JEDDAH, 11 April 2004 — Audiences said a recent qawwali program here made them feel “at home abroad”.
Held at the International Indian School (Boys’ Section) auditorium here on Friday night it featured Ghulam Qadir Niyazi and Group and was organized by the Consulate General of India and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.
Consul General Syed Akbaruddin said: “These types of functions are not just entertaining but are uniting factors as well, and a means of spreading the message of peace and goodwill.”
The group includes Niyazi’s sons Asim Hyder and Amir Hassan, and Tajuddin, Wajahat Hussain Khan, Khalil Ahmad, Intikhab, and Muzaffar.
Qawwali is a venerable form of devotional song. For centuries it has been inspired and propagated by the Chisti School, and although of Indo-Pakistani origin it is today enjoyed all over the world.
The word qawwali is derived from the Arabic word “qaul” which means “axiom” or “dictum.” A qawwal is one who sings the dictums.
That there are 67,700 dedicated sites on the Internet testifies to the popularity of the form.
Qawwali was thrust into the international arena by such musicians as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who died at the age of 49 not long ago. His fusion of traditional Indo-Pakistani influences with Western music created a stir in the music world.
The Bollywood film industry also contributed to the rise in popularity of the qawwali. There was a period when a qawwali was a mandatory part of the formula Hindi films.
The most common ragas (tunes) used in qawwalis today are bilawal, khammaj, kafi, and kalyan. However one often finds rags which are more in common with the modal forms of Persia or Afghanistan.
