Collective supererogatory ritual performed by Sufi orders
Dhikr hadrah articulation, upward beams indicating inhalation and downward beams indicating exhalation
[1]
Hadra
(
Arabic
:
????
,
romanized
:
?a?rah
) is a collective
supererogatory
ritual performed by
Sufi
orders. It is often held on Thursday evenings after the night prayer, on Fridays after
jumu'ah
prayer or on Sunday evenings, and can also be celebrated on special Islamic festivals and at rites of passage. It may be held at home or in a mosque.
[2]
The underlying term in
Arabic
literally means "Divine Presence" and the human experience of it is known as "Hudur".
[3]
The hadra features various forms of
dhikr
(remembrance), including sermons, collective study, recitation of
Qur'an
and other texts (especially devotional texts particular to the Sufi order (
tariqa
) in question, called
hizb
and
wird
), religious poetic chanting, centering on praise and supplication to God, religious exhortations, praise of the Prophet and requests for intercession (
inshad dini
or
madih
? the latter term referring literally to "praise") and rhythmic invocations of
God
using one or more divine names, especially
Allah
,
Hayy
,
Qayyum
or simply
Hu
("He"), as well as the testimony of faith and
tawhid
,
la ilaha illa Allah
(there is no god but God).
Rhythmic recitation of names and chanting of religious poetry are frequently performed together. In conservative Sufi orders no instruments are used, or the
daf
(frame drum) only; other orders employ a range of instrumentation.
The collective Sufi ritual is practiced under this name primarily in North Africa, the Middle-East, and Turkey, but also in some non-Arab Muslim countries such as
Indonesia
and
Malaysia
. The Hadra is feature of the
Khalwati
,
Shadhili
,
Qadiri
and
Rifa'i
orders throughout Turkey and the Balkans.
For those who perform it, the ha?ra marks the
climax
of the Sufi's gathering regardless of any teaching or
formal
structure ? it often follows a formal teaching session as a way of internalizing the lessons. Musically, the structure of the ha?ra includes several secular
Arab genres
(each of which expresses a different emotion) and can last for hours.
[1]
It is directed by the
sheikh
of the tariqa or one of his representatives; monitoring the intensity, depth and duration of the phases of the ha?ra, the sheikh aims to draw the circle into deep awareness of God and away from the participants own individuatedness.
The dhikr ceremonies may have a ritually determined length or may last as long as the Sheikh deems his
murids
require. The ha?ra section consists of the
ostinato
-like repetition of the name of God over which the soloist performs a richly ornamented song. In many ha?ras, this repetition proceeds from the chest and has the effect of a percussion instrument, with the participants bending forward while exhaling and stand straight while inhaling so that both the movement and sound contribute to the overall rhythm. The climax is usually reached through cries of "Allah! Allah!" or "hu hu" (which is either the pronoun "he" or the last vowel on the word "Allah" depending on the method) while the participants are moving up and down. Universally, the ha?ra is almost always followed by Quranic recital in the
tarteel
style ? which according to
al-Junayd al-Baghdadi
, was a prophetic instruction received through a dream.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Sufis
| | |
---|
Concepts
| |
---|
Awrad
| |
---|
Waridates
| |
---|
Misconducts
| |
---|
Ceremonies
| |
---|
Arts
| |
---|
Places
| |
---|
Objects
| |
---|