When asked which audience has been most appreciative, he says, “We play often in San Francisco, which is always great the audience is part desi and part gora (white) like me. They perform over 100 times a year, in all continents, including Australia and Africa. “We continue to present Qawwali to unconventional audiences!” says Qawwal. Their first “experimental” concert was in Hawaii. This devotion shows in their rendition of “Allah Hu.” They are deliberate in their exploration of the lyrics, specific tones, and the experience. By then, Qawwal had already put in months into studying the various Sufi poems, learning pronunciations and meanings. Ripper was transformed into Aminah Chishti and Anand, Laali Qalandar. The three of them decided to stage an experiment, to perform Qawwali as it should be and this is how Fanna-fi -Allah, their “band” was formed. With him that evening, more than a decade ago, were Oregon based tabla player Jessica Ripper and Florida based singer Devanand (“he’s from a spiritual family”), both non Indians, non Asians non desis, as Qawwal puts it.
![allah allah qawali hd allah allah qawali hd](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lokNOaBSBWs/maxresdefault.jpg)
I finished transliterating “Allah Hu” that very night.” That was when I decided to perform this music. It was a thoroughly disappointing experience! I could not believe that the music of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whom I idolized, could be so misrepresented. “About when I was 18, I happened to walk into a Qawwali mehfil in Benaras. I studied the Upanishads, practiced yoga, visited temples, got schooled in classical and spiritual music-bhajans, kirtans, even Baul music from Bengal.īut I could not connect with any of the gurus I met somehow, something was missing,” reminisces Qawwal. What he did not know at that time was that music would be his calling that the world would know him as Tahir Qawwal. He had heard Indian raga music and it called out to him. As Rumi would say, "Come, come, whoever you are, come back again.At the age of 15, Geoffrey Lyons left his Nova Scotia home with a one-way ticket in hand to find his spiritual home in the mountains of North India. If you have any question, comment, critique or suggestion, please contact me by clicking the Contact Bo x embedded at the right middle corner. This is a very long Blog though, so please make sure to use the Scroll To Top or Bottom Buttons at the left side, or Back To Top Button at the bottom right corner of your screen for smooth navigation. For best viewing, please try this Blog on Google Chrome Browser. As for my own Rumi Translations, you are welcome to copy and use them as long as it's not for commercial purposes. This Blog is designed and maintained by yours truly, your comments, critiques or suggestions are quite welcome and greatly appreciated. Just as a memory refresher, all articles, e-books, images, links and reading materials listed in this Blog are solely for Educational purposes. Thank you for visiting Maulana Rumi Online, a blog dedicated entirely to the life, works and teachings of Maulana Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi better known simply as Rumi here in our beloved America. They built a room for her in their house.” “They don’t take every student - she got accepted and became very close to the Khan family,” Tahir says “Since then, for three months every year she’s been taken into their home where she lives and studies every day. As the first woman in this genre of music her tabla playing is creating history in the Islamic world. Eventually he moved to Pakistan to become a student of Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Muazzam Ali Khan.Īmina Chisti, the female tabla player for Fanna Fi Allah, received formal initiation and training in Pakistan from the legendary Ustad Dildar Hussein Khan, who for 28 years was the tabla player for Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. While there, he also taught himself Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. “I really got into the Upanishads and studied Sanskrit and traditional classical Hindustani music.” At the age of 16 after studying tabla for two years, Tahir took himself off to India to apprentice as a student of voice and theory with his first musical guru, Pundit Pashupati Nath Mishra. “A lot of (young) people look to alternatives,” he explains. "Fanna Fi Allah’s leader, 28-year-old Tahir Qawwali, (born Geoffrey Lyons), began exploring Eastern music as a teenager, influenced by the Beatles’ use of Indian instruments.
![allah allah qawali hd allah allah qawali hd](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xxkoDyumZ8g/hq720.jpg)
![allah allah qawali hd allah allah qawali hd](https://d1tw8t3o8307lr.cloudfront.net/comic/album/87420d8e-695f-4be1-912d-b1e216157a2b/4/00095028.jpg)
Your first impression of Fana-Fi-Allah will be some young American dudes from California, with some serious dreadlocks, playing Sufi Qawali music instead of Roots Reggae?! But don't let the looks deceive you, since Fanna-Fi-Allah are a very talented group of musicians who perform Sufi Qawali music to the words of Rumi, as well as the great Persian sufis of India, Baba Farid and Mouinudin Chisti.