Islamic music

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Islamic music is vocal or instrumental music that is meaningfully linked to the religious practice of Islam in a narrower sense or, in a wider sense, to a predominantly Muslim society. The classic homeland of Islam is the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East , North Africa and Egypt , Iran , Turkey , Turkestan , Afghanistan and Pakistan . Since Islam is a multicultural religion, there is a diverse musical expression of its respective followers.

Above all, classical Arabic music , Persian music and also Indian music have strongly shaped and influenced the forms of Islamic music worldwide and across epochs. The Seljuks , an Islamic nomadic people, conquered the Caliphate and Anatolia in the 11th century , where they also exerted a strong influence on Islamic music. In the 14th century, the Ottoman Empire became the heir of the Seljuks in Anatolia, which meant that the music of Turkey gained national importance and was able to have a formative influence on Islamic music.

To the subject

The term Islamic music is ambiguous and, in common usage, denotes not only cultic, religious music, but also various forms of secular music that have developed in areas with a majority Muslim population or as an expression of Muslim minorities. It thus encompasses traditions and styles from the most varied of regions and times, does not distinguish between serious and light music and can be used for medieval court music at the Kaliph's court as well as for the Gnawa ritual music , the diverse music of Lombok or for the hip-hop of the Black Muslims in the United States. Instead of a specific, clearly definable style, it denotes very different regional and culturally specific musical forms of expression, in which certain specifications were implemented in very different ways by the Islamic religion or sometimes do not play a clearly identifiable role at all.

In addition, some of the cultures summarized under this term do not have a separate term for music that is sharply differentiated from that of dance and ritual. On the other hand, many things that can be understood as music according to European standards due to a certain melodious sound quality are often clearly differentiated by Muslim listeners, such as the Adhān and the Koran recitation in particular .

Attitude of traditional Islamic scholarship to music

The views of the early Islamic religious and legal scholars on the admissibility and usefulness of music were ambivalent and, in contrast to the unanimous consensus on the prohibition of the representation of living beings in the visual arts , on which there were only a few dissenting opinions, more differentiated and not undisputed. The polemical Samāʿ debate was conducted mainly on the basis of the hadith literature in the absence of explicit Quranic guidelines on music .

The closeness of music to other actions such as drinking wine , fornication and ecstasy were seen as problematic . Accordingly, the traditional collections also contain particularly negative prophetic traditions about the female singer slaves, who were widespread in pre-Islamic Arabia and whose repertoire of rapture included not only their singing, but also alcohol and eroticism. At the same time, the singing of the pure human voice in particular is rarely seen as reprehensible. The roar of the donkey, explicitly described as ugly in Sura 31:19, is often contrasted with the beautiful singing voice of humans. Accordingly, there is also a strong a cappella tradition of cultic singing.

Legal scholars disagreed over the use of musical instruments. Although the tradition also referred to King David's musical talent and his skill in playing the harp and flute, the use of certain instruments, especially the stringed instruments, in contrast to the Arabic hand drum Daf , whose use is explicitly permitted in the Hadith , was still valid is often considered prohibited . Regardless of this, lute instruments such as the oud are among the most important instruments of the Islamic cultural area. In Sufism , Islamic mysticism, ritual music, also accompanied by instruments, is often considered not only permitted, but also an essential element of prayer. Accordingly, there are many different forms of Islamic music that are shaped by the respective local culture.

Lore situation

Most of the music has only been passed on orally. Own notation systems developed late and are rarely used; One of the reasons for this is that the quality of the performance was often measured by the listeners on the improvisational talent of the musicians. The pieces of music collected by al-Isfahānī in the famous Kitāb al-Aghānī ('Book of Songs') in the 10th century are only provided with brief references from which the melodies and the performance practice of the songs can hardly be reconstructed today. Western notation systems have been used since the 20th century, but they are only conditionally suitable for recording the harmonic and melodic characteristics of these musical traditions.

In contrast, the lyrics are well known themselves. Often it is a matter of setting well-known poems to music, and in cultic music also repetitive prayers and invocations of God or the prophet.

Forms of Islamic music

Modal systems such as the Arabic maqāmāt , the Persian dastgāh-hā and the Indian raga have spread across regions and have also strongly influenced one another. Traditional forms of cultic recitation without instrumental accompaniment such as the adhān and the Koran recitation are generally not counted as music.

Music for religious celebrations

Public religious celebrations, such as Mawlid , Muhammad's birthday, are an occasion for the performance of the music . The Shiites lead to commemorate the the Imam Hussein suffered martyrdom musically backed Passion Play on, in Iran as in the context of ta'zieh performance will be; Ashura music is played during the Muharram mourning period .

Sufi music

One of the most significant forms of cultic Islamic music is Sufi music . It has its origin in Iran and from there spread to Turkey and the Indian subcontinent. Best known in the West are the Dhikr services of the singing, rhythmically dancing Mevlevi - dervishes of Turkey. However, the Sufis can also perform religious chants in public for the entertainment and edification of the listeners. The mood is probably religious, but the congregation is not gathered for the service. Concerts of sacred chants are called Mehfil-e-Sama ' in Turkey . The song forms include İlahi and Nefes .

In northern India and Pakistan these concerts and their musical style are called Qawwali . To a traditional Qawwali program is among the Hamd , a praise song to God without instrumental accompaniment, the Naat , a praise song to the Prophet Muhammad, which is sometimes accompanied by drums, Manqabat , praises of famous teacher of the Sufi brotherhood, composed of the musicians, and Ghaselen - Songs of intoxicating ecstasy and longing that use the language of romantic love to express the soul's longing for connection with the divine. In Shi'a concerts, the Naat is followed by a song of praise to Ali , also known as Manqabat , and a Marsiya , a lament over the death of numerous Ali's followers at the Battle of Karbala .

The qawwali is becoming increasingly popular: it is a musical genre and the concerts are especially attractive for those who want to hear the singing artist without getting involved in the religious sphere. Some artists therefore skip the long sequence of praise songs and go straight from the introductory hammam to the popular romantic songs or even completely distance themselves from the religious content. This is increasingly being criticized by traditionalists and more conservative believers.

More examples of traditional Islamic music

An example of the popular religious music of North Africa is the music of the Gnawa , an ethnic minority in Morocco who also draws from ancient African traditions. Manzuma is the name given to moral songs performed in Ethiopia, of which Hazinu nimmihawi is one of the special forms . Madīh nabawī are Arabic hymns to the prophet Mohammed.

Contemporary Islamic Music

In the present and especially with Muslims in European countries and America, the naschid is particularly popular with representatives such as Sami Yusuf , Zain Bhikha and Yusuf Islam , a form of rhythmic singing that is predominantly performed without instrumental accompaniment solely through the use of human Voice or with the help of percussion instruments . The same applies to forms of rap and hip-hop , represented by Outlandish and Native Deen , for example .

One of the most popular Islamic forms of music in Indonesia today is Sholawat songs ( lagu-lagu sholawat ). These are hymns of praise for the prophet Mohammed in Arabic. They are commonly sung during various Islamic ceremonies and are therefore well known to the Indonesian people. Haddad Alwi is one of the particularly well-known Sholawat singers in Indonesia. He does not see music as the actual goal of his activity, but dakwah .

Instruments

There is a long tradition of instrumental accompaniment to religious chants. A wide variety of instruments can be used for this, depending on the local musical tradition.

Some instruments:

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

literature

  • Jenkins, Jean and Olsen, Poul Rovsing (1976). Music and Musical Instruments in the World of Islam . World of Islam Festival. ISBN 0905035119 .
  • Habib Hassan Touma (1975). The music of the Arabs . Heinrichshofen, Wilhelmshaven 1975. ISBN 3795901820 .
  • Shiloah, Amnon (1995). Music in the World of Islam: A Socio-cultural study. Wayne State University Press. Detroit. ISBN 0-8143-2589-0

Web links

Audio samples

Documentaries and films

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Peter Heine : fairy tales, miniatures, minarets. A cultural history of the Islamic world. Primus, Darmstadt 2011, p. 170 ff.
  2. ↑ Samāʿ , in English 'to hear' or 'what has been heard', describes the music as an object of early Islamic law discourses and as an element of Sufi devotion. For a historical overview, see the article Samāʿ in the Encyclopaedia of Islam , Volume 8, 1995, Brill, Leiden and Arthur Gribetz: The Samāʿ Controversy: Sufi vs. Legalist . In: Studia Islamica 74, 1991, pp. 43-62.
  3. ↑ Amnon Shiloah: Music in the World of Islam. A Socio-Cultural Study. Wayne State University Press, Detroit 1995, p. 33.
  4. ↑ Compare, for example, al-Buchari :الربيع بنت معوذ قالت: دخل علي النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم غداة بني علي, فجلس على فراشي كمجلسك مني, وجويريات يضربن بالدف, يندبن من قتل من آبائهن يوم بدر, حتى قالت جارية: وفينا نبي يعلم ما في غد, فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: (لا تقولي هكذا ، وقولي ما كنت تقولين) / 'Al-Rabīʿ bint Muʿawwadh related: After I moved into my husband's house after the wedding, the Prophet visited us and sat down on my bed as you are now sitting in front of me. Some female vocal slaves drummed the Daf and sang lamentations for their forefathers who had died in the Battle of Badr . And one of the girls sang: Among us is the prophet who knows what will happen in the future. Then the prophet declared: Don't say that, but keep singing. ' Saheeh al-Buchari , hadith no.3779.
  5. ↑ Jean During: Musique et extase: l'audition mystique dans la tradition soufie . Albin Michel, Paris 1988.
  6. ↑ Peter Heine : Fairy tales, miniatures, minarets , p. 178.
  7. ↑ From Arabic الهي, DMG ilāhī = “divine, belonging to the divine” (see Wehr: Arabic dictionary , Wiesbaden 1968, p. 21).
  8. ↑ See K. u. U. Reinhardt Music of Turkey , Vol. 1: The Art Music , Wilhelmshaven 1984.
  9. ↑ See Birgit Berg: "'Authentic' Islamic sound? Orkes Gambus Music, the Arabic Idiom, and Sonic Symbols in Indonesian Islamic Musical Arts" in David D. Harnish, Anne K. Rasmussen (eds.): Divine Inspirations. Music & Islam in Indonesia. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011. pp. 207-240. Here pp. 222–225.