus be concluded that, with a considerable degree of guarantee, the Sufi music and qawwali, despite being a genre that has profound mystical and devout backgrounds, is known to have never possessed any standard form, in terms of its performance. It had always been a collective rendering and performance of philosophical verses in the local dialect, set to appeal to the local audience.
References
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