Sufi & Zikr
Egypt has a long standing tradition in religious Sufi music and some of the most famous Munshids (performers of Islamic religious singing) come from here. Sufism is a mystical dimension of Islam, which became organized in more permanent Sufi orders from the 13th century onwards. Informal Sufism today is mostly accessible at mawlid-s (saint festivals), where the Sufi Munshid is in control of the Hadra (a form of corporate worship which may comprise special prayers, sermons and zikr – collective rhythmic repetition of selected Names of God, usually accompanied by bowing or turning movements). Since authoritative religious sanctions against music and emotionality are absent in these public events, Inshad is freer and musically richer. The public Hadra is open, creative, improvisational, sometimes chaotic – as opposed to the closed ritual order of the tariqa Hadra – and participants display a much broader range of emotional behavior.