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Qawwali: Music of the soul

Raees Khan explores the history, influence and enduring legacy of Qawwali music, both within and outside of the Islamic World.

Raees Khan explores the history, influence and enduring legacy of Qawwali music, both within, as well as outside of the Islamic World.

From its earliest origins in the writings of Sufi Saints, to its spread throughout South Asia we look at how the mystical and devotional artform spread throughout the Indian Sub-continent and attracted millions to the religion of Islam.

A deeply personal journey, Raees reminisces about his first introduction to Qawwali as a young boy and how the captivating voice of one man, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, changed him forever.

Along the way, we meet Tahir Qawaal, the lead vocalist in an all-Caucasian Qawwali group who spent years in Pakistan and India learning from the true masters. Tahseen Sakina explains how she feels she has been accepted as one of the only female qawaals and Abi Sampa, Rushil and Amrit Dhuffer, the members of The Orchestral Qawwali Project, tell us about introducing qawwali to a whole new audience.

Presenter: Raees Khan
Producer: Talat-Farooq Awan
Executive Producer: Rajeev Gupta

(Photo: Group Fana Fi Allah and their lead singer Tahir Qawwal performing. Credit: Tahir Qawwal)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 9 Oct 202223:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 3 Jun 202203:32GMT
  • Fri 3 Jun 202204:32GMT
  • Fri 3 Jun 202212:32GMT
  • Sat 4 Jun 202215:32GMT
  • Sun 5 Jun 202208:32GMT
  • Sun 5 Jun 202209:32GMT
  • Sun 5 Jun 202223:32GMT
  • Fri 7 Oct 202203:32GMT
  • Fri 7 Oct 202204:32GMT
  • Fri 7 Oct 202212:32GMT
  • Sat 8 Oct 202215:32GMT
  • Sun 9 Oct 202208:32GMT
  • Sun 9 Oct 202209:32GMT
  • Sun 9 Oct 202223:32GMT

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