Islamic performance genres

Islamic vocal performance traditions of Egypt : LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE IN ISLAM

Tilawa, ibtihalat, adhan, ad`iyya, tawashih, dhikr, aghani diniyya, inshad dini, inshad sufi

Michael Frishkopf

short link: http://bit.ly/islamperf

Note that the semantic scope of each of these words is different, and (except for aghani diniyya) none of them overlaps with either musiqa or ghina' - indeed to imply an overlap is somehow sacrilegious:

• musiqa: (a) theoretical-philosophical tradition (historical definition), or (b) melodic instrumental music, possibly combined with vocals (contemporary definition).
• ghina': singing (for entertainment or aesthetic pleasure)

Nevertheless, the religious genres almost always center on a sophisticated use of the maqamat.

Not only that, but
(a) because religious genres center on solo vocal performance (highlighting the text), often ametric, and
(b) because there is a preference for spontaneous expression of emotion in reaction to spiritual texts and contexts, and
(c) because in the case of the Qur'an there is also an aversion to any melodic composition, which could be considered an "association" (shirk) with God), therefore...

...vocal performance tends to feature melodic flexibility (~improvisation), developing the maqamat, and audience responses reminiscent of secular tarab (though that word may be rejected in favor of something more spiritual, e.g. nashwa ruhiyya, spiritual refreshment, or wajd, spiritual ecstasy).

Metered singing appears in corporate inshad dini (primarily in the Sufi orders, as a technique for the liturgical unification of the group), and in some religious songs (aghani diniyya) straddling the boundary of "singing" and "religion".

All genres may be categorized under what I call "Language Performance" (see Frishkopf 2013, Frishkopf 1999). Here are some examples:

Mainstream sounds of Islam

Qur'anic recitation (tilawa). The performer is called muqri' or qari'.

Call to prayer (adhan). The performer is called mu'adhdhin.

Supplications in prayer (ad`iyya). The performer is called da`i.

The dawn prayer rite (salat al-fajr) (a complex of genres)

Ramadan: the pre-dawn misahharati (recorded 20 July 2015 in Cairo). The misahharati traditionally wanders the neighborhood just before dawn, waking the people to take their pre-dawn meal (suhur), since fasting will begin with the first glow of the night sky.

Inshad dini: traditional chanting/singing of religious poetry. The performer is called a munshid (and is often given the title "shaykh").

Islamic rituals and festivals often carry particular sounds, for instance: Hajj and Eid al-Adha.

• Sounds of Hajj:
  • Talbiya
  • The text of the Talbiya

• Sounds of Eid al-Adha prayer:
  • Takbir al-Eid: performed before Eid prayers on the days of Eid (Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha) also: [1][2].
  • The text of the Takbir

• Soundscapes: At particular times of the day, week, or year, a number of sound sources converge on the listener, producing a rich and evocative soundscape.

Listen to a few examples of such Islamic soundscapes.

Sufi sounds

Inshad sufi: part of a larger ceremony called hadra or dhikr

Five Sufi Hadras from my fieldwork

The weekly Saturday hadra at the saha of Sidi Ali Zayn al-Abidin (Cairo, Egypt, 1998)

Popular Islamic music (in the "Muslim world" and elsewhere...)

Popular Islamic music can be divided into two types. Some performers are wholly devoted to religious performance, but bring contemporary standards of popular music production to bear, along with some new musical developments, e.g. complex arrangements, harmony, counterpoint. Nasheed (nashid, nasyid) is the common term for a more contemporary genre of inshad, sung religious poetry, influenced by popular music production standards, but developing out of traditional Arab inshad.

Popular Islamic nashid occurs in a variety of languages e.g.

• Yusef Islam
• Sami Yusef
• Zain Bhikha (children's song)
• Mishary Rashid

4shabab, a music video TV channel carrying Islamic themes, including nasheed. Watch on YouTube, e.g. [3]

The work of others is closer to contemporary popular music, often incorporating melodic instruments, and featuring contemporary arrangements. Often artists typically do not portray themselves as carrying a primarily Islamic identity, though sometimes they do. Usually they bring together a range of styles (including Islamic) and typically do not perform in religious contexts, such as mosques or Sufi hadras. They tend to be heard through the media, or in concert.

Unlike nasheed proper, such music builds in part or in whole upon contemporary non-religious genres, whether local or western-- from older Arab art music to hip hop and neo-soul to folk, metal and even country -- or upon other more localized genres. The boundaries are somewhat arbitrary, but one can say that generally speaking nasheed is an extension of traditional inshad genres (e.g. ibtihalat, or Sufi dhikr), whereas the newer popular genres move beyond those into other musical domains.

In the Arab world, aghani diniyya, literally "religious songs", are performed by a secular artist, or by a munshid in a secular setting. In the past such songs adopted a tarab (traditional emotional) musical style representative of elevated art music in the region.

Islamic popular music is a global phenomenon today. Popular performers include the British Iranian-Azeri Sami Yusuf. In one album (My Umma) he scrupulously avoided use of musical instruments, but later made use of them as in this clip, though not without invoking criticism. In his song My Umma he deploys music and rich harmonization; in You Came to Me he deliberately makes use of several languages, emphasizing unity of the Muslim Ummah (community). Sami has recently sought to move to a more "universal" musical category, beyond the limitations of Islamic pop; he calls it spiritique.

Other performers of Islamic popular music include Zain Bhikha from South Africa, Mesut Kurtis from Macedonia (here he performs a contemporary version of the Burda), the Indonesian Haddad Alwi and the phenomenal Malaysian boy band, Raihan, performing what is locally called "nasyid". Some southeast Asian nasyid contains elements of local music, e.g. gongs.

Islamic versions of Western popular music genres have been developed by Muslims living in the West, born in the West of Muslim heritage, or converts. They often use western musical genres (albeit inflected with Islamic traditions concerning vocal timbre or use of instruments) to support Islamic texts and intentions. Examples include Islamic performance poetry and hip-hop (Amir Sulayman, who recently performed poetry at the University of Alberta and also raps).

There is Islamic punk rock (Taqwacore) (e.g. the Kominas, Islamic folk-rock (Dawud Wharnsby Ali, and of course Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens), even Islamic country (Karim Salama) (Buysse, 2007, Swedenburg, 2002, Miyakawa, 2005, Abdul Khabeer, 2007). Many of these musics tend to engage social issues afflicting diasporic Muslim communities, e.g. racism and drug use, addressing non-Muslims as well.

Here are some additional links:

• Taqwacore (Islamic punk). "Taqwacore", or Islamic punk, emerged with life imitating art: the style was defined in a novel by Muslim convert Michael Muhammad Knight, before emerging in practice. Watch documentary film here.
• Heavy metal Islam
• documentary on Islam and hip hop
• Busta Rhymes, hip hop
• Snoop Dog
• Kareem Salama and country

A fascinating underground trend is the relation of Islam - especially five percenter Islam (Nation of Gods and Earths) - to hip hop...

• Vice article
• Five Percenter Rap, by Felicia Miyakawa
• Five percenter Islam and hip hop[4]
• Celebrity five percenters
• Erykah Badu [5][6]