QAWWĀLĪ

QAWWĀLĪ A form of ecstatic Sufi Muslim worship in which a soloist leads a group of singers, qawwālī (Arabic, qawwāl, "one who speaks well") possibly derives its name from a community of performers. Qawwālī refers to both a nonliturgical religious musical gathering associated with the Chishti sect of Sufi Muslims, as well as the repertoire sung at these gatherings. The poetry of qawwālī draws upon the traditions of Urdu and Persian poetry, although folk genres such as qawl and rang are a historic part of this worship. The most common musicopoetic forms of qawwālī are gazal (expressions of divine mystical love or praises of God), hamd (praises of God), naʾt (praises of the Prophet, Muhammad), and manqabat (praises of saints or imams).

Qawwals are religious musicians and, more specifically, the community that performs Sufi religious song. Many qawwāls trace their performing tradition to Amir Khusrau (1253–1325) and to his ties with the Chishti sect of Sufism probably founded by Muʾinuddin during the twelfth century. Professional qawwāls and dedicated amateurs perform qawwālī at shrines and private homes, and increasingly in concerts, often on the death anniversaries (urs) of famous Sufi saints, as well as in informal weekly contexts. Today, qawwālī is also a popular form of entertainment for wedding ceremonies and other auspicious occasions; performers appear in films and on television, and tapes and records are widely available in the marketplace.

The performance model for a qawwālī ensemble is that of the murshīid (director/guide) murīd (aspirant) relationship of Sufism in which a knowledgeable guide assists a disciple in the pursuit of divine knowledge. The principle singer (mohrī) of a performance leads the ensemble of responding singers (awāziya, "voices") and instrumentalists, as well as other listeners in the pursuit of hāl, an ecstatic divine experience and personal knowledge of God (maʿrifa) through the musical performance. The services of the mohrī are essential both to performers and audience members who wish to transform the self ( fanaʾ ).

A qawwālī performance psychologically attempts to bring willing individuals from a state of passive observation to full involvement. The music often begins with an instrumental prelude (naghmā) and/or an ālāp (sometimes known as mahfil-i samā, "gathering for listening") and gradually builds in intensity. The responsorial structure of the music, while requiring a knowledgeable professional, allows for the easy involvement of those present.

The accompanying ensemble of performers, like the Sabri Brothers, commonly consists of drums (tabla and/or dholak) and harmonium; however, qawwālī performers are, if anything, eclectic. Today, qawwālī performances include instruments such as the mandolin, violin, sārangī, and dilrūba, and, perhaps, electric guitars and synthesizers. Notably, performers such as Nasrat Fateh Ali Khan demonstrated that not only can one incorporate new musical instruments into qawwālī, one can merge Western pop idioms (for example, a drum-and-bass groove/ostinato) with a traditional song, such as "Mast Qalandar" (a manqabat in praise of the Sufi saint, Lal Qalandar).

The musical materials are fundamentally simple. The qawwālī repertoire consists of both existing songs and new creations based on classical rāgs, rāg-like melodies peculiar to the qawwālī tradition, and folk melodies. Generally, qawwālī performances have featured only two short tāls: the four-beat qawwālītāl and six-beat dādra tāl. Contemporary performances build on these immediately perceivable meters, combining predictable cycles with internal syncopations. These catchy repetitive time cycles can have a hypnotic effect on performers and audiences alike.

Gordon Thompson

See alsoMusic .