Yemeni religious singing… Prayers and muwashahs roam the cities
Religious singing in Yemen dates back to ancient times, when it was a customary part of worship in ancient civilizations. However, it underwent many changes, whether in terms of weather or general melodic style, with the transition of Yemenis from pagan religions to monotheism. It was confined to an Islamic content in which the melody is documented in religion, through social occasional rituals, as is the case in Islamic societies.
What has reached us of ancient religious practices is scarce, and is limited to supplications or offering offerings, other than two songs, one of which was found in the Awam Temple in Marib, and its symbols were deciphered by the Yemeni poet and historian Mutahar Al-Iryani.
This song confirms the existence of religious practices related to singing, ancient and common among Yemenis. And her Islamic practice enshrined a lyrical heritage that Yemenis are proud of. Each religious occasion is enhanced by a spiritual and aesthetic atmosphere, in which the religious anthem constitutes a social center, and gives the time an urgent remembrance and reverence for singing.
In Yemen, the religious anthem is performed in two common styles, one of which is signed and accompanied by percussion, and the other is mursal. The latter prevails mostly in and around Sana’a, while the site was connected to other regions, where Sufi orders were common. And we do not lose sight of the presence of many common melodies that are sung by the different regions of Yemen as well. Here, an attempt to shed light on this religious heritage, through a number of the most important and best Yemeni religious stanzas.
The secret world of us
This religious muwashshah is associated with one of the most important figures in Yemeni religious singing, Jaber Rizk. As he formulated poetry and melody, according to what is known. In general, this melody is unique from other Yemeni religious muwashahat, with a mixture of chanting and chanting, as well as singing and chanting.
And because Rizk composed the muwashshah, he gave it a general context in which the performer and the choir alternate, similar to the doctrine and branch; Although the general poetic construction is explained. Thus, we find the first part, which begins with “The Secret World of Us,” consisting of two compatible paragraphs. A verse of three parts and a tawshiha, and a lock of two parts, performed in the same melody that seems to modify the melody at the beginning of the singing, as if the matter leads to a circular style.
But in the other sections, it is modified in the poetic structure, so that there is a verse and a tawshiha, and two verses of three parts, so that the singing of the tawshiha at the end of the branch extends over two halves of the last verse, while the last part is sung by the performer, and the group responds to it to return from it to the singing of the madhhab, as a slight type of response The group receives vocals from him.
The one Sunday
This muwashshah is characterized by a melodious and melodious style uncommon in the Yemeni heritage. It is one of the well-known Muwashahat, and it is widely recited in Sana’a, but it is also popular with Sufis in Hadramout. Most likely, Yemen knew it as a melody through the Sufis.
We do not know whether it was the product of the influence of neighboring musical cultures. Perhaps the Sufis in Yemen carried it to enrich their assemblies with the presence of God through melody. Yemeni religious singing, especially in Sana’a, also includes foreign elements. There is a well-known muwashah, “Rabbi bi-sab’ al-mathani” transcribed from a well-known Turkish march melody called “Bilfna March” or “Osman March”. The Yemenis transferred it during the second Turkish occupation of the country.
The muwashshah is on the maqam of Bayat al-Husseini, and it is characterized by melodious melodiousness and lyricism that intersects with oriental singing. This chant creates a lyrical and spiritual mood, meaning that the melodiousness is an expression of emotional immersion in the divine spirit. The muwashshah melody begins with a lyrical chant, then moves in its second section to a melody more like Yemeni hymns.
My money and your money, my kingdom
Ibtihal Tohamy, characterized by a melodic nature, transmitted with a simple melody with a musical orientation, in which the mawwal mixes with melodious chanting. In it, he evokes the tempting world, wondering about the place where the kings ended up, including situations from religious heritage. It raises lessons about the annihilation of death, which humiliation and questioning should be directed only to God. Invocation invites to a world where religion is present.
The supplication embodies a mystical dimension, despite its simple melody that is closer to chanting, directing praise to the madness of its face, the love of the divine self. This invocation belongs to the well-known Sufism in the Yemeni region of Tihama, located on the Red Sea. Tihama is known as one of the centers of Sufism in Yemen.
Peace, peace, as a final touch
Hadramout continues to be a source of mystical inspiration in its surroundings, particularly in the Hijaz today. It is a center for Sufism in Yemen, along with Tihama. And we will take a religious melodic formula that belongs to the anthem. As it is clear, the Indian musical influence appears on his melody. The contact across the Arabian Sea between Hadramout, located in the eastern side of Yemen, and India, was not limited to trade and immigration, but rather brought with it an aesthetic intersection of Sufi singing.
And this anthem was on the shrine of the Kurds. This muwashshah is an embodiment of the influence of Indian music, as Hadramout was a station in eastern Yemen, more connected to India across the Arabian Sea.
Patience is the fortress of the boy and the fence
Muwashah Sanani, on the Maqam al-Bayat, embodies a custom in many Yemeni religious tawshihs; He took lessons from the past, when kingdoms vanished. Thus, he reaches the affirmation of the beginning of the religious chant that patience is the believer’s fortress against God’s judgment, and he is the owner of the kingdom that the believers seek refuge in.
The melody is characterized by a melodious beginning, which rises to a form of melodic hymns close to the performance of praises in Yemeni religious songs. That is, it is a cross between melodic chanting and recitative chanting.
Aldry planet
This anthem is characterized by movement and activity, similar to what is known for the Sufi melodies associated with the city of Taiz. It is a sect repeated by the group, and branches sung by the performer, with two different melodies on the maqam al-bayat. It is characterized by spiritual enthusiasm, and this is what some Sufi melodies depend on in their sessions, which vary between recitation, chanting and chanting.
The words of the Yemeni religious anthem go back to one of the most famous Sufi figures in Yemen, Ahmed bin Alwan. Contrary to what is rumored about his dignities, he is considered a reference for Sufism in Yemen. He lived in the thirteenth century AD in the countryside of Taiz, and was in contact with the kings of the Rasulid state.
God God our Lord
A collection of Muwashahat known in the regions of central and southern Yemen. It begins with the muwashshah of God, God, our Lord, and its melodies are characterized by simplicity that allows the assembled common people to chant like a choir in the presence of Sufi chants.
A recording of a variety of Sufi chants and supplications dates back to the nineties, with limited use of keyboard music, in addition to the rhythms known to be used in Sufi sessions. In the recording, the muwashshahs follow in roughly the same order as is common for their performance in Sufi councils, which in turn passed to commoner councils.
These chants are characterized by a fast movement, accompanied by a double rhythm, which are: God, God, our Lord, and O Prophet, peace be upon you, and my Lord, bless the Tihamian Prophet, and welcome the full moon. It is widely known in the region of Taiz and Ibb, and it is chanted on religious occasions and Sufi sessions in that order.
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One of the most famous Hadhrami Sufi chants, in which the performer takes turns singing in a form closer to the chanted mawwal, which is characterized by the character of the Hadhrami dan, which is the popular singing there. It is characterized by coloring in the vocalist’s performance, while the group is limited to performing a recitation of prayers upon the Prophet. The performer’s coloring continues in an escalation that ends with a taslim for the choir, whose role expands as a conclusion to the prayer for the Prophet, in repeating the prayer for the Prophet with more melodic recitation and chanting.
