Islamic music
Islamic music includes music of the Middle East and Islamic Africa and South-east Asia such as Arab classical music, Persian classical music, Turkish classical music, and North Indian classical music. (Jenkins and Olsen 1976, p.1)
Prohibition
There is nothing in the Koran forbidding music, indeed music was played at the weddings of both Muhammad and his daughter (ibid), but there are later texts explaining issues not covered by the Koran. Some of these hadith (sayings) contain prohibitions of pleasure, implying that it is wrong to play or hear music. There is a book called the Haquida which contains a sentiment that most strict Muslims would agree with: "It is haram (forbidden) in every din to read with taghanni (singers) that is, with a melodious voice, poems that satirize others or describe indecency, alcoholic drink, and incite lust". Imam Muhammed Shirazi (1928 - 2001) developed a pacifist form of Islam which completely forbids any kind of music. It is illegal to broadcast heavy metal music in Malaysia. In contrast, Sufi sects privilege music in their ceremonies, at one time the khalifs or religious leaders entertained noted musicians, and respected philosophers such as Al-Kīndī, Al-Farābi, Avicenna, and Safi al-Din encouraged the practice of music through their study of its theory (ibid, p.2).
Sacred music
Forms
Muslim music takes these five forms:
- Mosque music (performed only by voice)
- non-rhythmic: Ezan (hymns sung by the Muezzerin), Salah (prayers sung five times per day).
- rhythmic: Ilahis (Sufi hymns based on poems by Sufi Saints)
- Sufi music may sometimes be accompanied by instruments. One Sufi order, the Mevlevi, are known for the "Whirling Dervishes"
- non-rhythmic: Naat, poems praising Muhammed
- rhythmic: Qawwali songs are sung mainly in Pakistan and India. Sufi religious songs often dwell on a single phrase or sentence. The repetition serves to emphasise a hidden meaning (Mevlevi order only). Nefes are hymns performed in Tekkes (lodges) of the Bektashi order.
- Music performed both in mosques and tekkes
- non-rhythmic: The chanting of the Koran is not considered to be music, though to non-Muslims, it sounds musical.
- Outdoor religious drama (Shia Muslims in Iran only)
- The Ta'zieh ("mourning") is a passion play, part musical drama, part religious drama, rarely performed outside Iran. It depicts the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, who is central to the founding of Shia Islam.
- Noble didactic songs called Manzuma are performed in Ethiopia. They are moral rather than religious.
Sufi music
The Sufi order was officially founded in the thirteenth century but elements of mystical Islam occurred from the decades after Mohammed's death. al-Ghazali (1059 - 1111) wrote "Revivification of Religious Sciences". The eighth section is called "Book of the Right Way of Audition and Trance" and is the first treatise on Sufism.
The ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes (see also sufi whirling) perhaps dates from the seventeenth century. Each lodge has a leader called a sheikh or semazen. In the known examples in the twentieth century this would contain 8 Dervishes and 8 musicians. In 1923 Kemal Ataturk began to suppress Sufi Dervishes in Turkey. By the sixties conditions began to be more relaxed and the dancers returned. Field recordings in Turkey and Iran were made by Deben Bhattacharya in 1955, 1960, 1972 and 1974.
The Sufi Ceremony
The Naat is a poem of praise of Mohammed. It is followed by a recitation from the Koran. Kudums (drums) break the silence and introduce the first Taksim, an improvisation on the ney (flute). The Dervishes follow the sheikh around the hall three times in the so-called Sultan Veled Walk. The first selam (salutation) introduces the dance. It is considered to represent the "birth to truth". The Dervish obtains permission to whirl by kissing the hand of the sheikh. He directs the dancer to his position. As the musicians play the chorus chants. The dancers turn slowly with their arms crossed, moving around the room. In the second selam, the "rapture of human beings witnessing splendour of creation", the speed up. Gradually they spread their arms. The third selam represents the rapture of dissolving into love. The fourth selam is a return to servitude. During this section the sheikh joins the whirling. There is then a thanksgiving hymn, a prayer for the peace of the souls of believers. The Son Taksim, another improvisation on the flute, ends the music. The Dervishes then meditate silently in rooms.
Recommended recordings of sacred Muslim music
Anything by:
Arabic Secular music
See Arab music.
Source
- Jenkins, Jean and Olsen, Poul Rovsing (1976). Music and Musical Instruments in the World of Islam. World of Islam Festival. ISBN 0905035119.