The Mystical Qawwali

Electric, spirited and earnest are some of the adjectives readily associated with a qawwali performance. The trance-inducing genre of Hindustani music has a vibrant tradition in the Indian Subcontinent. This post may allow one to see how it is not just a performing art but a means to touch the unknown.

Sufism emerged early on in the history of Islam, as a mystical practice - a personal, experiential approach to Allah, existing throughout the Muslim world (perhaps most visibly in Turkey, where whirling dervishes represent a strain of Sufism).

Sufis believe life on Earth is separation and exile. Death is the reunion with the Beloved. The anniversary of the death of a saint is celebrated as a would-be wedding. It is called 'Urs' which means "Nuptial Union". Sufis travel from one shrine to another during the festival spreading the deeply spiritual messages through Qawwalis that are rich in religious idiom, relating to the concepts of love, freedom, ecstasy and above all humanity.

Qawwali is an essential ingredient of worship practiced by Sufis and used for the design, creation and cultivation of techniques that induce ecstasy not just in the listener but in the performer as well. Like Sufism, Qawwali is experiential.

The word Qawwali comes from the Arabic word ‘qaul’ which literally means 'utterance of the name of God,’ and refers to the genre and its performance.

The Qawwali, especially in the Indian Subcontinent, can be traced back to the 12th century when the great Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moin-Ud-Din Chishtie travelled to India to bring the message of Islam to the Hindu nation. Realising the latter appreciated the power of music over words, he decided Qawwali is the way to go for awaking the name of Allah.

The form of qawwali we are most familiar with today is believed to have been invented by the multifaceted poet-musician Amir Khusrau (1253-1325), credited with inventing the sitar, tabla along with establishing the foundations of Khayal Sangeet.

Traditionally, Qawwali performances or mehfils were intimate gatherings that saw listeners sitting on the ground rather than on seats.

Now, a Qawwali group consists of eight or nine men including a lead singer, one or two side singers, one or two harmoniums and percussion that command the concert halls. Harmonium is a recent introduction that took over Sarangi due to its difficulty in tuning. There is also a chorus of four or five men who repeat key verses, and who aid and back up percussion by hand-clapping.

By repeatedly and hypnotically chanting salient phrases, they transport audiences to a spiritual nirvana, a trance-like state that some describe as akin to flying.

Qawwali not only utilises nearly all the ragas of North Indian Hindustani Sangeet but has also contributed some of its own to the mainstream tradition, as well as a musical genre, known as Tarana (short rhythmic pieces consisting entirely of syllables drawn from Persian words as well as the percussive sounds of tabla and pakhawaj).

Likewise, the tradition follows a family-oriented Gharana tradition where the performative technicalities are passed down from one generation to the other.

Qawwali has come a long way from the time when it was only a piece of devotional music for the Sufis. With changing times, it has redefined and reinvented itself. The purists may not comply with but it has increasingly become the preserve of the young who are infusing new life into this traditional form of music.

Qawwals of the late 20th Century such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and The Sabri Brothers have attracted Western attention to the genre as has its appropriation by Bollywood films barring music directors like AR Rahman who understand the essence of the genre. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was probably the greatest Qawwal of the century along with being a great inspiration for artists like Jeff Buckley (who learned & sang his songs in Urdu).