Sufi music — born out of ecstatic love
Abida Parveen
SEVERAL CENTURIES ago, a disciple asked his teacher Sultan Ahmed Kabir, what he meant by Sufism or ecstatic love? Before the disciple could realise, the Sufi saint got charred and lay as a heap of ash. Sufism is this mystic act of union, this joyous loss of the transfigured self in God.
Sufis believe that God can be realised in all things without the mediation of the orthodox religion. The devout seeker through the medium of love and loving detachment, gives himself to the sole mediation of the divine being, transports himself into a state of ecstasy, abnegating his personal will to the will of God. The Sufis are inspired by this ideal of love, which means "to give all that thou hast to him whom thou lovest so that nothing remains to thee of thine own". The essence of Sufism is summed up in Margaret Smith's words, "Love leads the mystics to the knowledge of the divine mysteries, to the vision of God unveiled and they see him with the eye of certainty." This mystical tradition, this everlasting desire of man for his unison with God can be seen in certain strands of Hinduism, in Neo-Platonism, in Christian Mysticism and in Islamic Sufism. "Raaste alag alag hain, thikana to eak hai, Manzil hareak shaks ko pana to eak hai", says Munna Shaukat Ali. However, this can be experienced only if one has emotional and spiritual capability.
Medium of expression
The Greek philosopher Plotinus has described this very effectively "as the eye could not behold the sun unless it were sunlike, so no more can the soul behold God unless it is Godlike." There have been Sufi saints in different periods in history like, Kabir, Tulsidas and Gurunanak albeit with different vehicles of expression.
The Sufi music belongs to this tradition. It was Khwaja Moinodeen Chishti from Kharasan-Sanjar, who began the Chishti silsila where certain instruments were used as a medium of expression. This served as a common language of communication and this tradition was strengthened with the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin. The ardent love of these Fakirs for Allah led them to the love of humanity, to the care of the needy.
"Qual" the traditional message of the Prophet Mohammad was transported to the enthusiasts in Mehfil-e Samah through the medium of a song. This was originally the qawwali in which ten or twelve musicians, singers and instrument players wove their way through poetry and rhythm; repetition of lyrics and music in a highly evolved style creating an emotional effect.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
These qawwali samahs were addressed to God but in the presence of the Sufi saint or Wali, who presided over these mehfils as the "Sajjada Nashin".
Spiritual enlightenment
The Samakhani had certain rules of not breaking the line of lyrics till the climax was reached in a state of unconsciousness. This experience of aesthetic contemplation enabled the singer to perceive reality. These Samahs led to literary and spiritual enlightenment and drew people from all walks of life. The Persian influence and its judicious mix with the Indian models consolidated the qawwali genre further. The Sufi saint, poet and singer Hazrat Amir Khusro, further augmented this frenzied vocal tradition with his own qawwalis like "Bahut kathin hai dagar pan ghat ki, kaisy main bhar laoon madhowa se matki" which he sang to the accompaniment of tabla and sitar - his own creations. These qawwali enunciations draw the restless thoughts of an individual to a single point of concentration. "Kar is tarhen se basar umr apni deewane, siva khuda ke koiee sheh na tujhko pehchaane". In great moments of history, when an individual rises above himself and is carried away by the spiritual spark of love, he transcends himself. Sufi qawwali achieves this special transcendentalism. It is articulate in its own language and no other.
The best exponents of Sufi qawwali in our times were the Sabri Brothers. Nusrat Fateh Ali with his evocative and energetic style popularised the Genre and built up an extensive archive of recordings. Abida Parveen sings in the same Sufi strain.
This harmonious co-existence of poetry and music runs through the fabric of the Indian tradition of Bhakta Saints Sufis and folk singers. In the words of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, "Tamanna darde dil ki ho to kar khidmat fakiron ki, nahin milta ye gauhar badshahon ke khazino mein." The company of Fakirs is better than the company of Kings.
JYOTI NAIR BELLIAPPA
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