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Tuesday 11 April 2017

What Exactly Are 'Nasheeds' and What Are Their Roles For ISIL and The Islamic Caliphate State , affiliated Emirates and Sultanates?

In essence, Nasheeds are hymns or prayers set to rhyme and rhythm.
They predate the rise of ISIS and come from the era of the 1970s when there was an 'Islamic Renaissance' for a short period of time.
A 'Naat' is a prayer sung to glorify or praise Islam. It is common for 'Naats' to refer to the Prophet (PBUH.)
Because Islam is, in the eyes of ISIS/ISIL, 'at war' the 'Naats' ISIS composes are meant to glorify the 'good Islamic fight' 'death to unbelievers', glorious battles against the Kufur (Infidel) and Satan's armies as opposed to the simply peaceful aspects of Qur'anic teachings and the Hadith as is more common in 98% of the Muslim world where the 'Naats' glorify the peace and harmony which Islam brings into ones life.
Great historic events in the history of Islam, myths, legends ,even prophecies are all interwoven into melodic charm and rhyme.

You don't have to understand Arabic to appreciate the allure of the rhythm.
The 'Naats' have a particular appeal to young, intelligent, educated Muslims in rebellion against 'Westernisation' and the shedding of 'traditional values' by ruling elites in favor of Christendom and its values. So a 'call to arms' to 'defeat' the Infidel does not exactly fall on deaf ears throughout the Muslim world of the Levant across the Sahara to the West African Muslim-majority country of Nigeria, where Boko Haram (meaning:'Westernisation is sinful!') operate.

In many instances the Nasheeds are beautifully melodic (tantric?) and are all based on Qur'anic verse and scripture.
Arab prose is legendary for its embellishments and colorful language which transcend the realms of the physical world and take us onto another plane or mystical level.

[There is a relationship between Judaic Kabbalism and the Nasheeds but I have never seen a comparative analysis between both as a study exercise.]

There is also an alluring timeless charm about Nasheeds.

I want for one minute to completely leave ISIL and look back upon what first interested me in the Nasheeds decades ago.
It was, in fact, something completely different.
A Lebanese singer, Samira Tawfik, first interested me in the melodic aspects of Arab music.
(Interesting, she achieved fame not in her country of birth, Syria, but in Lebanon and in Jordan from where her music was transmitted across the Arab world of the Levant, to great acclaim.)

She is universally acclaimed as the individual singer who made Jordanian (Bedouin) music popular across the Arab world.
Because of the rise of Islamic extremism, it is often difficult for her websites not to be bombarded with obscenities based on the fact that she is a woman singing, the themes of her songs and the 'decadence' 'unIslamic' and 'un-Arab' (sic. Western-influenced
'Haram') nature of her works.

So, as with Albert Einstein in Germany in the 1930s, ordinary people across the Arab world are simply frightened to play or stock or sell her works for fear of having their shops or houses burnt down by Islamic extremists.

From what I have learnt, she is the 'Albert Einstein' or 'Pavarotti' or 'William Shakespeare' of Bedouin music – so what is happening today, for her, as a brilliant artist, a genius, is very sad.


While relatively unknown in Christendom, her melodies have influenced pop and rock culture – to a greater extent than is generally acknowledged.

Of course her themes are not religious but I am taking these as examples of how it is easy to listen to the melodies without understanding the language.


So now if you want to listen to ISIS chanting religious Nasheeds (anasheed jihadiya), all based on the Qur'an, you are welcome to them.
So when you watch ISIS/ISIL videos and they are chanting Nasheeds, you will understand that they are to inspire and motivate the faithful both to join ISIL, to kill the Infidel, to fight for the mystical Caliphate – the land of milk and honey where 'the word and song' will 'translate' into a 'physical paradise' based on those very melodic and rhythmic Qur'anic verses so beautifully composed and interwoven into song, verse and rhyme. In essence ISIL have taken something usually used for peace and turned it into an instrument for war.

Another important thing about the ISIL Caliphate Nasheeds is the 'certainty' of triumph – of good (Islam) over evil (the Infidel) despite the many trials and tribulations, and the exalting of those martyred in battle into the very mists of the mythology of the very songs themselves being sung – and, for the true believer and martyr, the rightful place, as reward, at the right hand of the Prophet, who himself is at the right hand of Allah.

So those are the 'Nasheeds', in a nutshell.

I have not included ISIL Caliphate Nasheeds below because here I want to show what 98% of Muslims listen to – in contrast to the 2% 'blood and guts' ISIL 'Naats'.

Having said that, the 'call to arms' as I have already mentioned, is very popular amongst this 'motivated' ISIS minority across the Islamic world.


©Patrick Emek, April 2017

As an afterthought, before you listen to the Nasheeds, I have included this (very popular!) Christian Balkans piece of music to give you the 'flavor' of 'moving further East':
Goran Bregovic - Ederlezi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU--Ox25DCo



















http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zb4i7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasheed


As an afterthought, before you listen to the Nasheeds, I have included this (very popular!) Christian Balkans piece of music to give you the 'flavor' of 'moving further East':
Goran Bregovic - Ederlezi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU--Ox25DCo
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