Punjab

History of qawwali: ‘Qawwali is an expression of love, doesn’t have to be religiously motivated’

Event featured a 90-minute qawwali performance by Ghayoor Moiz Mustafa and brothers

MARIAM SHAFQAT March 20, 2016

Modern day qawwali associated with the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan can be traced back to Hazart Ameer Khusro, a Sufi musician and poet in the 12th century. PHOTO: EXPRESS

LAHORE: Qawwali performance does not have to be religiously motivated or oriented towards the divine. It is an expression of love and can be addressed to the divine in any of its multiple conceptions or to one’s loved ones here on the earth, musicologist Ally Adnan said on Saturday night.

He was giving a presentation on the history of the art of qawwali at an event organised by Olomopolo media.

He said the modern day qawwali associated with the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan could be traced back to Hazart Ameer Khusro, a Sufi musician and poet in the 12th century. He could be considered as the father of the modern day qawwali, he added.

Adnan said the popularity of qawwali and its importance in the region’s culture was owed to the Sufis. They used qawwali to spread their message of peace and equality among the lower castes including the ‘untouchables’ and Dalits.

Regarding the origins of the performing art form, he said the oldest qawwalis available today had been written around 3,200 years ago in Vedic Sanskrit. “Vedic chants are considered among the oldest oral traditions,” he said.

Adnan said as Muslims started settling in the region they also introduced the devotional practice of Zikr – continuous recitation of the names of Allah Almighty and that of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in a specific tune and tempo. He said Zikr ceremonies later evolved into Sama, featuring dance and music performances, poetry recital and drinking rituals.

The event also featured a 90-minute qawwali performance by Ghayoor Moiz Mustafa and brothers’ group. The group represents the 27th generation of the qawwali maestro Samat Bin Ibrahim. The performance featured all seven genres of qawwali – hamd, manqabat, qual, geet, tarana, qaseeda and rang.

Renowned singer Tahira Syed was the chief guest at the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2016.

COMMENTS (9)

Furquan Sultan | 8 years ago | Reply This was a great event. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Ally Adnan and OLO are doing a great job by preserving our heritage.

Harris | 8 years ago | Reply Seems a very informative session. For the benefit of those who could not attend, please see the possibility of uploading the talk. Have heard great reviews from those who were part of the audience that evening.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Salman | 8 years ago | Reply Ally's passion for qawwali is bringing much needed attention to this old art. Always intiruged to listen to Ally's talks on the subject, nice to see it being covered in tribune.

Maqsood Ali | 8 years ago | Reply Ally Adnan is a remarkable speaker who has a unique way of explaining the most complex of things in simple and easy-to-understand terms. I was fortunate enough to attend this seminar and learnt a great deal about qawwali, music and sufism. Ghayoor Moiz Mustafa Qawwal are excellent and an assett. They sang very well. A great event. Thank you, Express Trubune, for your coverage.

Saleem Iqbal | 8 years ago | Reply The author gives a detailed and accurate account but fails to convert the passion, energy and sincerity with with which Ali Adnan spoke about qawwali. The show coincided with the T20 India versus Pakistan cricket match but still had a full house. The splendor of the evening is not mentioned in the write up.

Noor Akbar | 8 years ago | Reply Qawwali is indeed above music as it is always about love and every person can construe his/her own interpretation out of it, unless it is very specific about a subject. The sessions like this attract the youngsters more to this genre and help them understand the technicalities of it. Olomopolo has taken the great initiative by organizing such an event, I look forward to listen to Mr. Ally Adnan as his research on the subject was very extensive and helped me understand the jargon of Qawwali to get its meaning in a true sense.

Seema Shahbaz | 8 years ago | Reply Ally Adnan is an authority on music and qawwali. Great to see him featured in the Express Tribune.

Ahmed Salman | 8 years ago | Reply Great Article . I found it very informative.

Faheem Azam | 8 years ago | Reply I have attended this talk by Ally Adnan for about half a dozen times, yet I never get bored from it, and every time I left with something new to my knowledge pool. A spiritual and insightful experience for sure.

Replying to X