By Shoaib Ahmed - Daily Times - Pakistan
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Sufi music enthusiasts were treated to another night of the International Mystic Music Sufi Festival at Alhamra Cultural Complex on Friday, with delightful performances by many artistes; the main attractions of the night were folk singer Abida Parveen and the whirling dervishes from Turkey.
Abida mesmerised the audience with her melodious voice and captivatingly repetitive tune. Belonging to a music family from Larkana, one of the homes of Sufism, Abida was brought up listening to the deep mysticism of Sufi poetry and music. Accompanied by harmoniums, the tabla and dholak, her fervid and inspirational singing was an experience the audience will never forget. She sang the qawwali and kafis of great poets. The mystic singers from Afghanistan did well also. Group leader Ustad Wali Mohammad started his career from Radio Pakistan in 1996 and has travelled around the world. He is teaching tabla at the Agha Khan Music Initiative for Central Asia in Kabul.
The whirling dervishes from the Galat Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble of Turkey were brilliant and spun the audience’s emotions into a vortex of spirituality. Group leader Nail Kesova told Daily Times that the real message behind the whirling dervishes was peace and humanity. He said Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi gave the same message 700 years ago. He said the dance was based on the movements of the universe, as everything was constantly turning in a certain direction and that dervishes copied the motion in God’s remembrance. “It is not a dance, as called by the West. It is the remembrance of God,” he said, adding the West had its own materialistic image about the dance, as they did not understand spiritualism.
He said Sufism had given birth to poets, musicians, theologians and politicians. He said travellers noticed the Mevlevis mainly because of their Sema (the ritual whirling dance). He said the ‘Sema’ ceremony signified man’s spiritual journey to heaven. “It is one’s disappearance into Allah, leaving one’s own self. The ‘Semazen’ while standing with his arms crossed depicts the apparent figure ‘one’, thereby signifying the unity of God in the beginning. Later, he stretches out his arms as he starts whirling with his right hand extended towards the sky, as if waiting to receive the ‘Kereem-e-Ilahi’,” he added.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
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Thursday, October 19, 2006
Mystic music continues to delight audience
By Shoaib Ahmed - Daily Times - Pakistan
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Sufi music enthusiasts were treated to another night of the International Mystic Music Sufi Festival at Alhamra Cultural Complex on Friday, with delightful performances by many artistes; the main attractions of the night were folk singer Abida Parveen and the whirling dervishes from Turkey.
Abida mesmerised the audience with her melodious voice and captivatingly repetitive tune. Belonging to a music family from Larkana, one of the homes of Sufism, Abida was brought up listening to the deep mysticism of Sufi poetry and music. Accompanied by harmoniums, the tabla and dholak, her fervid and inspirational singing was an experience the audience will never forget. She sang the qawwali and kafis of great poets. The mystic singers from Afghanistan did well also. Group leader Ustad Wali Mohammad started his career from Radio Pakistan in 1996 and has travelled around the world. He is teaching tabla at the Agha Khan Music Initiative for Central Asia in Kabul.
The whirling dervishes from the Galat Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble of Turkey were brilliant and spun the audience’s emotions into a vortex of spirituality. Group leader Nail Kesova told Daily Times that the real message behind the whirling dervishes was peace and humanity. He said Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi gave the same message 700 years ago. He said the dance was based on the movements of the universe, as everything was constantly turning in a certain direction and that dervishes copied the motion in God’s remembrance. “It is not a dance, as called by the West. It is the remembrance of God,” he said, adding the West had its own materialistic image about the dance, as they did not understand spiritualism.
He said Sufism had given birth to poets, musicians, theologians and politicians. He said travellers noticed the Mevlevis mainly because of their Sema (the ritual whirling dance). He said the ‘Sema’ ceremony signified man’s spiritual journey to heaven. “It is one’s disappearance into Allah, leaving one’s own self. The ‘Semazen’ while standing with his arms crossed depicts the apparent figure ‘one’, thereby signifying the unity of God in the beginning. Later, he stretches out his arms as he starts whirling with his right hand extended towards the sky, as if waiting to receive the ‘Kereem-e-Ilahi’,” he added.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Sufi music enthusiasts were treated to another night of the International Mystic Music Sufi Festival at Alhamra Cultural Complex on Friday, with delightful performances by many artistes; the main attractions of the night were folk singer Abida Parveen and the whirling dervishes from Turkey.
Abida mesmerised the audience with her melodious voice and captivatingly repetitive tune. Belonging to a music family from Larkana, one of the homes of Sufism, Abida was brought up listening to the deep mysticism of Sufi poetry and music. Accompanied by harmoniums, the tabla and dholak, her fervid and inspirational singing was an experience the audience will never forget. She sang the qawwali and kafis of great poets. The mystic singers from Afghanistan did well also. Group leader Ustad Wali Mohammad started his career from Radio Pakistan in 1996 and has travelled around the world. He is teaching tabla at the Agha Khan Music Initiative for Central Asia in Kabul.
The whirling dervishes from the Galat Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble of Turkey were brilliant and spun the audience’s emotions into a vortex of spirituality. Group leader Nail Kesova told Daily Times that the real message behind the whirling dervishes was peace and humanity. He said Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi gave the same message 700 years ago. He said the dance was based on the movements of the universe, as everything was constantly turning in a certain direction and that dervishes copied the motion in God’s remembrance. “It is not a dance, as called by the West. It is the remembrance of God,” he said, adding the West had its own materialistic image about the dance, as they did not understand spiritualism.
He said Sufism had given birth to poets, musicians, theologians and politicians. He said travellers noticed the Mevlevis mainly because of their Sema (the ritual whirling dance). He said the ‘Sema’ ceremony signified man’s spiritual journey to heaven. “It is one’s disappearance into Allah, leaving one’s own self. The ‘Semazen’ while standing with his arms crossed depicts the apparent figure ‘one’, thereby signifying the unity of God in the beginning. Later, he stretches out his arms as he starts whirling with his right hand extended towards the sky, as if waiting to receive the ‘Kereem-e-Ilahi’,” he added.
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