Qawwali singer Fareed Ayaz from Pakistan believes that the essence of qawwali is diluted in Bollywood. He tells Shrabasti Mallik that qawwali is a personal experience rather than projecting it as a means of a grand celebration
Ranbir Kapoor’s character Jordan found solace in the qawwal Kun faya kun, in the movie Rockstar while Man kunto maula brings back the ending scene from the movie Gunday. Both Kun faya kun and Man kunto maula are not only popular qawwalis but are also verses from the Quran. And no one better than qawwali singers Fareed Ayaz and his brother Abu Mohammed from Pakistan can tell a better story about Sufism and qawwali that have been in their generation for over seven centuries.
For those who are unaware, Ayaz in the son of Munshi Raziuddin and belongs to the Qawwal Bachchon ka gharana of Delhi. Their roots can be traced to the family tree of one of the earliest disciples of Amir Khusro. Gladly, Ayaz shared the story of his legacy and their training, “We have been carrying on the tradition of qawwali for 700 years and there is regularity in it, and in regularity there are no such concepts as classes and a specific time for riyaaz and practice. It is a continuous process. We live within that — every aspect our lives is a part of the system of Sufism or qawwali. Iss tarah se uthte baithte, bachpan se leke budhape tak, humari talim ka silsila jari hai (like this the process of learning continued from childhood to old age).”
The brothers had it tough. Not only did they have to practice for hours at stretch, both before and after, but they were denied of any playtime as well. “Woh zamana jab humara talim hasil karne ka tha, jaha pe bachchon ko talim ke liye bithaya jata tha, who zamana hi kuch mukhtalif tha. (The time when we were kids and were taught the first lessons was somewhat different). There was no time for us to play because our father used to chase us with a stick and ask us to get on with practice. This was mainly done to inculcate the nuances of the gharana, to familiarise us with the notes and that was the best form of exercise,” he explained.
We come to know that there are many faces of qawwali. The more prominent ones being khamkha, samaa and another form which is largely performed for the general audience. But Ayaz pointed out how much of it is diluted. “There is very little that can be done other than diluting it because there are many who do not understand the language and also there are some who do not want to understand. They fail to understand that philosophy of Sufism so it is simplified for easy understanding,” he rued.
He feels that qawwali has been projected in a wrong manner in the country and people are accepting it. He drew reference to Kun faya kun and told us that that people have mistaken the rhythm for qawwali. “In reality, qawwali is not a rhythm,” explained the veteran.
“Kun faya kun is a philosophy — a verse from the Quran. Uska matlab banta hai —Jab Malik ne banane ka irada kiya, jab usne chaha ki ‘main banau’ to usne banana jaye wali cheez ko kaha ‘ban ja.’ Bas who ho gayi. (The verse translated means when the lord decided to create, he asked the object to be created to create itself. And it created itself). The part of self creation is kun faya kun. The song is not a qawwali, it is picturised like one. And I believe that the lyricist does not know what he has written and why he has written it,” he said and we could feel the pain in his voice.
He can still accept if such compositions are called ‘songs.’ “But if people continue to call it a qawwali, it is a disgrace to the lineage that Amir Khusro began. It means that Amir Khusro ka jo falsafa hai, usko todne ki koshish ki hai,” he added.
During the course of the conversation we asked him about the way qawwali mehfils are portrayed on Indian films and he seemed pretty discontent about it, too. He told us that the scenario that we see so often on the screens has nothing to do with Sufism. “Those are done to decorate the stage, the industry and the story. The essence of qawwali was lost the day the Mumbai film industry divided men and women and introduced a qawwali style musical duel. There is no concept of a duel in qawwali. A duel is only present in situations where there is victory and defeat. Qawwali mein to har hi har hai, aur usi haar mein jeet hai (There is only defeat in qawwali and in that defeat lies victory),” he drew us a clear picture.
In our quest to learn more we asked him about Sufism and he replied with a verse — Khusro nadiya prem ki, aur ulti waki dhar. Jo utra so to doob gaya, jo duba so hua paar. “Sufism means to surrender oneself. But today nobody is ready to dedicate fully to anything. Yaha pe log prem karte hai logon ko dikhane ke liye. Sufism ka ikhtiyaar karte hai duniya ko dikhane ke liye (Today people display their love for one another and even if they talk about Sufism, it is to show the world). Sufism and fakiri is a very personal experience. If you lose it then it will cease to exist,” he concluded.