Article

The Origin and Journey of Qawwali

From Sacred Ritual to Entertainment?
Anuradha Bhattacharjee
Shadab Alam

Journal of Creative Communications

7(3) 209225
2012 Mudra Institute
of Communications
SAGE Publications
Los Angeles, London,
New Delhi, Singapore,
Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/0973258613512439
http://crc.sagepub.com

Abstract
This article deals with origin, evolution and the heritage of Sufi music. The objective of this article is to
trace the journey of Sufi musical practices and traditions across the world, their forms, and how Sufi
music has created a heritage and subculture across the Muslim as well as non-Muslim world carving an
identity for itself as liberal or spiritual Islam rather than legal Islam.
Philosophic Quranic verses, such as Poverty is my pride, are the bedrock of Sufism and quoted
in every manual of Sufi doctrine. Such verses are limitless in their depth, scope and meaning, and the
reader/listener may draw as much mystical meaning as s/he has the capacity to understand.
The propagation of Sufism started from its origin in Baghdad, Iraq, and spread to Persia, Pakistan,
North Africa, Central Asia and Muslim Spain. Sufism has produced a large body of poetry in Arabic,
Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi and even Bangla, from which the genre of Sufi music, lyrics
and qawwali has emerged. The Sufi poetry has integrated with the local musical culture of the various
parts of the world and created a rainbow of variations down the ages.
This article draws upon published literature from several languages on the origins of Sufi music,
including qawwali, and collates samples of Sufi music from across the world and synthesizes the results.
Keywords
Sufi music, heritage, evolution, philosophic verses, cultural product, qawwali

Introduction
Sufi music and qawwali have been a part of the warp and weft of Oriental culture for centuries now.
Sufism has a basic philosophy of propagation of universal brotherhood through love (poetry) and music.
It, therefore, requires to involve the indigenous examples and patterns to become acceptable to all
irrespective of community and religion. Maulana Jallaludin Rumi, with the help of Shadi Sheerazi,
developed the dance form of whirling dervishes to the beat of the daff from the sound of copper
vessels used by potters of Turkey (Sufi Soul: The Mystical Music of Islam 2005). This is known as sama
and is one of the greatest cultural messages of Turkey performed all over the world after introducing the
audience to the religious nature of the performance and asking them to conduct themselves appropriately
during the performance. In Egypt, Sufi verses are sung adapted to local dialect accompanied with local

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folk music instruments of the peasants. Another example of localization is in Morocco where preIslamic mysticism existed and Sufism was embraced. They continue to use their local instruments to
date, even for international performances.1 Original philosophical poetry of the Masters is adapted into
verses in local language and sung as per local folk culture. In India too, Sufi music has been localized
and the result is qawwali, which is distinct from various genres of Sufi music found globally across the
Islamic world.
With globalization and internationalization, Indian music, especially Indian classical music, is
evolving to adapt to a global audience and setting and has begun using technology (Mahendru 2011). The
trend is now true even for qawwali and Sufi music which is rooted in semi-classical music in India.

Literature Review
Literature on Sufism in India, its origin and growth, abound, but that on Sufi music in India, even though
the music is integral to the practice, is limited. The only notable academic work on the subject is
Qureshi (1986) and Nayyar (1988). Both Qureshi and Nayyar document the performance in the traditional
Sufi assembly, the ritual of sama and qawwali performances in the Indian subcontinent, where the
interplay between the musical sound and the diverse audience responses is analyzed by the authors.
Qureshi is more exhaustive in her account of qawwali as form of Sufi music across the Indian
subcontinent, while Nayyar restricts himself more to the north-west regions and Pakistan.
Basu (1995, 1996, 2000) puts down an impressive ethnographic scholarship on various aspects of Sidi
community, including their faith and music, mostly in German language. Excerpts and fresh work from
Basu become available in English through essays in Jairazbhoy and Alpers (2004) work on the various
aspects of Sidi life. For the uninitiated, Sidis are people of African origin in Gujarat, Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh in India. In Gujarat, Sidis are a scheduled tribe. Most Sidis are followers of Islamic faith.
However, none of the above-mentioned works trace the evolution of Sufi music in the Indian
subcontinent. The focus of this work is tracing the evolution of Sufi music from its advent to current
times and tracing the cultural exchange influences during its course.

Research Method
Primary and secondary literature in Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and English were used to build up this article.
Interviews were conducted with performers of Sufi music from different genre and countries after
their performance during the various International Sufi Music Conferences held in New Delhi during
20112013 period.
The article is a synthesis of the results of the discussions with the performers that was ratified
against existing literature and the rest has been built up from interviews with the various international
performers who allowed themselves to be interviewed either directly in English/Urdu/Hindi/Punjabi or
Bangla or through their translators, usually the manager of the group or a diplomatic representative of
that country.
The results were then analyzed and the findings were first presented at the conference, Understanding
Qawwali, held at New Delhi on 2 March 2013.
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Research Findings
Origin
Qaul (Arabic: )is an utterance (of the prophet), qawwl is someone who often repeats (sings) a
qaul and qawwli is what a qawwl sings (Qureshi 2012, p. 470).
Qawwali is the rendition of Sufi music in the Indian subcontinent, presently encompassing Pakistan,
India and Bangladesh, usually at a khanqah (hospice) or a place sacred to Sufis. It is the rendition of
philosophic verses in several languages by a lead male singer, accompanied by a few accompanying
singers/chorus, embellished with clapping of hands and some musical instruments. The formal name for
a session of qawwali is Mehfil-e-Sama. Sama is a practice of devotional music similar to qawwali that is
still performed in Central Asia and Turkey.
The roots of qawwali can be traced back to eighth century Persiatodays Iran and Afghanistan.
A new educational system set up by the Baghdadi Caliphate state provided for the setting up of seminaries
of higher learning (called madrasas) where scholars were taught how to run the government in accordance
with orthodox Sunni ideas. These scholars were known as ulema and they wielded political power and
influence in the Islamic states, including medieval India.
The Sufi thought and philosophy emerged as a counter process to the orthodox Sunnism or
Mutazilas, and professed strict monotheism as per the Ashari school of thought (about AD 900).
The greatest exponent of the Ashari school of religious thought was Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
(AD 10581111), a great theologian who is credited with having reconciled orthodoxy with mysticism
and began to lead the life of a Sufi from 1095. Deeply respected by both orthodox elements and
Sufis, Ghazali said that positive knowledge can be gained only by revelation. Communal singing
of philosophic thoughts arranged as verses was a part of the Sufi practice. Ghazali was the foremost
exponent of such verses and the genre of ghazal in PersianHindustani music is known after the style
he initiated.2

The Sufis
The Sufis were mystics who opposed the vulgar display of wealth and power in public life by the ulema
or their willingness to serve ungodly rulers. Many began to lead a retired ascetic life, having nothing to
do with the state. Thus, poverty became strongly associated with the Sufi way of life. The Sufis,
emphasizing upon free thought and liberal ideas, turned to meditation to achieve religious satisfaction.
They interpreted religion as love for god and service to humanity.
The term Sufi most likely has its origin in soof , which in Uzbek language means wool. The
mystical ascetic sect of Muslims who wore a rough woollen garment called themselves Sufis (Saran
2005, p. 161). The lexical root of the word can also be traced to af, which means purity in Arabic.
The two were combined by the Sufi al-Rudhabari who said, The Sufi is the one who wears wool on top
of purity (Kabbani 2004, p. 83). Also, according to the medieval scholar Ab Rayn al-Brn, the
word Sufi is derived from the Greek word sofia, meaning wisdom (Siddiqui 2009). In any case,
Uzbekistan was at the heart of the ancient Silk Routes that saw a great exchange of goods and ideas
between Europe, China, Central Asia and Indian subcontinent.
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In course of time, the Sufis were divided into different silsilahs (orders), with each silsilah having its
own pir (guide) called khwaja or sheikh. The pir and his disciplesmureedlived in a khanqah
(hospice). A pir nominated a successor or gaddinashi (Qureshi 2012, p. 519) from his disciples to
carry on his work. The Sufis organized samas (a recital of holy songs) to arouse mystical ecstasy. Basra
in Iraq became the centre of Sufi activities.
It must be noted that the Sufi saints were not setting up a new religion, but were preparing a more
liberal movement within the framework of Islam. They owed their allegiance to the Quran as much as
the ulema did (Religion and Philosophy ... n.d.).

Orders of Sufi Thought

One of the first orders to originate was the Yasawi order, named after Khwaja Ahmed Yesevi in modern
Kazakhstan. The Kubrawiya order, originating in Central Asia, was named after Najmeddin Kubra,
known as the saint-producing shiekh, since a number of his disciples became shaykhs. The most
prominent Sufi master of this era is Abdul Qadir Jilani, the founder of the Qadiriyyah order in Iraq.
Others included Rumi, founder of the Mevlevi order in Turkey, Sahabuddin Suharwardi in Asia minor
and Moinuddin Chishti in India.

Sufi Philosophy for Music

Dzikr-e-khafi (recitation within ones heart or with no sound)

Dzikr-e-jali (loud recitation)

Different orders of Sufism follow the different path of dzikr but Dzikr-e-jali is most commonly practised
in India, finding a resonance in the sruti (chanting) culture of the Vedic people.
Sufi music is all about devotion of the expression of love for god by the dervish. Thus, philosophical
poetry has a great importance in Sufism. Music is, therefore, used to treat ailments (shifa), engage people
for dzikr and also, to help people to understand Allah, the Prophet, pirs and their greatness (hamd, nath,
qatat and their malphuzat respectively) (Siddique 2009).
Sufi music has two connotations: first, to express and practice spirituality and mysticism towards
achieving qurbat of Allah; and second, to entertain kings (Khan 2009, p. 311).

Dispersion of Sufi Thought

Between AD 844 and AD 848, Ibn Khudadhbih, who was also trained in literature and music, wrote
Kitab al-Masalik wal Mamalik (Book of Routes and Kingdoms), summarizing the main trade routes of
the Arab world with descriptions of distant areas such as China, Korea and Japan (Ahmad 1945, p. 17).
Abu Dulaf (AD 913942) of Medina wrote Ajaib al Buldan (Wonders about Countries) about his travels
to Kashmir, Kabul, Sistan, Malabar and Coromandel coasts (Ahmad 1945, p. 21), possibly travelling
around the various trade routes, both land and maritime.
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Scholarship in the twentieth century has established that the Silk Routes had encompassed the
whole of Eurasia lying to the west of China, including India, Serindia and Iran, which had trade
and relations quite apart from China (P. Demieville, preface to L. Boulnois, La Route de la Soie, Paris:
Arthaud, 1963, cited in Elissef 2000, p. 2). These roads, regardless of how they were called, have
been known to humanity for many centuries and, as far as the major routes are concerned, for several
millennia. Most of them are the descendants of natural roads. These historical routes are also terrestrial
and maritime trade routes, running from East to West and corresponding to waterways that run from
North to South. They introduced sedentary and nomadic populations, and opened up a form of dialogue
between the cultures of East and West (Elissef 2000, p. 2).
It is therefore easy to surmise that Sufism spread across the then known world via the Silk Routes
and got amalgamated with the local culture all over the world. However, according to Andrew Watson,
a key event in the spread of Islam and Sufism in India was the Arab conquest of Sind in 711, which
established direct and regular contact between India and the Fertile Crescent, the heartland of the
Umayyad and Abbasid governments (Eaton 2000, p. 27). This conquest threw open Western Asia, Africa
and Europe to India and vice versa.
An extension of the Silk Routes to India is the fabled Grand Trunk Road (GTR) which stretches from
Peshawar (now Pakistan) in the west to Kolkatta (India) in the east. Though no one knows when the
road actually came into being, Dar (2000, p. 159) mentions an old trade route dating back to Panini (500
BC). Megasthenes mentions a Royal Road of the Mauryans in the early third century BC that used to run
in eight stages from Purushpura (Peshawar) in the north-east, to Pataliputra, the Mauryan capital, in the
extreme east.3 There is notable Persian influence found in Mauryan art (Dar 2000, p. 159) to suggest that
this road was connected to the Silk Roads. Chandraguptas grandson, Asoka, improved upon this road
system by planting trees, digging wells and building nimisdhayas (sarai or hostelry) (Bhandarkar, R.,
Asoka, 2nd edition, Calcutta, 1932, p. 353, cited in Dar 2000, p. 160).
Kanishka (AD 78120)4 rose to power in Central Asia and north India by controlling the land and sea
trade routes. His main capital was at Purushpura (Peshawar in present-day north-western Pakistan), with
regional capitals at the location of the modern city of Taxila in Pakistan, Begram in Afghanistan and
Mathura in India, all connected by the Royal Road of the Mauryans. Buddhist pilgrims have long
travelled on this road system and as per Buddhist sources, Kanishka is credited with convening the fourth
Buddhist convention in Kashmir.
Sher Shah Suri (reigned from 15401545) revived the glory of the Royal Road, extending it from
Chittagong in Bengal to Kabul in Afganistan (Dar 2000, p. 162). Aurangzeb (16591707) included a
bazar, a mosque, a well, a hamam (bath) and sometimes a khanqah (hospice) constructed at government
expense in stretches of the GTR that did not have them (Dar 2000, p. 162).
By that period, Sufism was well entrenched in the Indian cultural fabric and khanqahs were as
ubiquitous as mosques and the GTR provided a direct connection across north India. Thus, the trade
roads have contributed significantly to the spread of Sufi culture and the practice of qawwali across India
all the way upto Bengal and Deccan, amalgamating various languages and dialects as per the needs of
the common population of the region.
Though qawwali is the most well-known form of Sufi music in India, it is not the only form. The Sidi
community of Gujarat has practised singing and dance routines, goma and dhammal, to the beat of the
malunga at the shrine of Gori Pir in the forest near Rajpipla (west Gujarat) since the sixteenth century
(Basu 2004, pp. 6263). As mentioned earlier, the Sidis are people of East African descent, now settled

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in parts of interior Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The malunga is a string instrument of
African origin and the ritual dance, goma, points to the Swahili word ngoma, which refers to a range
of secular, therapeutic and religious celebrations and performances. Dammal refers to Indo-Muslim
ritual trance dances, common to other Sufi orders in the region (Meier 2004, p. 90). Since the
nineteenth century, Sidi faqirs often led a wandering life, often accompanied by their women. The Sidi
fiqir tariqa consists of active involvement of women in the work of faqirs. Sidi faqirs met and closely
interacted with Muslim faqirs of other orders as well as Hindu ascetics (sadhus) of different renouncer
traditions. The boundaries between different groups of itinerant faqirs and ascetics were drawn in relation
to specific ritual practices, whereas affiliation with the larger religious community did not seem to be of
much importance. Thus, Sidi faqirs also venerated the Hindu gods and participated in some of the
important Hindu festivals of the region (Basu 2004, pp. 6364).
In the same way, the baulfakiri tradition of former Bengal (now West Bengal in India and
Bangladesh) is a syncretic tradition of wandering minstrels who sing in praise of Hindu Vaishnava
gods and Muslim saints. The bauls are Vaishnavite Hindus, while the faqirs are Muslims, but both
venerate each other saints and often sing in praise of the saint from the other community seamlessly.5

Condition on Which Sufi Music is Based

Zaman (the path), maqan (destination, that is, closeness to Allah) and riqwan (the practice and dedication)
are the three conditions on which Sufi music is based.
Sufi music is shabdpradhan or poetry oriented, accompanied by aamad (rhythm) by clapping of
hands. The main parts of Sufi music are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

shazeenanagma (melody);
rubaeeqatat (four verses of poetry);
uthangirehbandi (music and some part of poetry are on high note and repeated many times);
khiratkhyal (lost some were in music and poetry); and
improvisiondo angkagana (qawaali).6

Sufism in India
The advent of Sufism in India is said to have taken place in the eleventh and twelfth centuries through
mystics who reached via Afghanistan on their own free will. One of the early Sufis of eminence, who
settled in India, was Al-Hujwari (died in 1089), popularly known as Data Ganj Baksh (Distributor of
Unlimited Treasure). In the beginning, the main centres of the Sufis were Multan and Punjab. By the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the Sufis had spread to Kashmir, Bihar, Bengal and the Deccan,
travelling across the trade routes. It may be mentioned that Sufism had already taken on a definite form
before coming to India. Its fundamental and moral principles, teachings and orders, system of fasting,
prayers and practice of living in khanqahs, had already been fixed.
The Chishti silsilah or order of Sufi practice and music is predominant in India. The Chishti order was
founded in a village called Khwaja Chishti (near Herat). In India, the Chishti silsilah was founded by
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Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (born c. 1142) who came to India around 1192. He made Ajmer the main
centre for his teaching. He believed that serving mankind was the best form of devotion and therefore,
he worked amongst the downtrodden. He died in Ajmer in 1236. During Mughal times, Ajmer became a
leading pilgrimage centre because the emperors regularly visited the sheikhs tomb.
Among Khwaja Moinuddin Chishtis disciples were Sheikh Hamiduddin of Nagaur and Qutubuddin
Bakhtiyar Kaki. The former lived the life of a poor peasant, cultivated land and refused Sultan Iltutmishs
offer of a grant of villages. The khanqah of Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki was also visited by people from
all walks of life. Sultan Iltutmish dedicated the Qutub Minar to this saint. Sheikh Fariduddin of
Ajodhan (Pattan in Pakistan) popularized the Chishti silsilah in modern Haryana and Punjab. Baba Farid,
as he was called, was respected by both Hindus and Muslims. His verses, written in Punjabi, are
quoted in the Adi Granth.7 His foremost disciples were Bulleh Shah, who settled in Sind, and Shaikh
Nizamuddin Auliya (12381325), who was responsible for making Delhi an important centre of the
Chishti silsilah.
Auliya came to Delhi in 1259 and during his 60 years in Delhi, he saw the reign of seven sultans. He
preferred to distribute food and clothes to the poor, thus earning the sobriquet of garibnawaz. Amongst
his followers was the noted writer, Amir Khusrau. Another famous Chishti saint was Sheikh Nasiruddin
Mahmud, popularly known as Nasiruddin Chirag-i-Dilli (the Lamp of Delhi). Following his death in
1356 and the lack of a spiritual successor, the disciples of the Chishti silsilah moved out towards eastern
and southern India.8
Amir Khusrau was trained in music and collaborated with Pandit Gopal Nayak to evolve qawwali
with the support Indian classical music, thereby determining the present form of Sufi music in the
subcontinent. According to mythology, Khusrau brought the qawwali from Persia,9 but in the absence
of any reference to qawwali in its present/early form in Persian literature, it may be surmised that the
sama has been called qawwali in early Sufi literature from India.
Both Amir Khusrau and Baba Bulleh Shah have expanded the repertoire of Sufi verses and music in
some languages of the Indian subcontinent, namely, Punjabi, Braj and Purbi. Further expansion has taken
place from adaptation of their verses and music into other languages of the subcontinent, namely, Deccani
Urdu and Bengali.

Growing Following of Sufism in Medieval India

Sufism in India coincides with the Bhakti movement of medieval India (8001700). The path of bhakti
was not directly accessible to the people of lower castes; for them, the path of prapatti (unquestioned
self-surrender) was prescribed. Singing of bhajans and dancing formed an important part of this worship.
The dancers were devadasis (female slaves of the deity) inside the temple, but nagar-badhus (public
wives) outside. Apart from being overwhelmingly ritualistic, the worship tended to be intensely
emotional.10
In north India, Bhakti movement coincided with the Sufi movement. People of Muslim faith adopted
Sufism, while Hindus adopted Vaishnava bhakti. Kirtan at a Hindu temple, qawwali at a dargah and
singing of gurbani at a gurdwara are all derived from the Bhakti movement.
Amir Khusrau describes, in detail, the 50th annual urs (death-date celebrations) of Baba Farid, which
fell in the year 1315. He details the pilgrimage by pious persons to Ajudhan, the birth place of Baba
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Farid, the recitation of the saints wonderful deeds and the entertainments performed by an a group of
derveshes (Khusrau, Amir, Raha al-muhibbin, Urdu edition, Lahore, 1957, pp. 6364, cited in Eaton
2000, p. 207). The 1623 compiled Jawahir-i-Farid, a key collection of biographies of Baba Farids
spiritual and lineal descendants, records that all the major rituals of the shrine were instituted during
the diwani (heirship) of Badr ad-Din Sulaiman (12651281). The formalized rituals included tying of the
ritual turban (dasturbandi), regularizing ecstatic sama like singing of qawwali at the shrine, establishing
langar (public kitchen) and opening of the southern door on the occasion of the urs celebrations (Chishti,
188384, pp. 298300).
It can be surmised that the rendition of qawwali began as an annual event during the urs of Baba
Faridi and then was adopted at other shrines. Ala al-Din Khilji, Sultan of Delhi (12961316), invited
Khusrau to perform at the royal court, taking qawwali out of the shrine precincts for the first time. The
royal patronage of Sufis and qawwali continued through the Mughal period (Nayyar 1988). During the
British period, it survived on the patronage provided by zamindars and rich individuals in the jajmani
system11 that marked the beginning of qawwali for entertainment.12

Interface of Hindustani Music and Sufism

Hindustani classical music is the style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian
subcontinent. It is a tradition that originated in Vedic ritual chants and has been evolving since the twelfth
century CE.13
Music was first formalized in India in connection with preserving the sruti texts, primarily the four
Vedas. The formal aspects of the chant are delineated in the Sama Veda, with certain aspects, for example,
the relation of chanting to meditation, elaborated in the Chandogya Upanishad (ca. eighth century BC).
Priests involved in these ritual chants were called samans and a number of ancient musical instruments
such as the conch (shankh), lute (veena), flute (bansuri), trumpets and horns were associated with this
and later practices of ritual singing.
In the Sanskritic tradition, the Sama Veda outlined the ritual chants for singing the verses of the Rig
Veda, particularly for offerings of soma. It proposed a tonal structure consisting of seven notes. The most
important text on music in the ancient canon is Bharatas Natya Shastra, composed around the third
century CE.
Naradas Sangita Makarandha treatise, from about 1100 CE, is the earliest text where rules similar
to those of current Hindustani classical music can be found. Jayadevas Gita Govinda from the
twelfth century was perhaps the earliest musical composition sung in the classical tradition. In
the thirteenth century, Sharngadeva composed the Sangita Ratnakara, which has names such as the
turushkatodi (Turkish todi), revealing an influx of ideas from Islamic culture.
Much of the musical forms innovated merged with the Hindu tradition, and were composed
in the popular language of the people (as opposed to Sanskrit) in the works of composers like Kabir
or Nanak and became a part of a larger Bhakti tradition, which strongly related to the Vaishnavite
movement and remained influential across several centuries; notable figures include Jayadeva
(eleventh century), Vidyapati (fl. 1375 CE), Chandidas (fourteenth to fifteenth century) and Meerabai
(15551603 CE).
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Jayadevas Gita Govinda delineates the love of Krishna for Radha, the milkmaid, his faithlessness
and subsequent return to her, and is taken as symbolical of the human souls straying from its true
allegiance but returning at length to the god which created it.14
The advent of Islamic rule under the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal Empire, over northern
India caused considerable cultural interchange. This spurred the fusion of Hindu and Muslim ideas to
bring forth new forms of musical synthesis like qawwali and khyal in addition to tarana, tappa, thumri
and ghazal.
The Bhakti poets eulogize the madhurya aspect of Lord Krishnas personality as they see in it a
metaphor for the union of the individual with the cosmic, the prakriti principle merging with the purusha
(Khullar 2003) which resonates with the Sufi concept of seeker and sought and blends seamlessly with
the existing repertoire of music, philosophy and language.
The most influential musician of the Delhi Sultanate period was Amir Khusrau (12531325),
sometimes called the father of modern Hindustani classical and Sufi music. A composer in Persian,
Turkish, Arabic as well as Braj Bhasha, he is credited with systematizing many aspects of Hindustani
music. He created the qawwali genre, which fuses Persian melody and beat on a dhrupad-like structure.
He is also credited with inventing instruments such as the sitar and tabla and introducing them into the
system of music during his lifetime.

Qawwali
A Vehicle for Obtaining Ecstasy and Marifat
Comparable to the Greek concept of gnosis, marifat indicates an inner knowledge not attainable by
normal means. The words (kalam) set in the music create an intangible interplay between form and
content, dwelling on certain words to give them a wider context, creating great depth in the apparently
simple language of certain Sufi texts.15 The qawwal often dwells on one phrase or sentence, indicating
both the obvious and hidden content by emphasizing and repeating various words and syllables, taking
the audience into the discovery of hitherto not obvious meanings till all meanings are disclosed.
A spinning wheel thus changes from a household instrument into the wheel of life, or the wheel of hope,
depending on the shift of emphasis in one sentence (Nayyar 1988). It is often this element that transcends
linguistic barriers. Qawwali shares with mystical Islam, the belief that knowledge can be imparted
through entertainment (Nayyar 1988).
One of the objectives of a qawwali and the qawwali singer is to induce trance in a group of listeners
in a communal ritualized setting (Nayyar 1988). The receptiveness of the listeners, although connected
with intention and readiness to go into trance, rests on cultural mechanisms as opposed to natural forces
all too often credited with a mysterious power beyond explanation. The discontinuity of individual
existence is complemented with the continuity of musical culture. The skill of the qawwal is severely
tested before an audience not familiar with these concepts, but a master is able to move entire audiences
to a hal, even if they do not understand a single word.
Regular attendees of qawwali sessions often use the concept of travel when they speak of their
experience during a qawwali. They feel as if they are travelling to another domain or plane, called hal,
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literally state of mind, and is often used to denote musically induced ecstasy. This ecstasy can range
from rhythmic moving of the head, dreamy dancing, to such extremes as violent convulsions of the body,
depending on the person affected. The society around the individual accepts this ritualized loss of control
and no stigma is attached to this state; and after recovery, the individual carries on as if nothing had
happened (Nayyar 1988).
The last stage of hal is fana, the closest analogue of which is the Buddhist concept of nirvana. In
this stage, the plane of worldly consciousness is dissolved and the ultimate union with the eternal is
achieved. Occasionally, cases of death during a qawwali session have been recorded, and it is believed
that the one who dies in such a manner has achieved fana. Saint Hazrat Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki is said
to have died in 1236 while in a musical trance induced by a qawwali.

The All-male Nature of Qawwali

From the early beginnings of Islam, the public sphere was an exclusively male domain. Women did
participate in scholarship and even warfare in extraordinary conditions, but the realm of worship, at best,
permitted equal but separate action. Women were allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum of a Sufi pirs
dargah. However, a musicreligious gathering had only men, and this remains predominant to this day.
Some notable exceptions have started appearing with the advent of women qawwals like Abida Parveen
and Reshma.
According to Eaton (2000, pp. 190191), the bulk of folk poetry written by the Sufis of Deccan was
sung by village women while engaged in various household chores. There are several versions of
charkha-nama (while spinning cotton) and chakki-nama (while grinding grain), as also lun-nama
(lullaby), shadi-nama (marriage songs) and suhagan-nama (married womens songs) (Eaton 2000).
It may be noted here that the first three activities are of a mundane but rhythmic nature and the Sufi
verses could be sung to their rhythm.

Language of Qawwali
Initially, the Persian language or Farsi with its rich literary tradition of mysticism became rapidly
identified with Islam and Sufism in South Asia. However, the languages of South AsiaPurbi (the
language of Bihar) and Braj Bhashawere freely used by Amir Khusrau in his compositions. Traditional
qawwali starts with an invocation in Farsi, moving to Punjabi or Urdu and moving further eastwards with
Hindi and/or Purbi. This west to east transition reflects the transitional link in keeping with the missionary
form of qawwali for the propagation of Islam in South Asia, building bridges between linguistic and
cultural regions. Deccan Urdu and Bengali16 are used in those parts in lieu of Braj or Purbi.
In Bengal, Lalon Fakir (c. 17741890) is an iconic figure of religious tolerance whose songs have
inspired and influenced many poets and social and religious thinkers, including Ravindranath Tagore
Nobel laureate and national poet of India, especially West Bengaland Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national
poet of Bangladesh, amongst others. Lalon Fakir is also regarded as the founder of the baul music
of Bengal. Bauls constitute a heterogeneous syncretic religious sect and a musical tradition. Most
members are Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims (Encyclopdia Britannica Online, 2007; The Times of
India 2010).
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At times when language is likely to be a barrier in connecting with the audience, the qawwals
rely heavily on the musical form and rhythm to convey the concepts, achieve a trance and induce
ecstasy. Veteran qawwals achieve this with a fairly high degree of success. A fine example would
be Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Saheb achieving this with Western audiences and achieving critical
acclaim.
In fact, the reason for the sudden recent popularity of qawwali beyond the borders of South
Asia is this ability of mature qawwals to alter the consciousness of the audience in a display of skill
and virtuosity amongst non-native and multicultural audiences. For an audience that cannot understand
the content/lyrics of the qawwali, the use of rhythm is the basic matrix through which the variation and
pitch of the voice is the unique musical experience that brings about a spiritual experience.

The Setting and Seating of Qawwals

A usual qawwali traditionally takes place at the shrine of a saint or at the meeting place of a Sufi order.
The usual day for performance at a shrine is a Thursday. A major performance usually takes place at the
annual festival (urs; literally, the passing of a spiritual leader from his finite body to the eternal) of a
shrine. Several qawwals sing/perform in honour of the pir whose urs is being celebrated. A muqabala or
competition can be assumed to have begun at these urs as all qawwals attempt to do their best for the pir
during the urs. Traditionally, it is a pious religious performance shorn of any technical support or
showmanship. Everyone, both the qawwals and the audience, sit on the ground cross-legged in a
courtyard facing the shrine. Even if the audience is large, traditionally, no microphones are used and the
qawwals strong voice rings clearly across the courtyard to the audience.
Also, traditionally, the master singer called mohri sits in the middle, facing the dargah directly, as if
addressing the pir. The tabla player sits just behind him, while the prompter (with the books and
manuscripts for the words of the mystic singing) sits behind him slightly to the left shoulder. The mohri
is usually flanked on both sides by two singers with harmoniums, daflis and manjiras (avazia), while the
rest of the chorus is aligned on both sides in two rows, with the better singers up front. Often, another
good singer sits to the left of the avazia. This singer has sufficient knowledge of musical theory and
supports the lead singer. The creation of the backup singer was prompted by the fact that qawwal
groups were often a leading pair of brothers or a father-and-son duo.
Usually, everyone sits a little behind the lead singer as a mark of respect. There is an undefined
hierarchy, usually on account of skill, seniority and/or birth, and those lower in hierarchy would typically
sit behind those higher in hierarchy. This is often referred to as qayada.
However, this is undergoing some change with the inclusion of technology (microphones, sound
mixers, etc.) for stage performances and studio recordings. Keeping the audience experience in
perspective, placing and positioning of singers and instruments is undergoing changes.

The Performance
Qawwali in South Asia is usually performed by a group of about 11 performers (traditionally, the number
was odd, but this number is changing in present times). It is reminiscent of the pirmureed/guru
shishya system of imparting knowledge and leading towards enlightenment.
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According to Chand Nizami, the original style of performing a qawwali was only voice and tali
(hand clapping) and only in shrines and hospices.17 Over a period of time, some folk music instruments
came into the performance, possibly a spillover from those used during bhajans and kirtans.
The qawwali starts with the alap, that is, only the lead singer invoking god, Prophet and the pir
through a mystical couplet, and is marked by complete silence from other members of the group and
audience, setting the atmosphere for the ecstatic experience that qawwali creates. This period is used by
the performers to scan the audience for sensitized individuals or group of individuals who can be
addressed with ease.
Gathering the momentum of the first stage, the qawwals launch themselves into the main body of the
qawwali, in which rhythm is introduced with a moderate tempo. The tempo is slowly increased and
the audience is carefully observed. Any line or musical mode that touches the audience or the master of
ceremonies is repeated with renewed fervour to induce trance.

Musical Instruments
The rhythm is provided by hand clapping (tali) and percussion instruments, that is, the two-sided drums
(dholak and/orpakhwaz) and/or a pair of drums (table) have been the traditional accompaniments of
folk music all over the Indian subcontinent. Small hand-held cymbals (kanjira) and dafli, a drum with
cymbals, are also often used during the rendition of qawwali. Harmoniums are also now a permanent
fixture of the qawwali, often played by the lead singer himself. Occasionally, the stringed instrument,
sarangi, also makes an appearance. In fact, minimal local/traditional instruments are the accompaniments.

Apparel and Behaviour

However, there is a strict religious dress code and behaviour code during the performance of Sufi music
globally.18 Traditional performers typically dress in black or white-coloured loose traditional clothes
along with head dress. Other sober colours such as grey or brown are often used by seniors. A green
scarf/kaffieh is allowed too. Some of the younger traditional singers from India have started using a red
jacket, inspired from film apparel, that is frowned upon by the seniors.
The women performers of Sufi music from Iran wore a flowing blue garment that revealed only their
faces and hands. The groups from Turkey, Morrocco, Tunisia and Egypt made it clear to the audience that
it was a religious performance and appropriate decorum was expected from the audience.

Qawwali as a Pop Culture

In the current stage of its adaptation in India, in keeping with popular music and culture, Qawwali found
its way into Hindi films in 1960 with Yeh Ishq Ishq Hai from the movie Barsaat Ki Raat (1960), thus
creating a subgenre of entertainment music called filmi qawwali. A.R. Rehman has composed several
filmi qawwalis which sound very close to an authentic qawwali and have been picturized as such in the
films. Matters came to a head when a traditional artist, Javed Khan, was used to sing the filmi qawwali,
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Kun Faya Kun, along with pop artiste, Mohit Chauhan, and was filmed at the dargah of Hazrat
Nizammuddin at Delhi. There was great debate in the qawwal community whether the song was to be
treated as a filmi qawwali or be inducted into the repertoire of spiritual qawwalis.19 The matter has
still not been resolved.
With the popularization of Sufi music after the Sufi Conference, conceived by Pakistan, held in
New York in 2001, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan received worldwide acclaim. The United Nations declared
2007 as the year of Rumi, which has been a watershed year for Sufi music globally. The Mehrangarh
Museum Trust organized the First World Sufi Spirit Festival and invited Sufi artists from Egypt,
Iran, Zanzibar, Pakistan, Tajikistan and China to perform in Jodhpur along with the traditional Rajasthani
folk musicians.20
The trend has picked up since then and festivals of Sufi music have been organized around the world
and a new breed of professional performers of Sufi music and qawwali have come up, for example,
Kailash Kher and Dhruv Sangari. Established vocal music artistes have started including Sufi music,
including qawwali, in their repertoire, for example, Shubha Mudgal and Shujaat Hussain Khan.
Junoon, a band from Pakistan, created the genre of Sufi rock by combining elements of modern
hard rock and traditional folk music with Sufi poetry. In 2005, Rabbi Shergill released a Sufi rock
song, called Bulla Ki Jaana, which became a chart topper in India and Pakistan (Bageshree 2005;
Zeeshan Jawed 2005).

Conclusion and Observations

With the success of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Junoon and Shergill, large-scale public performances of the
genre began, and the subgenre techno-qawwali has come into existence. Techno-qawwali is a qawwali
or lengthy lyrics set in funky music with heavy beats.21 This genre/subgenres of music is very popular
with young people in the twenty-first century. It needs to be noted that the median age for the population
of India and Indian subcontinent is under 30 years (Bhattacharya 2012).
While the majority population is young and identifies with the techno-qawwali, traditional qawwalis
in the dargahs continue to be performed following all the rules of a spiritual rendition. However, filmi
qawwali and techno-qawwali are not sung/performed in the dargahs yet. But, in recent times, as
the qawwals are invited to sing/perform outside the shrine, they are flooded with requests to sing/
perform qawwalis of choice, filmi qawwali and/or techno-qawwali, by the audience who neither know
the differences between the genres nor care. While the older generation of qawwals do not usually
oblige, the younger ones often do due to economic pressures and the need to encash on the current
popularity of qawwali and Sufi music.
In the Islamic world, Sufi music of the region is not used in films since it is regarded as sacred and
not to be mixed up with films that are considered to be purely for entertainment.22 Sama (whirling
dervishes) is an important cultural offering of Turkey and is often showcased abroad and for the
uninitiated.23 But the audience is informed about its sacred antecedents in advance and told to maintain
the decorum befitting a sacred ritual. No audience requests of any kind are entertained.
It may be said with a fair degree of surety that Sufi music, though a genre which has deep spiritual
and religious antecedents, has never had any fixed form of performance. It was always a collective
rendition of philosophical verses in the local language, set to local music, as could be found from the
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varying style of rendition by the various groups from across the Islamic world. In India, it adapted to the
Hindustani classical music, changing its own form into qawwali, goma, dammal, baulfakiri, etc., as
well as deeply influencing the entire genre of Hindustani classical music in a way that it is difficult to
differentiate the two definitively. The masters of musiccalled pandits if they were Hindus and
ustads if they belonged to the Islamic faithperformed the genres seamlessly, singing the praise of the
Lord of the others faith without the smallest hesitation for centuries, creating a syncretic culture of
Hindustani music in which the philosophical verses of either faith were set and embellished by their
individual talent.
In the current context, Sufi music has adapted to the popular culture of techno and pop music. It is a
natural progression of the philosophical thoughts and popular music of the times. It is too early to
comment on the effect that the rendition of Sufi philosophical verses set to pop music is having or will
have on either the philosophical verses or the music itself. But the first effect that can be noted is that it
is no longer restricted to consumption in the dargah premise, but has become a packaged cultural
commodity consumed by people in various forms: cassettes and CDs of traditional performances at the
dargah, performance by traditional artists outside the dargah in concert settings, performances by singers
of light Indian classical music, CDs, cassettes and downloadable formats of their music and CDs and
cassettes of international performers of Sufi music from countries as diverse as Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia,
Azerbaijan, etc.
Critics argue that the packaged cultural commodity has little or no spiritual quotient and the consumers
of such a product exercise little or no religiosity and spirituality associated with it, especially when
traditional qawwals are asked to perform at pubs, discotheques and lounges to entertain the people
there who are in mixed crowds indulging in what, in a religious context, would be considered unacceptable, ungodly activities. While the qawwals do so due to economic reasons and to ride the current
wave of popularity of Sufi music, it is however just a natural progression in the consumption of
Sufi music which has throughout set philosophical verses in common language and to popular music
of the people.
Studying the effect of this new wave of fusion would make another study in itself at a later date,
mapping the effect that the music has had on the philosophical verses and vice versa, of the effect the
philosophical verses have had on the currently popular heavy metals music. However, without doubt,
Sufi music is achieving its traditional purpose of binding diverse people together with the message of
peace and universal brotherhood through philosophical verses set in language and music well known to
and well understood by them.
Notes
1. Interviews with performers of Sufi music from Egypt, Morocco and Turkey, 2nd International Sufi Music
Festival, New Delhi, 25 February 2012.
2. Interview of Professor Mansoor Haider, scholar of Sufism, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
(IGNCA), New Delhi, with second author in New Delhi on 20 February 2012.
3. It was on account of and along this Royal Road that Megasthenes could travel to lands never beheld by
Greek eyes. It was maintained by a board of works (see Megasthenes Indika, Fragment 3, 4 and 34, in
McCrindle 1877, pp. 50, 86, XV.I.II). According to Megasthenes, this Royal Road was measured by scheoni
(1 scheonus = 40 stadia = 1 Indian yojana = 4 kos) and its total length was 10,000 stadia, that is, about 1,000 kos.
He also states that there was an authoritative register of the stages on the Royal Road from which Erastothenes
derived his estimates of distances between various places in India; cited in Dar (2000, p. 159).

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4. Retrieved 5 January 2013, from http://edu.holisticthought.com/rule-of-kanishka-78-120-a-d/

5. Interview of Shyam Khapa Baul with first author in New Delhi, 7 February 2013 (after his performance at the
3rd International Sufi Festival organized by Indian Council for Cultural Relations).
6. Interview of Chand Nizami (traditional performer at Nizamuddin Dargah) with the second author on
14 February 2012.
7. Retrieved 5 January 2013, from http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/bhakti.html and http://www.nios.
ac.in/media/documents/SecICHCour/English/CH.09.pdf
8. Ibid.
9. Interview of Dhruv Sangari with second author in New Delhi, 14 March 2012.
10. See http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/bhakti.html
11. Jajmanimaizbani or guesthost system is a system where it is important for both the guest and the host to please
each other.
12. Interview of Chand Nizami with Malik Ausaf at shrine of Nizamuddin, New Delhi, 23 February 2012.
13. Retrieved 29 June 2013, from http://www.omenad.net/page.php?goPage=%2Farticles%2FBSV_samintro.htm
14. Retrieved 29 June 2013, from https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Encyclopedia_Americana_(1920)/Jayad%
C3%A9va
15. Available at http://www.osa.co.uk/qawwali_history.html
16. Interview of a baulfakiriqawwali music group from Bangladesh with the first author in New Delhi, 3 February
2012.
17. Interview of Chand Nizami with the second author at the Nizamuddin shrine, New Delhi, 23 February
2012.
18. Interview of Ahmed Sidi with the first author in New Delhi, 6 February 2013, and observation of performers
attires during the various performances during the research period.
19. Interview of Chand Nizami with the first author in New Delhi, 5 February 2012.
20. Interview of Dhruv Sangari with the second author in New Delhi, 14 March 2012.
21. Available at http://thebollywoodzone.com/qawwalis-are-back-as-techno-qawwali/
22. Interview of Dr Mohammad Ilyas, Indo-Arab Cultural Centre, New Delhi, and Professor Mansoor Haider,
scholar of Sufism, IGNCA, New Delhi, with Hafiz K.T., 16 March 2012.
23. Interview of Ahmet Erdogam, manager Turkish Sama Group, Turkey, by the first author in New Delhi, 7 March
2012.

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Anuradha Bhattacharjee is the Project Director at CMS, New Delhi, working on an Indian Council of
Social Science Research(ICSSR)-funded research project. She is formerly Fellow, Centre for Culture,
Media and Governance, Jamia Milia Islamia, Assistant Professor, Mudra Institute of Communications,
Ahmedabad (MICA), and Research Fellow under the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Chair for Social Entrepreneurship
at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM A). E-mail: banuradha17@gmail.com
Shadab Alam got his masters degree from Centre for Culture Media and Governance from Jamia Millia
Islamia in 2013. He also holds a degree in law from Aligarh Muslim University. He has knowledge of
basic Arabic and Urdu languages, since he studied them upto intermediate level.
E-mail: shadabamu@gmail.com

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