In the Beating of Our Hearts

By Syeda Tanuja Hussain, "Sufi music and the Divine " - Meri News - New Delhi, India
Friday, December 19, 2008

Music can be found in every walk of life. If we only care to listen carefully as we breathe in and out, we will be able to hear rhythm in the beating of our hearts. All religions have made music a part of worship. One such form of music is Sufi music.

From the ancient times, music has played an important role in people’s lives. After the day’s hard work most of us like to spend our leisure, listening to the music. It refreshes and relaxes our mind.

Without music life would have stopped after a certain point of time. It is music that soothes the heart and soul. Music can be found in every walk of life. If we only care to listen carefully as we breathe in and out, we will be able to hear rhythm in the beat of our hearts. It is inspired by the beauties around the world.

In the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan, a 19th century Sufi teacher, “The art of music is especially divine, because it is the exact miniature of the laws working within the whole universe. Music inspires not only the soul of great musicians, but also the infant who begins to move to the rhythm of music as soon as s/he steps out into the world.”

All religions have made music a part of worship. One such form of music is Sufi music. Sufism claims to be the reality of religion in Islam, which encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practises to the divine love - God.

The followers of Sufism are known as Sufis who especially love music calling it as Ghiza-i-ruh, which means “food of the soul”.

The word Sufi originates from Suf, the Arabic word which means wool. Suf refers to the simple cloaks that the early ascetics used to wore. According to another theory, the root word of Sufi is the Arabic word Safa which means purity. Thus this theory placed the concept of Sufism on purity of thought, heart and soul.

The great Sufi masters have defined Sufism as a type of knowledge. Sheikh Ahmad Zarraq, a 15th century Sufi, defined Sufism as, “A science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God,” in his The Principles of Sufism. Ibn Ajiba, one of the best known Sufi masters, defined Sufism as, “A science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of Divine, purify one’s inward from filth and beautify it with praiseworthy traits.”

Notwithstanding its different definitions, Sufism remains a pure form of worship that transcends the barriers of religion even though it originated in one, namely Islam. Most importantly, it celebrates life and the Divine through one medium that each and everyone of us understand - Music. Music is the sole basis of Sufism.

Dhikr, a devotional act which means the remembrance of God is commanded in The Koran; is followed by many Sufi traditions, while orthodox Islam looks down on music.

Many Sufi traditions seek to utilise its emotive and communal power towards the goal of Dhikr. Sama is one of the central forms of group Dhikr. Literally, Sama means listening but it also has the connotation of a spiritual concert of sacred music, which is often blended with dance.

Rock music is also rooted in the trend of Sufi music. The sound of the famous Pakistani rock band Junoon can be termed as “Sufi Rock”. In 1993, Nadeem F Paracha claims to have coined the term to define Junoon’s then pioneering process of fusing conventional rock music with sub-continental Sufi music and imagery.

“Today, like every other day, we woke up empty and frightened,” noted the great Sufi mystic Jalauddin Rumi in the 13th century. “Don’t open the door to study and begin reading. Instead, take down a musical instrument; let the beauty we love be what we do,” wrote he.

And this embodies Sufi music in its truest sense.