WEST ASIA: Sufi Music

Sufi: Mystical religious practice of Islam

Sufism typically practiced in small sects centered on a spiritual leader.

Ecstasy: method of seeking divinity through direct, immediate connection to God.

Ecstasy involves altering consciousness (trance);

Dance, movement and music practiced by various sects.

Sufi rituals:

Zikr (literally “remembrance”): a Sufi ritual for achieving ecstatic union with God.

Utilizes trance-inducing activity:

repetitious chanting the name of God; drumming and body movements

Sema (literally “listening”): Sufi rituals involving music (Turkey, Pakistan)

Controversy over use of music in religion:

Islamic leaders have argued against (sometimes in favor of) the use of music;

Early Sufi sects avoided secular songs and instruments;

Sufi sects banished in Persia since 16^th century Shi’ite rise to power;

Mevlevi sect of Turkey utilizes large instrumental ensemble and dance:

Incorporated songs and instruments from court music.

Use modal improvisation typical of classical music.

Selections from CD 2:

7. Sufi zikr ritual from Syria

The Sufi religion is a kind of Islamic mysticism practiced throughout the Muslim world. The goal of Sufism is to seek the divine through submission to God and through states of ecstasy. States of ecstasy are achieved in the ritual known as zikr (literally “remembrance”) in which the devotees chant praises to God (Allah) along with drum accompaniment. In these excerpts of a ceremony from Syria, frame-drums are used along with the chanting to drive the devotees into states of ecstatic trance.

8. Music of the whirling dervishes - Taleal Bedru Aleyna

One of the oldest continuing ensembles of Turkish classical music is the world-famous Mevlevi Sufi religious sect founded in the 13^th century by Jalal al-Din Rumi who believed that music and dance was the most direct path to spiritual ecstasy. In the rituals of the “whirling dervishes,” as they are called in the West, dancers spin in circles with the left hand turned downward to earth and the right hand turned upward to heaven while classical Ottoman court music is performed. The central instrument of the utmost spiritual power in this music is the nay, an end-blown flute made of cane. Also featured in this ensemble are drums, zithers and lutes.