Ihsan Center – Islam From The Heart

Akbar Latif Khan on the tabla

Sufi music to enthral the Land of Nizams

V. RISHI KUMAR

HYDERABAD, DEC. 27:

It is that time of the year when you wear your woollens and jackets and step out in the chill of the winter evening. What better way to enjoy the season than with some soulful Sufi.

This pure music form, a blend of devotional music inspired by the works of Sufi poets, cuts across all barriers. In this land of Nizams, Sufi music thrived in the courtyards of Nawabs and was patronised in palaces but was equally popular everywhere.

The All-India Markazi Majlis-e-Chistia, a body of Sufi elders, has lined up some of the artistes from the Dilli Gharana, who will render their delectable numbers. Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan Nizami, head of Dilli Gharana, and his team will form part of the ensemble.

The Jashn-e-Khusro, spread over three days, seeks to enthral audiences with the best of this mystical poetry in celebration of the music of Hazrat Ameer Khusro. Khusro is credited to have invented the sitar and the tabla in the 13th century.

Sitar maestro Zafar Khan will present some rare ragas of Arabi and Hindustani music composed by Khusro. Akbar Latif Khan of Dilli Gharana will play the tabla.

Muzaffar Ali Sufee, the convenor of the event, said the idea is to bring to the fore the versatility of the great musician Khusro and his works and his great contribution for peace and harmony during the period he served.

He explained that Sufi songs are popular among those who understand Persian, Urdu and Hindi. But significantly, one does not have to know any language to enjoy the music. It easily beats all barriers.

via Sufi music to enthral the Land of Nizams | Business Line.

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Aminah Chishti and “Fana-Fi-Allah”

First woman tabla player breaks social barriers

ISLAMABAD: As the nation’s capital, Islamabad is home to numerous foreigners who are seen donning local dresses in a bid to assimilate with the natives.  However, Aminah Chishti, a US national, not only changed her appearance to fit in, but has managed to assimilate into the man’s world that is classical music by becoming the first female tabla player in the history of classical music to perform at Sufi shrines around Pakistan. 

Chishti is part of the band “Fana-Fi-Allah” — a group of nine devoted foreigners who have dedicated their lives to spread the message of Sufis in the West since 2001. They have performed at hundreds of festivals and concerts worldwide where they share their passion for qawwalis.

Chishti has performed at a number of Sufi shrines and festivals since 2001, the most famous ones being the tombs of Data Ganj Baksh in Lahore, Baba Ganj-i-Shakar in Pak Pattan, Baba Bulleh Shah in Kasur and Baba Lasuri Shah in Faisalabad. In India, she has performed at the tombs of Khwaja Nizamuddin Aulia, Hazrat Amir Khusrau, Pir Inayat Khan and Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.

With her devotion, she has changed boundaries for women across Pakistan by performing at various shrines where women rarely take on a prominent role.

Chishti’s journey towards Sufism and devoting her life to classical music began when she was given a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan music cassette eleven years ago. “It was then that classical music just immediately touched my soul and my quest began,” she said.  While travelling back and forth between America, India and Pakistan, her journey led her to the legendary Dildar Hussain Khan, a tabla master who worked and toured with Khan during his heyday. He practices a unique style of tabla playing known to be over 1,000 years old and drafted by the legendary poet Amir Khusro. The style is a combination of ‘jori’ which is used as the treble and ‘dhamma’ which creates a deeper sound. “I came to Dildar with the hope and will to learn” she said “Today I not only perform to spread the message of Sufis in the West but I also teach the rare music form” she added.

Apart from playing classical music she also sings to the tune. Her master, Dildar, while praising her dedication, said she came to him years ago wanting to learn. “People around me raised eyebrows…[why does] a girl from America want to learn the tabla?” he said.

Dildar said Chishti has taken the first and most difficult step of defying the norm and has thus opened the floodgate for many women who want to learn the tabla. “There are many women in our country who admire the sound of the tabla but are restricted to performing in small gatherings or weddings.

The lead vocalist of Chishti’s group, Tahir Qawwal, studies from vocal masters Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Pashupati Nath Mishra, Sher Ali Khan and Muazzum Qawwal. Tahir plays the harmonium and sings the qawwalis. “I was pulled out of my cultural and religious roots at an early stage. I have lived like a beggar in the Himalayas and it has been a journey full of spirituality”.

At a qawali workshop organised by the Institute for Preservation of Arts and Culture in collaboration with the US Embassy at Kuch Khass on Tuesday evening, a number of music lovers gathered to listen to and learn about classical music. The band got an opportunity to play with the Bakshi brothers and Ustad Dildar Hussain’s group. The workshop started with the expert artists explaining the qawaali form of singing, its various styles and techniques. While explaining each stage systematically, Tahir managed to elaborate the style of singing with personal experiences and historical significance. All three groups got a chance to perform individually and ended the performance with a remarkable fusion of all three groups.

Fana-Fi-Allah will be touring all of Pakistan this month, hitting Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Multan, Pak Pattan and Faisalabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2013.

Read more at: First woman tabla player breaks social barriers – The Express Tribune

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German scholar Dr. Jurgen Wasim Frembgen reads excerps from his book at the Goethe Institut on Wednesday evening. (Photo credit Dawn)

‘Sufi music is a gift to western listeners’ – DAWN.COM.

PEERZADA SALMAN

Introducing himself and the book to a thin audience, Dr Frembgen said he started listening to Indian classical and folk music at a young age in the 1970s. It didn’t take him long to realise that the reaction of German audiences to eastern music was quite different from that of Pakistani music lovers. While the former reacted to it in a reserved manner the latter sat on the floor and appreciated it verbally (wah, wah) and through gestures. It was then that he started working on classical and Sufi music.

“I can’t play any instrument but am a keen listener,” he said.

Speaking on the genesis of the book, Dr Frembgen said he visited the walled city of Lahore quite a bit and sat with musicians and connoisseurs of music in order to observe their understanding of the subject. He claimed Sufi music was a gift to western listeners in order to help them develop their spirituality. He being an anthropologist could train his ear to have a better understanding of the genre. There were several histories of Indian classical music and its comprehension depended upon what kind of cultural setting the music was based. The atmosphere that’s part of the performance (with agarbattis and dhamal) and the concept of sharing were keeping alive the subcontinent’s music that was indigenous to the region’s value system.

Dr Frembgen recalled an event where the established flutist Akmal Qadri was playing raga des (a nighttime raga). This made him read the first chapter of the book in which he remembered his visit to the late classical dancer Maharaj Kathak’s house in Lahore in the 1990s where Ustad Hamid Ali Khan was singing ghazals and thumris. It was not just the singing and admiration for the poets whose poetry was being sung but the whole ambience that inspired him (people touching Maharaj Kathak’s feet or appreciating the couplet with loud gestures etc).

The author then touched upon a sensitive topic. He said today there was a debate raging on about whether music was haram, and with bomb blasts at shrines a political angle had entered the whole scenario. There was a need to accommodate differences and celebrate cultural diversity. His book was not a scholarly one but was a collection of small narratives. Dr Frembgen mentioned the name of Dr Ashfaq, a homeopathic doctor and music expert with whom he had many discussions on the emotional dimension to Sufi music. He read out the chapter in which Akmal Qadri was playing raga des on his bamboo flute and commented that ‘a raga can awaken certain masculine or feminine emotion in the listener’.

Dr Frembgen also spoke on a chapter on Shah Latif’s shrine (which he said had undergone quite a few aesthetic changes unlike other shrines) where six to eight musicians sang till morning. “We need music to console our hearts,” he remarked while lauding those who perform at the great Sufi poet’s shrine. He also briefly discussed the difference in behaviours of people that nowadays visited shrines and argued Sufi tradition was at the heart of Islam.

The last bit that Dr Frembgen read out from the book was his experience of being at Baba Shah Jamal in Lahore. The chapter focused on the different people who indulged in trance dance or dhamal.

Replying to a question put to him by an attendee, Dr Frembgen said the dynamics of change were always at work that was why at some shrines the performances had more of an entertainment value, while when he recently visited an area in Karachi he found members of the Sheedi community trying to search their Sufi identity.

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