Popular Practice: Songs in Praise of the Prophet: Mawled
This selection is an excerpt from a mawled from Malaysia, a country whose population has a religious heritage that draws on Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Islam is nonetheless the dominant religion today. While mawled commemorates Prophet's birthday, it can be recited on any number of occassions: births, circumcisions, weddings, birthdays, convalescence from sickness, thanksgiving, following a good harvest, and even political or military success. The mawled can be recited not only in mosques or places of pilgrimage, but also in gardens or private homes. On the musical level, the mawled is composed of a chant alternating between a soloist and the choir. They are accomnanied by a percussion group consisting of five kempling, small two-headed barrel-drums, which are placed on the left thigh and beaten bare-handed, and a gidor, a large hanging drum suspended crosswise from a wooden frame and beaten with a drumstick. The texts have their sources in four different literary genres: biographical stories relating to the birth of the Prophet (sirat), praises of the Prophet (madih and kasida), Qur'anic recitations, and prayers for blessings. The Arabic phrases Ya allah, nabi Muhammad, la ilaha illallah can be identified in this recitation.
(from: Musique de l'Islam d'Asie (Inedit, Paris))
