Aghani diniyya

Musical inshad and aghani diniyya

Whereas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, singers and munshidin were often indistinguishable, the two streams "singing" and "hymnody" drifted apart by mid-century due to media and capitalist pressures. Nevertheless crossover does happen--even in the present (with popular music more commercial than ever, while religious trends are more literalist than ever) pop singers may release "religious" songs from time to time.

• Orchestral inshad (religious song). Performed by Shaykh Sayyid al-Naqshabandi with chorus and

orchestra. Here is an example of transformation of the older ibtihalat and tawashih traditions. Shaykh Naqshabandi became famous through media appearances. Formerly he performed in the traditional vocal style, which was later augmented with orchestra and fixed arrangements. Note the focus on nay (reed flute), whose sound is a symbol of Islamic mysticism and contemplation, as well as the duff (frame drum), which is specially sanctioned by Prophetic traditions in Islamic music.

• Aghani diniyya (religious songs performed by ordinary singers=mutribin). Performed by ‘Abd al-Halim Hafez

Hafez. ‘Abd al-Halim was Egypt’s Elvis, an extremely popular singer of romantic songs; he did not train in the religious tradition and has no status as “shaykh”. However during religious holidays he might sing religious material; this tape is an example. It cannot be considered pure inshad dini, since the context, style, and performer do not certify the performance as a true devotional act. The nay is used to mark the performance as religious, and the mood is subdued, with little meter; but vocal style is similar to ‘Abd al- Halim’s standard popular fare.

Laglinnabi by Muhammad al-Kahlawi (instance of aghani diniyya) Lyrics to Laglinnabi

Wolida Alhouda, by Riyad al-Sunbati and Ahmad Shawqi, sung by Umm Kulthum Lyrics to Wolida Alhouda

Song by Egyptian star Muhammad Munir based on Takbir al-Eid

• More recently Egyptian popular singer Hisham Abbas released this version of the 99 most beautiful names of God. Compare this to his more usual "video clips" such as this one, performed with an Indian singer, or this, performed with a Turkish singer.

New mediated inshad, often termed "nasheed"

With the rise of mass music media—beginning with early 20th c phonograms—new modes of commodified production and consumption were enabled, transforming the sound and meaning of Islamic music. Mass media tend both to replace traditional performance, and to standardize it, according to high-value models. While cassettes (1970s) greatly expanded mediazation, until recently most distribution was regional.

Since the 1990s, a studio-produced style called nashid or anashid, has been globally disseminated via satellite TV and Internet, in the ethos of Islamic reformism. While traditional themes of praise and supplication remain, new ones—political or social—are also taken up, in keeping with reformism’s more socially engaged worldview.

Conservative performers avoid instruments, though often admitting percussion as a matter of principle. Such inshad is restrained, with little improvisation or elaborate melisma, yet modernized through digital processing, harmonization, and music videos. One of the most media-savvy voices is that of the Kuwaiti Shaykh Mashari Rashid al-`Afasy (b. 1976), who also recites Qur’an and ad`iyya, serves as imam of Kuwait’s Grand Mosque, and even owns his own religious TV station (al-`Afasy TV).