Qawwali

Qawwali is a part of Sufi Muslim ecstatic worship. Sufis are a later branch of Islam, the two earlier being that of Sunnis and Shi`as. Sufism has its roots in the 7th and 8th century when some Muslims began expressing an interest in the direct personal experience of God (ma`rifa - rather than in theosophical theorizing) and were ready to put themselves into states that could accomplish that end.

Commonly dressed in garments made of coarse wool (suf), Sufis sought to shed dependence on the material world and to seek ecstatic divine experience (ghalaba, hal, or wajd). They accomplished this through reliance on a spiritual guide (murshid) [Literally, "director"] by an aspirant (murid). Fundamentally, the transmutation of the self (fana') can only be achieved through a guide, someone to show you how to attain it. The heart of the Sufi path (tariqa ) is the control of physical desires (nafs) through austerity, renouncement, and penitence. The result of following this path is the discovery of reality (haqiqat).

The poetry of qawwali draws upon the traditions of Urdu and Persian poetry. The most common poetic forms performed are gazal expressions of divine mystical love or praises of God, hamd praises of God, na't praises of the Prophet, Mohammed, and manqabat praises of saints or imams. [Qawwali also includes two genres attributed to Amir Khusraw: qawl and rang.]

The religious musicians who perform qawwali (and the hereditary community who perform Sufi religious song) are Qawwals [qawwal Arabic nm "one who speaks well"]. Many Qawwals trace their performing tradition to Amir Khusraw (1200s) and his ties with the Chishti sect of Sufism which is usually described as being founded by Mu'inuddin during the 12th century. However, qawwali is also performed by other professionals and sometimes by devotees at shrines. These performances are often on Thursdays, but also on the death anniversaries (urs) of famous saints. They also sometimes perform in processions to these shrines. Today, qawwali has become a popular entertainment for wedding ceremonies and other auspicious occassions. Moreover, qawwali appears in films and on television and tapes and records can be bought in the market place.

The performance ensemble is composed of the lead singer (mohri), secondary singers and instrumentalists (awaziya), supporting singers, and drummers.

Qawwali is both a non-liturgical religious musical gathering associated with the Chishti sect of Sufi Muslims, and the repertoire sung at these gatherings. The performance of qawwali generally features the alternation between soloist(s) and chorus and dynamic rhythmic accompaniment, but begins with an instrumental prelude (naghma) and an alap. [Also known as mahfil-i sama \maHfil-i samA\ "gathering for listening."]

Only two short tals are generally used in qawwali: the four-beat qawwali tal and 6-beat dadra tal. Melodies can be based on classical rags, rag-like melodies peculiar to the qawwali tradition, and folk melodies. In general, the text drives the performance so that enunciation is perhaps the most important element.

References

Akihiro, Takahashi. 1990. Notes to The JVC Video Anthology of World Music and Dance:54-64.

Qureshi, Regula. 1972. Indo-Muslim Religious Music, An Overview. Asian Music 3(2):15-22.

——. 1981. Islamic Music in an Indian Environment. Ethnomusicology 25(1):47-71.

——. 1986. Sufi Music of India and Pakistan. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

——. 1980. India, Subcontinent of: Popular Devotional Music, Muslim. In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 9:145b-147b. Edited by Stanley Sadie. New York: MacMillan Publishers, Ltd.).

Selected Performances

Hamd, "Allah-hoo, Allah hoo," performed by the Sabri Brothers.

Manqabat, "Dama Dam Mast Qalandar," performed by the Sabri Brothers.

Manqabat, "Mustt, Mustt," performed by Nasrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Manqabat, "Khwaja-e khwajgan . . . ," performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Sources of Indian Music