Singing praises of 'nasheed'

Singing praises of 'nasheed'

Maya Agustiana and Santi W.E. Soekanto, Contributors, Jakarta

It's become the seasonal thing to do for television stations to
welcome the holy month of Ramadhan by creating "Islamic"
programs, including draping jilbab (heads carves) on
entertainers, who usually go around skimpily dressed, so they
look the part to host the religious talk shows.

Among all the usual breaking of the fast and early morning
shows, there is only one real novelty this year, TV7's Festival
Nasyid-Tausiyah-Qiraan (FNTQ), consisting of contests of Islamic
songs, lectures and recital of the Koran.

It exploits the current craze for reality shows such as AFI
and Indonesian Idol, where winners are determined not by their
talent, but the number of friends and relatives with the phone
credit to send as many SMS as possible in their support.

Still, the festival for nasyid, popularly called nasheed, may
soon change the vista of Islamic songs in the country.

Nasheed is indeed a new, rapidly evolving genre here. In the
1980s, a group of activists of da'wah (the call to Islam) created
Nasyid Tauhid; its leader, Ustadz (teacher) Madani wrote the
lyrics in Arabic in praises of the oneness of God.

It was first presented to a wider audience at the 1995 Islamic
Arts Festival (SALAM) held by Campus Da'wah Center of the
University of Indonesia.

Less than a decade later, nasheed has become more popular
despite featuring mostly Muslim students and activists, who know
next to nothing about melodies and music, but became involved
anyway in their fervor to spread the word of Islam.

Hence the founding of groups such as Izzatul Islam, Arruhul
Jadid, Shoutul Harokah, Justice Voice, Gradasi, Suara
Persaudaraan and Gondes. The University of Indonesia and Gadjah
Mada University produced the most number of nasheed groups, whose
pieces are often sung to accompany Muslim students' street
rallies.

Nasheed started to test the mainstream waters in the early
1990s and became more diverse, using both Arabic and
Indonesian/Malay languages, adopting the tempo of marching bands,
pop and the lilting tone of Malay music.

Snada Group, which first went a capella because of the
controversy over whether it was Islamic to use musical
instruments in singing praise to God, began to add music in its
songs.

There are also nasheed singers who stay away from politics and
continue to focus on extolling the greatness of Allah, Prophet
Muhammad and their faith. These include Hadad Alwi and Sulis, the
Alif Family and a series of groups affiliated with the renowned
preacher A'a Gym: MQ Voice, The Fikr, Alginate and Tazakka.

The Hawariyun Group's cultural division gave birth to
Qatrunada nasheed group, who was invited to perform in Yusuf
Islam's concert last year in the Royal Albert Hall. Qatrunada
(the name means dewdrop) has produced the albums Renungan
Kehambaan (Contemplations of a Follower,1996), Setetes Embun (A
Drop of Dew, 1998), Asmaul Husna (1998), Takdir (Fate, 1998),
Rafiqaal A'la (1999) and Janji Tuhan itu Pasti (God's Certain
Promise, 2000).

In 2000, they toured Asia, the Middle East, Europe and
Australia. Their latest album, Kasih Sayang (Affection, 2002),
features a poetry reading by rock singer Ikang Fawzi. The group
was also featured at a convention of the Islamic Society of North
America in 2001, while one of their songs, Salawat (Praise to the
Prophet) is included on Our World, an album of the South African
munsheed (singer of nasheed) Zain Bhikha.

The biggest impetus to the flourishing of nasheed in
Indonesia, however, is Raihan, a group of young men from Malaysia
who have been belting out the songs in their native tongue.

Raihan is noted for the harmony of their melodies and lyrics,
strong vocalization and good recording quality, thanks to the
backing of international label Warner. The group also won a
series of music industry awards in Malaysia recently as the best
nasheed group.

Today, when Nazrey Johani, Che Amran Idris, Amran Ibrahim and
Abu Bakar Mohammad Yatim stage their concerts here or in their
homeland, thousands of people flock to enjoy the music.

They are included in the Malaysian Book of Records for having
the fastest selling album; their Puji-pujian (Praises) album sold
200,000 copies in less than two months in 1997.

And if success is measured in such ungodly terms of dollars
and cents, then they measure up, too; they command US$15,000 per
concerts, a huge amount for Asian artists.