I had heard of Doctors without Borders and Reporters without Borders, but when I saw a headline in a Pakistani newspaper about Mystics without Borders, it was a first for me and certainly caught my attention.
It turns out a fascinating festival by the name of the “International Mystic Music Sufi Festival” is currently being celebrated in Karachi at the Bara Dari. The festival is being organized by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop, which is also the group that has been responsible for the popular World Performing Arts and Theatre Festival held annually in Lahore.
This Sufi festival is the first of its kind in Karachi and certainly an encouraging sign that people are able to express and share their sentiments, devotion, spirituality and passion in diverse ways. This festival is expected to last until May 7, and with an entrance fee of just Rs 300, it promises a lot of entertainment and education to Karachiites. According to the organizers, performers from over 70 countries have been invited to present their specialties in muslim sufi rituals, including music, songs and dances. There are performers from as far away as Syria which can be a delight to watch.
ATP has written before (here, here, here, here, here and here) on some of the great mystic poets and we wish to join the participants in this festival in spirit.
According to the media report:
Usman Peerzada of the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop said that the group’s main aim had been to bring festivals to Pakistan since 1992 and now, as a result of their efforts, the World Performing Arts Festival had become the largest festival of Asia. “Festivals are living festivals and we aim to make the Sufi festival into just that. So please, own the festival,” he said in his address to the audience.
Daily Times spoke to Faizan Peerzada, the master-mind behind the show, to ask him what his audience could expect out of this festival. “A lot of variety. Some of these performers, like the Syrian performers can alone perform for four hours, but we have condensed it into a performance of 32 minutes so that we can manage 17 performances in one day. We have tried to bring together as many performers here as was possible and each one of them is performing a different Islamic tradition, so there’s a collection of so many aspects, which makes this festival unique.”
and the performances so far seem to have kept up to their high expectations:
The curtain raiser began with a performance by Zain-ul-Abideen Shah also known as Jumman Shah and his troupe of five people who sang a qafi by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Their performance was followed by a mind-blowing performance by Mithoo and Goonga Saeein, who presented an instrumental using dhols while three of their members whirled around, representing the ecstasy so indispensable to the Sufi tradition. The next performance was by an Iranian four-member group called Bidaat, after which Kathak dancer Sheema Kirmani stole the show with her brilliant performance on Ameer Khusro’s aaj rang hai. With her group of two male dancers and two female, she brought the words to life and used the vacuum of the stage as a canvas portraying a beautiful painting that she successfully displayed to an audience that erupted in a round of applause for her.
Another one of the most appreciated performances of the curtain raiser was by Saeein Zahoor who performed a kalaam by Baba Bulleh Shah. Zahoor is a recipient of the BBC World Music Award and performed for an approximate 10 minutes, not a single second of which could be termed as a ‘drag’. A Syrian group called “Sham group of Syrian and Andalusian Music” performed next and recited verses from the Holy Quran.
We hope this Sufi Festival will become a local tradition, and that such art, folk, mystic, music, poetic, dance, and religious festivals will be held regularly in a city that still hosts one of the most diverse and culturally steeped citizenry.
Bilal, fantastic question. Wish you some answers of comparable quality.
Salamalikum,
Of course, Islam is a way of life and provides a code of ethics for every action.
[quote post=”695″]As a muslim, am I supposed to not be practising Islam and living Islam at times when I am doing the dhammal or shaking my head to Qawwali?[/quote]
Sorry, I might not be smart enough–I can’t understand exactly what you are saying. Are you saying that for some actions you could actually be not practicing Islam? If so, then why in your post you linked dancing with religion?
If you are saying that dhammal and dancing and shaking head while listening to Qawwali are all part of Islam then I will post later once you make clear what you meant by what I just quoted above from your comments.
Nobody is saying that if a Muslim dances, he is outside the pale of Islam. And, certainly I didn’t say this in my above comments. “Wahabis” or “Deobandis” or “Azharis” don‘t call such dancing as detailed here as kufr; haram, yes but not kufr. Only sects that ascribe to this extreme sufism that you detail in your article allow some sort of music/dancing, which is a wrong opinion in the view of most.
@ Ibrahim: What I say below reflects me thinking out aloud…
Isn’t Islam a way of life and supposd to permeate through every aspect, every minute of our lives? As a muslim, am I supposed to not be practising Islam and living Islam at times when I am doing the dhammal or shaking my head to Qawwali?
I understand the response certain conservative sects, such as Wahabis, might have but if I do not espouse thier ideology, am I outside the circle of Islam when I am dancing.
even Faisal saleh hiyat and Ameen faheem are called “Makhdooms”- LOL!
and our Altaf bhai is known as “Peer Saab”
Welcome Welcome, peer saab welcome – Peer saab k Shabeeh chaand par, pattoun[leaves] aur LOTAY per nazar ayee- peer saab ne kamal kardia, even Gohar shahi ko bhe maat deydi- *grin*
I have heard of ‘dhamaals’ to be more of a Sufi tradition in the subcontinent but kathak dance doesn’t make any sense or connection to Sufis. I know some people might bring up Ameer Khusro here but still I think Kathak dance is not suitable for these kind of events. Its not just about tradition and culture but you have to show your respect and regards for these great saints. I don’t think any of these great Sufis might have enjoyed Kathak dance in their lifes and even if any of those would have been alive today would appreciate this non-sense. Perhaps Mushy is pushing his enlightened moderation a bit too much. May be we’ll see some rock concerts at various Urs in the coming future.