Inshad sufi
Sufi performance.
Sufism is not a sect but rather the "mystical dimension of Islam" (Annmarie Schimmel), in which the perceptual power of aesthetic objects (visual, auditory, olfactory, kinesthetic, tactile) is often harnessed for spiritual ends.
Sound in Sufi ritual is known as sama` (audition); its legitimacy is the subject of a great and continuing debate in Islam
Principle performance genres include:
- inshad sufi
- dhikr
- hizb
- asma' Allah al-Husna
Here are some examples:
- Sufi dhikr with inshad. Recorded during the 1932 Arabic music conference by the celebrated Laythi
order (Egyptian), led by Shaykh Basatini. The dhikr consists of chanting the Names of God (here, “Allah”); inshad (singing of religious poetry) is often superimposed, either solo or group. Early recordings such as these are not field recordings, but took place in studio-like conditions, and under limitations of length (due to the length of a phonograph disc).
- Sufi dhikr with inshad. Field recording made in 1998 of a contemporary Egyptian Sufi order, the
Hamidiyya Shadhiliyya. The group chants “Allah” while a soloist and chorus performs inshad. Note how emotional power is generated by inshad, and how it is timed to move with dhikr. The Sufi orders tend not to use instruments.
- Sufi inshad in the public hadra. Performed by Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami, from Assiut, in Upper Egypt; live performance
from Mahalla, in the Egyptian Delta. (text) Over the last 20 years Sufi munshidin have started to emerge as major singing stars, recorded on commercial tapes and singing professionally in a wide variety of social settings. The most famous of these is Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami. He typically performs with a small takht (here including violin, kawala (another reed flute), and percussion), draws heavily on secular music (especially Umm Kulthum) for melodic material, instrumentation, and style, while performing classical Sufi poetry in a Sufi setting. Performance includes development of maqamat, taqasim, vocal improvisation, lawazim (melodic fills), qafla and many other features of the tarab style. As for Shaykh Muhammad Jabril, the advent of the PA system was important to the development of this genre of performance. Melodic material is improvised, but draws on standard phrases. His performances are generally attended by hundreds or even thousands (especially in the larger saint festivals, called mawlids); some listen, while others form lines in order to perform the dhikr while listening to his performance (you can hear the chantin this recording), and generate a powerful ecstatic mood. Here he sings a poem of the great 13th c mystical poet Ibn al-Farid, in his 18th commercial tape, of which there are approximately 30 total, nearly all recorded in the field. Video example
- Sufi performance (Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco)
