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Qawwali
INTRODUCTION
Qawwali is the traditional form of Islamic song found in India and Pakistan. The word qawwali is derived from the Arabic word Qaol which means "axiom" or "dictum". A Qawwal is one who sings qawwali, or the dictums of the prophets and praises of God. The Qawwali is closely linked to the spiritual and artistic life of northern India and Pakistan.
SPIRITUAL
ASPECT OF QAWWALI
The qawwali is inextricably linked to the Sufi tradition; Sufism is a mystical school of Islamic thought which strives to attain truth and divine love by direct personal experience. In Arabic, this mysticism is known as tasawwuf. The difference between Sufism and mainstream Islam is simple. All Muslims believe that man is on a path to God (tariqah). However, where the mainstream Muslim believes that it is only possible to reach God after death at the final judgement, the Sufi believes that it is possible to reach God during ones life. To this end there are a number of different techniques and methods.
The Koran instructs man to
remember God. This remembrance, known as dhikr, may be either silent of
vocal. The qawwali may be viewed as an extension of the vocal form of
this remembrance. The use of music as a spiritual force was discussed in
great length by al-Gazali (1085-1111).
By the end of the 11th century,
there arose the tradition of the sama. The sama was often a spiritual
concert, which included a vocalist, and instrumentalists. These samas
took place under the direction of a spiritually respected man (shaikh).
There is a very specific
psychological process which a qawwali follows. One starts with the
singing of the song. In this psychological state the song is received in
a manner that is not unlike standard forms of musical expression. The
words are sung, quite repeatedly with variations intended to bring out deeper
means of the lyrics. After awhile there is a repetition to the extent
that the words cease to have a meaning. It is the goal here to lead the
listener and performer alike into a trance (hal). In the ideal situation
the participant is moved to a state of spiritual enlightenment (fana).
HISTORY OF THE QAWWALI
The origins of qawwali probably predate the birth of Muhammad. The earliest Islamic scholars discussed the spiritual effects of music, but it was only in the time of al-Gazali (1085-1111) that these principles were refined and codified.
These principles were then
expanded by the Chisti school of Sufism. It is this order that has been
responsible for the propagation of the qawwali in India and Pakistan for then
last few centuries. The origin of the Chisti school is unclear.
Most believe that it was established by Khwaj Moinuddin Hasan Chisti
(1143-1234). However there are a some who hold that the originator was
Abu Ishaq Shami Chisti who died in Damascus in 940 C.E.
Khwaj Moinuddin Hasan Chisti was
undoubtedly responsible for the widespread propagation of this school of
Sufism. It is said that he was born in Sijistan. At a young age,
he was influenced by several saintly men, including Ibrahim Qahandazi, and
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilli. He immigrated to Delhi and became a very
respected saint. He later grew tired of the life in Delhi and withdrew
to the peace and quite of Ajmer (Rajasthan) where he lived the remainder of
his days.
One of the followers of the Chisti
school was a man by the name of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya (1236-1325). He
was born in Budaun, but at the age of 20 he moved to Ajodhan and became a
disciple of Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakkar. It is said that it was here that
he received the key to inner illumination. He was then sent to Delhi to
instruct the populous. Here he acquired a reputation for using music in
his devotional gatherings. This created a great amount of friction with
the more orthodox Islamic elements in Delhi.
Nizamuddin Auliya was, and still
is, a source of inspiration for countless people. Even today there is an
annual gathering at his tomb.
One man who was inspired by the
Hazrat Nizamuddin was Amir Khusru (1254-1324). He was born in Mominpur (Patiala).
His father was originally from Turkey, this gave the young boy a broader
exposure to the rest of the Islamic world. His father died when he was
eight years old, whereupon the job of raising him fell to his maternal
grandfather. Amir Khusru was a legendary musician, statesman and
philosopher. It is said that he was the advisor to 11 rulers of Delhi,
particularly the rulers of the Khilji Dynasty (Deva 1973:76).
Amir Khusru is so important to the
development of qawwali that he is often (erroneously) said to be the inventor
of it. It is said that he mixed the various musical elements from
Turkey, greater Persia and India together. Even today, we find the
curious mixture of Persian moqquams with Indian rags.
The development of the qawwali up
to the latter part of the Mogul empire closely parallels the development of
the Hindu religious song known as bhajan. We find parallels in musical
form and social settings. The degree of cross influence is so great that
some musician / saints such as Kabir (circa 1440-1518) are to this day revered
by Hindus and Muslims alike.
The tradition of qawwali has had
numerous ups and downs. One particularly hard time was during the reign
of Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb is known for his Islamic fundamentalism.
The liberal traditions of the Sufis were not well received by this emperor.
He took the fundamentalist injunction against music very seriously.
Aurangzeb's dislike of music is
well illustrated in a common story. It appears that during his
administration a group of musicians, disheartened with their lack of
patronage, took some musical instruments and wrapped them in the manner of a
corpse and held a funeral procession in protest. Aurangzeb enquires
about the procession and is told it is a burial to signify the death of music.
Whereupon it is said that the emperor declares, "Good! bury it so deep
that never a sound should be heard again."
The collapse of the Mogul empire
and political fragmentation under the British was both good and bad for the
qawwals. On one hand the political disarray meant that a major
suppression of their art form was impossible, yet it also meant that their
patronage was also uneven.
The rising film industry in the
middle of the 20th century was a major vehicle for the rise in popularity of
the qawwali. There was a period when a qawwali was a mandatory part of
the formula Hindi films.
The film industry influenced the
development of the qawwali in several ways. It is interesting to note
that since the environment of the cinema house precluded the artist /audience
interaction, it set the precedent for the more detached quality that
characterises modern performances. The filmi qawwali also set the
precedent for the "showy" quality that one finds in modern
performances. Another effect of the filmi qawwali was the downgrading of
the religious / devotional aspect. A typical example of a filmi qawwali is
"Sharam ke Kyun Sab" from the film "Chaudvin ka Chand".
The secularization of the qawwali
is an interesting phenomenon. One can see that the seeds of its
secularisation are inherent in the qawwali itself. Themes of qawwali
have traditionally revolved around very mundane or even coarse occurrences.
However, the coarseness of the situations have always been interpreted as the
coarse spiritual existence of our daily lives. The modern secular
qawwali tends to strip the themes of their metaphorical and allegorical
character thus producing a shallow, yet commercially marketable entity.
Recent years have seen the qawwali
thrust into the international arena by such musicians as Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan. His fusion of traditional Indo-Pakistani influences with Western
music has created quite a stir in the music world.
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