Core ritual sounds: Adhān, Qurʾān, Duʿāʾ

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Tuesday (2a)

Due today

Report including the following four works - address each in 1-2 paragraphs, and submit online.

Also: memorize Surat Ikhlas (chapter 112 of the Qur'an) -- containing just four short verses -- and try to perform along with the recording, using this website: http://quran.com/112. Note that you can turn transliteration on or off, and listen. The Qur'an contains 114 chapters or suras, arranged roughly from long to short. Surat al-Ikhlas (chapter of Sincerity), also known as Surat al-Tawhid (chapter of Unity) is said to contain the essence of the Qur'an as a whole.

Watch this video from The Guardian, in which a calligrapher speaks and demonstrates his art. Have a look at the calligraphic representation of the Qur'an.

For those who are interested, here are some links on Arabic script and calligraphy.

Class

Socratic dialogue

What is Islam? Music in Islam? Music and Islam?

Review

Discussions

  • Discuss film Koran by Heart. What did you learn about Muslim societies through this presentation of Qur'anic recitation and competition? Why is memorization important? What is the role of sound, melody? Aesthetics? Relation of sound to text? Issues: gender roles, Arabic language, ethnicity/culture, nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism, politics (Maldives, Egypt, Tajikistan), secular/religious educations. How do you think memorization differs between those who speak Arabic, and those who don't? (Meaning vs. Sound). What do you think of the idea of competition? How fair was it?
  • From this film: What do you learn about Islam through its sonic dimension that you might not learn otherwise?
  • What is the value in examining the "sounds of Islam"? "Music of Muslim societies" from an Islamic perspective? Course goals.


Qur'an

  • Revelation: 610 - 632 CE. Mecca, Medina. (Hijrah in 622)
  • Word of God - essentially oral, then written
  • Seven ahruf (letters) - 10 qira'at (readings)
  • Recensions: Abu Bakr, Uthman.
  • The structure of the Qur'an. The word - written (mushaf), recited (tilawa). 114 Suras (each titled), 6,236 ayas. 30 Juz', 60 hizb, 240 rubʿ.
  • Ordering in time (beginning with Surat al-Alaq), vs in text (beginning with al-Fatiha)
  • Major themes of the Qur'an: Declarations of monotheism; prophecy and revelation; existence of good and evil - injunction to do good and avoid evil; justice - reward and punishment in the afterlife; regulating the Muslim community - rules for living in society
  • Overview of Qur'anic recitation: tilawa. Mujawwad, murattal. Women reciters. Contexts for recitation.
  • Ahkam al-Tajwid - manuals of the "science of recitation", some online. Rules guiding: how to start and stop, where pauses are allowed or forbidden; phonetics: pronunciation of letters individually and in combination.
  • Controversy over the "music" variable:
    • Modality (maqamat) and melody are not treated in writing but rather in oral teaching, as the "art of recitation". The great reciters often combined this art along with the science of tajwid
    • The great Egyptian reciters took this approach, serving as global models - most notably Mustafa Ismail
    • Some enterprising Muslims have esetablished training in maqamat; one well-known figure online is Idrees Ally
    • Another expert in combining recitation science and art, teaching online
    • a more conservative approach to recitation
  • Learning Surat al-Ikhlas for kids, and people of all ages
  • Comparing recitations: Surat al-Ikhlas comparisonsteaching Malaysian woman
  • Surat Yusuf: multiple versions. How does recitation convey ideology without varying the text? [1]
  • Learning Qur'an (kuttab) and its implication for musical training and discovery of talent. Memorization is central. The Hafiz (memorizer) has a special status.
  • The recorded Qur'an. What are the implications of recording?
  • Calligraphic Qur'an: Surat al-Ikhlas in a circular arrangement;calligraphy as process

Language Performance

  • Language Performance: LP (ppt on adhan - ICTM seminar)

Thursday (2b)

Due today

Report including the following four works - address each in 1-2 paragraphs, and submit for 2b.

  • Shiloah, Music in the World of Islam, pp. 1-26
  • Schimmel, Islam, pp. 29-50
  • Empire of Faith part 2
  • Watch selectively: The Message, a feature film about the coming of Islam, from the director of Halloween.
  • Become familiar with the text of the adhān and listen to some recitations; we will try reciting together.

Class

Adhan

The call to prayer (adhān) performed by the muʾadhdhin (muezzin) {from the Arabic root ʾ-dh-n, relating to the ear and hearing, as well as permission), originally calling from the maʾdhana or manāra (lighthouse, minaret), with a subsequent shorter call (iqāma) performed from within the interior of the mosque. The adhān is closely connected to the structure of the mosque. Here are some images.

  • The adhan centers on Islam's first rukn (pillar), the shahāda or Islamic Creed الشهادة  (kalimatu l'tawhid or kalimatayn), in two parts:
  1. laa ilaaha illaallah لا اله الا الله
  2. muhammadun rasulullah  محمد رسول الله

Islamicate Music

  • Readings in Shiloah
  • Mostly what we know is the elite, court music... “art music"
  • Formation through Islam as catalyst (connecting people through empire, language, religion; gathering wealth) and also restrictions (e.g. primacy of the voice)
  • Commonalities
    • Focus on language, combined with sound system: tonal and temporal
    • music: tonality, temporality
      • maqam, microtones
      • iqa (darb, wazn, usul)
    • Shaped by Islamic discourse and practice (tilawa, Sufi hadra)
    • Shaping local Islamic practices
  • Variations:
    • ideological differences, e.g. Sunni and Shia
    • language, dialect, pronunciation
    • culture, contexts, articulation with pre-Islamic culture
    • social and political factors: immigration/borders/state policies
    • Ramification of sound: localization adaptation
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