Abstract
Qawali is an Islamic devotional form of music invented and re-appropriated
mainly by Chishtiyya Sufi order in the Indian sub-continent. Ever since qawali is
an integral part of samma (ceremony). Thought not strictly limited to but a qawali
is often performed at shrines. Sufis who came to sub-continent used qawali as a
medium of intra-faith communication with local population. Not so surprisingly
Sufis also produced literature, mainly lyrical poetry, on themes such as divine
love, reunion, and miraculous interceding powers of the last apostle Muhammad
(PBUH). Consequently, qawali emerged as a form of music eulogizing divine love
and love for the last apostle. Sufis patronized qawali and samma because they
anticipated the value of music in Indian culture. This paper argues that qawali is a
catalyst to spiritual ecstasy, and even a culturally pluralistic audience is spiritually
swayed by its quintessentially Islamic appeal and content. However, what
distinguishes the spiritual music manifested in the performance of qawali are
certain restrictions imposed from within Sufi orders to preserve its purity and to
keep it in congruence with basic tenants of religion so that the spiritual realm, a
qawali invoked, is not compromised through worldly deviations. Therefore, this
paper will also analyze contents of samma (ceremony) celebration) conducted at
the shrine of Mehar Ali Shah (a Chishtiyya saint) in order to read the complex
configuration of the genre of qawali.
Abdul Qadir Mushtaq, Rizwan Akhtar, Nasir Amir, Farzana Arshad. (2019) Sacred status of Qawali in Chishtiyya order: A case study of the Shrine of Meher Ali Shah, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Volume 56, Issue 2.
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