Week 5: Post Prophetic Authority
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9M_LN2n1is
This week, we discussed the disputes that arose regarding authority in Islam after the death of the Prophet. We also read about it in Diversity in Islam: Communities of Interpretation, by Daftary. One particular historical incident of interest occurred at Ghadir al-Khumm, in March of the year 632 when the Prophet said “Man Kunto Mawla” meaning “He whose master I am, Ali is his master.” There are numerous interpretations of this phrase. Shia Muslims believe it to mean that the Prophet has passed authority to Ali, his son-in-law, and use it to justify their hierarchical structure in which the Imam is a family member of the Prophet and is the leader of all Muslims. Another interpretation focuses more on the esoteric meaning of such a phrase and states that what really happened was a passing of mystical truths from the prophet to Ali.
As a result of the importance of this phrase, there exists a tradition of singing these lines as seen in the first linked video. This is interesting because repetition of certain phrases is a theme found in many other Islamic interpretations for completely different reasons. For example, dhikr, found mainly in Sufi traditions, refers to a form of devotion in which the worshiper repeats one of God’s names or an aspect of his in rhythm. Another example is the repetition of Quranic verses, either for purposes of memorization, or for artistic purposes such as when a verse is repeated across the walls of a building. In calligraphy, the word Allah is often repeated in some pattern, as in our calligraphy assignment. Repetition highlights the importance of internalizing and constantly remembering the repeated phrase, whether it is a way of giving thanks to God by chanting his name or in this case to recall an important moment in history.
For me, what was particularly interesting is how similar this concept is to dhikr as found in Sikhism (skip to 8:50 in the second video for an example). The text sung in the second video is from the Scripture and is entirely about the Islamic concept of constantly remembering God and repeating his name. The instruments used are in fact entirely the same as those used in the first video highlighting the influence of regional cultures and traditions in different interpretations of Islam. The two main instruments used in both videos are the harmonium and the tabla which are both South Asian instruments. In other regions, different instruments are used to achieve the same ends.
Music has long been used to create an emotional response in the listener. In both of these cases, it is used to highlight the devotion that the worshipper has for God and to help the listener achieve the same feeling. Moreover, the concept extends across many different parts of the world, whether it is in the singing of Gospels in Churches, or in these examples. These songs are a tribute to the underlying themes of many of the world’s cultures that we can hopefully appreciate and use to find a common understanding among different religions.
As a response to these themes, I decided to create a short audio recording of myself repeating the name of God in Sikhism while playing Guitar. This captures the idea of Dhikr as mentioned above, but also makes use of a Western instrument as opposed to the ones you might traditionally find in a Sufi order or in Sikhism to highlight the multicultural dimensions of both religions. I used two different patterns of singing as a sample of the many different ways in which Dhikr could be performed by the practitioner. The chord progression used throughout the piece was G, E, C, D. These are four incredibly common chords and some of the first that one would learn when learning how to play the guitar, and they are also very widely used in American pop music. In fact, many of the most popular songs are formed entirely using combinations of these chords (or perhaps also including A as well). The two main reasons for choosing these particular chords are to, one, stress the underlying commonality between these two different religions which I felt would be best expressed using the most fundamental chords, and also to promote the idea that Islam is not as rigid a religion as people might think it is by using pop music chords. One could very well perform Dhikr, an act of devotion taken incredibly seriously by those who practice it, to the very same music that we enjoy in Western culture. Hopefully it gives one a sense of how Islam can be appreciated through many different perspectives.