More about Sufi music, and Islam on the Edges: the Caribbean
Tues (6a)
Due today
No new assignments due. Please catch up with anything you've missed, and work on extending your paper proposals, outlines, and bibliographies.
In class
The general sphere of Sufi music as spiritual connection
... of the "third circle" (general spirituality) and its connection to the broader realm of Islamicate musics.
Sound plays a critical role in this broader realm of Islamic spirituality, towards overcoming distance and creating intimacy, through a variety of themes and styles, all of which may be loosely grouped as "inshad" or "anashid" or "nashid"...all ranging from speech to song in melodic/temporal style:
- madih or naʿt - praise for the Prophet, Ahl al-Bayt, Awliyaʾ (saints), sometimes recounting miracles (performer: maddah, qawwal)
- tawassul or madad - requests of Prophet, Ahl al-Bayt, Awliyaʾ
- tasbih, takbir, or tamjid - praise for God
- ibtihalat - requests of God
The following types are more characteristic of specifically Sufi settings:
- ghazal - love for spiritual persons (ambiguous)
- al-hubb al-ilahi - Divine love
- khamriyya - spiritual intoxication
- maʿrifa - gnosis
All such devotions are particularly intense on Muslim holidays, particularly Mawlid, Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and Israʾ wa Miʿraj
- Ramified LP: Busiri's Burda and its global recitations (as communicative praise, as affective sonic-social event, as ritually efficacious formula), and his mosque in Alexandria (Burda = cloak of the Prophet, intertextual link to the older "Banat Suʿād" of Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr)
- Famous early recording of the Laithiyya order in Cairo (1932)
- Shaykh Ahmed al-Tuni of Egypt and "sukr" (vs "sahw" of Shaykh Yasin)
- Tawashih Diniyya, Ibtihalat, Aghani Diniyya: comparison
- Compare the tawashih style, leader (shaykh, munshid) and responding group (bitāna), featuring Shaykh Taha al-Fashni (1900-1971), the greatest exponent of this style of inshad, as well as of ibtihālāt (a solo version). He was also a great Qur'an reciter (qāriʾ). Note the call/response along with tarab-like responses from listeners, is typical of this style.
- Shaykh Naqshabandi performing ibtihalat, praising the Prophet, on the occasion of Israʾ wa Miʿraj.
- مولاي إني ببابك قد بسطت يدي "My Lord, I am at your door, my hands extended", is sung in ibtihalat/tawashih style by Shaykh al-Naqshabandi, but with instrumental (takht/orchestral) accompaniment, and the song is composed by the famous Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi, who composed for many popular singers, including Umm Kulthum and many others. [1]
- Mevlevi Ayin and Ottoman art music
- Ghanaian Akwashirawa and traditional drumming music of the Dagomba
- Inshad Sufi of Shaykh Yasin, and Egyptian tarab music
- Qawwali and Hindustani music of South Asia.
- Music, Sound, and Architecture in Islam: structured/structuring space and sound, and their interactions
- Sufi processions and public space
- Virtual Sonic Architecture: Hadim Ibrahim Pasha Mosque in Istanbul
- Talk: "The Sonorous Audible Mosque". Sound as key to spirituality.
- Scenes of Mecca and Medina.
Islamic holiday last Wed night/Thursday: The Night Journey and Ascent: Isrāʾ wa Miʿrāj - 27 Rajab, 621
Overview
- Isrāʾ wa Miʿrāj is the annual commemoration of the Prophet's night journey to Jerusalem and ascension to heaven, on 27 Rajab, in 621 (the year before the Hijra)
- Follows the Prophet's Year of Sorrow, 619 (in that year, both his wife Khadijah and his uncle Abu Talib both passed away), and immediately precedes the migration to Medina
- This was a difficult period in the Prophet's life.
- The miraculuous journey, Isrāʾ wa Miʿrāj, alluded to in the Qur'an (17:1) is more fully described in the Hadith, as well as in Sira (Prophet's lifestory, e.g. of Ibn Hisham and others), tafir (Qur'anic interpretation), and in poetry.
- Was it a spiritual journey or a bodily journey? This has been a continual issue for debate among Muslim scholars and even the Prophet's own companions.
- Regardless, Miʿrāj is the Archetypal mystical journey back to the Source, to God... the journey of "closer than your jugular vein" (Qur'an 50:16), returning to the mystical proximity of the Revelation itself, following periods of meditation in the cave Ghār Hirāʾ on the Mountain of Light (Jabal Nūr) near Mecca, when the Prophet was "two bows' lengths or closer" ([https://quran.com/53/9 Qur'an 53:9) from the angel Gabriel, who delivered the Revelation.
- This ultimate spiritual immediacy is a paragon for the Sufi spiritual journey, e.g. the ascent through the maqāmāt (spiritual stations)
- We see similar journeys outlined in all the Sufi orders, as well as in poetic works, e.g. in Attar's Mantiq al-Tayr
- As always there is a "language performance" component as a means of celebrating, commemorating, and honoring this story about the Prophet
- As Sufism is typically centered on love and respect for the Prophet and his family, Ahl al-Bayt (especially Ali and the line of Imams in Shia Islam), as well as saints (awliyāʾ), and because the journey is archetypal for Sufis, celebrating this occasion is special for those of Sufi orientation, including the Sufi orders (turuq) in particular, but also "informal Sufism", the more mystical/devotional aspect of Islam generally. Language performance plays a key role throughout, in lessons, sermons, prayers, and inshad.
- Wednesday night's webinar from "Celebrate Mercy", including lessons from a variety of speakers, as well as salawat and inshad -- all forms of language performance, with a Sufi orientation, expressed as love and praise for the Prophet. Here is an excerpt, starting with salawat from Dr. Shadee Elmasry, followed by inshad (from the previous year) performed by Sidi Mouaz Al Nass
- Chapter 7 of the Qasidat al-Burda, or "Mantle Ode" written in praise of the Prophet by the Egyptian Sufi al-Busiri (1213-1294), a follower of the great Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. While madīh (praise for the Prophet), is a common genre of Islamic literature around the world, the Burda is the most famous instance. Each of the 10 chapters recounts an aspect of the Prophet's life; the 7th concerns the Isrāʾ wa Miʿrāj. al-Busiri is buried in Alexandria near al-Shadhili's other great disciple, Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi. Sufis often recite Busiri's poem near his shrine (maqām). [Each of the 10 chapters recounts an aspect of the Prophet's life; the 7th concerns the Isrāʾ wa Miʿrāj I visited last summer, took some pictures and made a recording.]) Listen while following along in the text. The recitation style is typical of Sufi poetry, repeating a simple melody for every line, with a different melody used for the refrain (which is not part of the poem).
- The famous Egyptian mubtahil (performer of ibtihalat), munshid and muqri' (Qur'an reciter/teacher), Shaykh Nasr al-Din Tubar (1920-1986). Note the tarab-like responses, similar to those of Qur'anic recitation.
- Traditional style of inshad, probably from a Sufi order (tariqa), from a mosque in Hamah, Syria
- The nightly journey, sung by children in Zanzibar, Tanzania, in a more traditional choral arrangement
- Isra wal Mi'raj Nasheed. Story., contemporary Arabic nasheed style, similar to popular music but a religious texts, performed a cappella
- The Seerah Song: The Story of Al-Isra and Mi'raj, in a contemporary English language nasheed style
- When the year of sorrow came to be | English Nasheed on Mi'raj an-Nabi
- Arabic madih produced in North America
- Solo madih
Thurs (6b)
Due today
In preparation for today's symposia and concert celebration Artists of the Caribbean Diaspora, we'll focus on Islam in the Caribbean region, where it is a minority tradition gathering a surprisingly wide array of influences, especially from South Asia, and providing an excellent example of Islamic localization and syncretism outside the core Muslim majority world, via the forces of colonialism. It's also a good introduction to both Shia and popular American traditions that we'll encounter in subsequent weeks.
Please do the following, and then submit a short (one page or less) critical summary.
- Watch a short video, Caribbean Geography Made Easy, to get a better sense of the cultural geography of this region (there are many such videos online; I selected this one not for its scholarly quality, but rather because it's narrated by someone from the region (Saint Martin), providing an insider perspective - and (importantly) because it includes mainland South American areas of Guyana and Suriname as well as the islands; this area of the Caribbean contains with some of the highest concentrations of Muslims of the region)
- Next, listen to this podcast, Muslims of the Caribbean, with guests Dr. Aliyah Khan and Dr. Kenneth Chitwood, focusing especially on Hosay (the local pronounciation of "Husayn", marking the Shiite holiday of Ashura, commemorating Husayn's martyrdom in 680, in Karbalāʾ, Iraq, though in Trinidad it is celebrated by non-Shia also. (The podcast is also available via your favorite podcast apps, such as Pocket Casts.)
- Then, read the Introduction to Dr. Khan's 2020 book, Far from Mecca: Globalizing the Muslim Caribbean
- Finally, watch this short doc Hosay Commemoration in Trinidad - St. James.
In class
No regular class at 2pm. Instead please attend the Black History Month festival Artists of the Caribbean Diaspora, at least from 2pm...all daytime sessions will be held in the Senate Chamber, in the Old Arts building, 3rd floor, just in front of the main stairway. On Thursday Feb 15 they feature Edmonton-based artists of Caribbean descent.
The 1:30 - 3:00 pm session (during our class time) features Taneya Rogers (Spoken Word) and Medgine Mathurin (Poetry) (and is preceded by a free Caribbean lunch at noon, in front of the Chamber!). Please check the schedule and attend other events also, including the concert (6 pm to 8 pm) and Friday's sessions on the Caribbean-French composer Le Chevalier.
Thursday's symposia, all in the Senate Chamber:
- 10:30 - 12:00 - Mboya Nicholson (Jazz) and Raneece Buddan (Visual Art)
- 13:30 - 15:00 - Taneya Rogers (Spoken Word) and Medgine Mathurin (Poetry)
- 15:30 - 17:00 - Judah Robinson (Hip Hop) and Elsa Robinson (Visual Art)