In connection with the 70th
independence anniversary of Pakistan, the Embassy of Pakistan joined hands with
Bozar, the highly prestigious Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, and organized
an overwhelmingly successful Sufi Night with a lecture by the Ambassador
Naghmana A. Hashmi on the genre of Qawwaliand enthralling performance by
Pakistani Qawwali Group led by Ustad Faiz Ali Faiz. The event was attended by the Belgians as
well as Pakistani diaspora in large numbers, says a press release received from
Brussels here today.
The performance by Faiz Ali
Faiz qawwali group earned huge applause from the Belgian audience. The famous
Qawwalis like Allahu; Yah Mustafa, Haq Ali Ali Maula and Dam mast Qalandar kept
nearly 2000 audience spell bound who clapped and danced with the flow and rhythm of music. The Sufi
music group of Sheikh Tahiri of Moroco and Indonesian Sama performances
preceded the Qawwali. The response to the programme was so great that the
organizers had to shift the event to bigger hall to accommodate audience.
In her lecture, on the
topic ‘Origin and History of Qawwali’ Pakistan’s Ambassador to the European
Union, Belgium and Luxembourg Mrs. Naghmana Alamgir Hashmi gave detailed
account of Sufi school of thought in Islam and highlighted the origin of
tradition of Qawwali through Chishtiya and Suharwardiya schools of thought as
an acceptable means in quest for the true knowledge and achieving closeness to
the creator.
During the presentation
that spanned over an hour, Ambassador Hashmi traced the history of Qawwali
dating back to 9th century in the times of Alkindi and Akhwanul Safa,
then Imam Ghazali and finally the contribution of Hazrat Ameer Khusro in the 13th
century towards evolution of the Qawwali in South Asia in the form that is
popular today. She apprised the audience of the tradition of Qawwali in
Pakistan and the contribution of Pakistani Qawwals in introducing this genre to
international audience while mentioning Sabri brothers, Ustad Nustrat Fateh Ali
Khan and Aziz MianQawwal.
Ambassador Hashmi showed
pictures of RahatFateh Ali Khan rendering spiritual music in the United Nations
and also referred to Qawwali performance on the occasion of Nobel Prize
ceremony in Oslo. Explaining that understanding of spiritual messages, the main
objective of Qawwali, which was not dependent on understanding of language of a
particular area, she said Pakistani Qawwals have been able to attract massive
fandom around the world. She highlighted various important concepts related to Qawwali
including Ma’rifat, the search for truth and creator; Samaa, the gathering of
spiritual music and Haal, the state of trance induced by spiritual Music.
Bozaris the highly prestigious
and most visited cultural destination in Brussels for concerts, exhibitions and
shows. The Centre for Fine Arts stands out among other cultural institution due
to its vast multidisciplinary and diverse programme. These high quality
international programmes have earned the Centre a reputation as the leading
cultural reference.
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