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.

Spiritual listening in Sufi ritual is generally known as sama` (audition); its legitimacy is the subject of a great and continuing debate in Islam. In most regions of the Arab world the performance is today known as hadra (presence) or halaqat dhikr (dhikr circle). Each Sufi order (tariqa) performs this liturgy on a weekly basis, usually twice (Thursday and Sunday nights are common), as well as special performances for Muslim holidays and saints' days (mawalid).

Principle performance genres include:

• Qur'anic recitation (tilawa)
• inshad sufi: Sufi chant (often performed by one or more specialists or munshiding, sometimes responsorially, sometimes solo)
• dhikr: remembrance of God by chanting the Divine Names
• hizb or wird (special prayer characteristic of the tariqa)
• asma' Allah al-Husna (God's most beautiful names, as mentioned in the Qur'an)

Typically inshad and dhikr are combined, but they can also be performed independently.

Some hadras are specific to a particular Sufi order (tariqa) - a kind of liturgy, usually welcoming guests, but not entirely public. Others are overtly public and open. Use of instruments is closely related to the character of a tariqa or Sufi order, and location of performance. The most conservative use no instruments, only voice. Inside the mosque instruments are often avoided. Among instruments, frame drums (without jingles) are most accepted, then the nay (reed flute). Occasionally one finds other instruments, oud, violin, and even org (synthesizer), especially in public celebrations outdoors.

Here are some examples, including several from my own research:

• Weekly public hadra at the shrine of the Sufi saint Sidi Ali Zayn al-Abidin in Cairo
• Five Sufi hadras in Egypt, the first four representing Sufi orders (turuq), and the last a massive public hadra held on the occasion of the "arba`in" (40th day anniversary of a death) for a Sufi shaykh from upper Egypt, with inshad by Egypt's most famous munshid, Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami.
• Another video example of Shaykh Yasin (he has released hundreds of videos via his YouTube channel, and on DVD)

Here are some additional examples from various historical periods:

• 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.

• Mevlevi ayini serifi performed in Damascus. The ayini serifi is effectively the hadra ceremony of the famous "whirling dervishes", founded by Sultan Valad, son of acclaimed poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, in the 13th century. The order has become a veritable symbol of Turkey, though it was for a long time banned there. Through the Ottoman empire the order extended into Arabic speaking areas, including Cairo and Syria, where it continues to thrive.

• Sufi inshad in the public hadra. Performed by Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami, from Assiut, in Upper Egypt; live performance recorded in Mahalla, an industrial city in the Egyptian Delta, in the 1980s. 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. Shaykh Yasin performs the Jimiyya of the celebrated Sufi poet (probably the greatest of those writing in Arabic) Umar ibn al-Farid (1181-1235). The recording was Shaykh Yasin's 18th commercial recording.

• Sufi performance (Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco)