FRAMING THE LARGER CONTEXT OF CHANTING

CHAPTER 3 FRAMING THE LARGER CONTEXT OF CHANTING

The third presents the chanting context through its history in the civilization. The writer will give a brief history of the origin, collection and structure of chanting development in the human achievements. The discussion will proceed with the argumentation towards the development of chanting in the world and continue to differentiate between chanting according to Christian community and Qur’anic chanting. The important of analyzing this information is to get the whole view of the chanting in Qur’an with the process of chanting claimed by some people, the tradition from the sacred text of the Christian religion. Coincidently, explanation through history will guide to the main understanding of Qur’anic chanting as the unique ways of reciting the Qur’an and some aspects will be explained in order to clarify the activities are differ from each other especially in certain aspects such as the history, terminologies and practices.

A. The Encounter of Chanting in Civilization Many scholars trace chanting to the earliest stages of human development, a

time when speech was presumably not differentiated from chant. According to Joanna Spector in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World, chant started in the society in unconscious or conscious event. For instance, the practice of Saami (Lapp) women in Finland, Jewish women in Morocco, and Santali women in Bihar, India, unconsciously replace sobbing with chanting while lamenting their dead.

Whereas, the Australian aborigines, when they were excited, they break into a torrent of words governed by rhythms and cadences resembling chant. The ancient

Chinese also distinguished whole families and clans by musical signs conferred upon them by tradition. 102

However, Richard Martin in his writings stated that chanting usually refers to the liturgical melodies of the Byzantine, Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican churches and is analogous to cantillation in Jewish liturgical music, Qur'anic chanting in Islam, and single-line chanting in other religions. Qur'anic chanting can be seen as one of the prototype of all Islamic music and the most pervasive genre of it. Religion does not play an important role on music throughout Islam and Western history; however both Islam and the other religions have independently debated

music's very admissibility. 103 On the other hand, the word chant (from Latin cantare, “to sing, to intone”) and

cantillation (from Latin cantilare, “to sing low, to hum”) apply to the recitation of sacred writings with musical tones, usually improvised, as in synagogues, churches, mosques and Asian temples. Chant in all these liturgies is usually monophonic, unaccompanied, and in so-called “free rhythm,” which results from the recitation of prose texts. Chant also refers to the traditional method of singing psalms and canticles in the daily offices of the Roman and Anglican churches. Chanted also are the Islamic

Qur'an, the Indian Vedas, and Buddhist scriptures. 104 After all, chant can be said as the short musical composition adapted to the

singing of the psalms and canticles. Chants are single when adapted to a single verse, and double when adapted to two or three and four bars respectively, and the latter being twice that length. The complete chant consists of four parts, namely: (1) The intonation or initial phrase, leading up to the reciting note; (2) the reciting note; which

102 John L Esposito, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the World Modern Islamic, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995) p-204 103

Richard C. Martin, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World,(USA: Thomson Gale),vol.2,p.492 104

John L Esposito, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, p-204-205 John L Esposito, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, p-204-205

The origin of plain song in the church is unknown; however the first attempt to deliver the song by reducing the traditional music to some definite system was made by Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan (d.397). More important, however, by far is the

Antiphonarium of Gregory the Great, which appeared in the latter half of the 6 th century and soon established itself as the chief and in fact only authority on church

music. 106 Not long afterward, however the Gregorian chants began to take place to the recent years that attempts have been made to revive them.

These were the flows of chants activities throughout the history. There are various related practices of chanting all over the world. Close observation of ordinary conservation in any culture shows that musical intervals recur in the simplest of sentences. Normally, the middle pitch is being used and maintained and emphatic words, clauses, and conclusions are indicated by change of pitch. When a speaker addresses an audience, the pitches become more pronounced, and a “melody of speech” emerges.

Compare to the Greek civilization, many scholars such as Syed Abdul Latif 107 , insists of knowing why did the Greek civilization, with all its glorious achievements in

the realm of knowledge and thought and art and science, perish and transmit its curse, its disease to the modern European civilization? By knowing the structure of the Greek city state, the city state idealized by Plato and other equally illustrious sons of Greece. Athens being said as a place that given a highly perfected conception of democratic

105 Donald T. Pitcher, The Americana World Map, (New York: Americana Corporation, 1829), vol.6, p-291 106

Donald T. Pitcher, The Americana World Map, p-291 107 Syed Abdul Latif ( 1891-1971) was born in Andra Pradesh, India. He studied Persian and Arabic

under his father Syed Shah Hussaini and graduated from the Christian College, Madras. He taught English at Osmania University, Hyderabad. In 1924, he was awarded a Ph.D by the University of London. Being interested in politics, Syed Abdul Latif had close contacts with Mohandas K. Ghandi, Abul Lalam Azad and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He edited the weeklies New Era(1937) and Clarion(1947). Besides translating the Qur’an into English, he also translated Azad’s celebrated Tarjuman al Qur’an(in 3 volumes), of which, volume one, The Opening Chapter of the Qur’a, is a detailed tafsir of Surah al Fatihah. His other works are Basic Concepts of the Qur’an, Bases of Islamic Culture and Islamic Cultural studies. Syed Abdul Latif was conferred the title of ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the President of India in 1970.

life, of a democracy where knowledge was free and full, where beauty both in form and thought was superb, and at the same time, its citizen could reach its highest summit. Nevertheless, the civilization including chanting and music were placed and

conceptualized in that period. 108 Back to the Islam civilization and other civilization, Muhammad Iqbal points

out that the main purpose of the Qur’an, is to awaken in man the higher consciousness of his manifold relations with God and the universe. It is in view of this essential aspect of the Qur’anic teaching. At the same time, there was a problem of Islam, where the mutual conflict and attraction, presented by two forces of religion and civilization. The same problem confronted early Christianity. The great point in Christianity is the search for an independent content for spiritual life which, according to the insight of its founder, could be elevated, not by the forces of a world external to

the soul of man, but by the revelation of a world within his soul. 109 Some said that the historical discourses of the Qur’an are linked together

thematically rather than chronologically, and thus the revelatory concept of the book or divine communication (kitab) employed in this text has more in common with the genre of wisdom tradition than with that of European historiography or Aristotle’s Poetics . However, at last, it is proof that Qur’an was completely unlike anything that

had been revealed before. 110 Therefore, further discussion will be continued on the specific chanting in two

religions, Islam and Christian in order to differentiate the chanting usage of the sacred text in these religions.

108 Syed Abdul Latif, The Mind Al Qur’an Builds, ( Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2002), p- 117

Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1938), p-8

110 John L Esposito, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, p-394

B. Chanting of Sacred Christian Book One of the example of the song in the Church, known all over the world is the

song of “Silent Night” or “Malam Kudus”. This song is characterized as universal song and sing by anyone in the Christian religion. 111 Eventhough the song of Church

is an integrated from the Mazmur, it is not a practice of singing verses from the God. Most of the songs are the compilation of writing done by the priest and other Christian members. It is therefore entirely possible that formulized chanting and chantillation of

Holy Scriptures were derived from “singing to speech”. 112 When the writer reads about the book entitled “Gereja Yang Berbunyi”,

the explanation of the author, M.Th.Mawene, he stated the songs derived from the “sya’ir” written by certain priest and believers. Whereas in Islam, the chanting of Qur’an, use exactly the word or verses from the God ( Allah s.w.t ). For the Christian, songs or chants with the sacred texts of their religion are the beautiful “sya’ir” which develop the feelings towards the God, the “Roh Kudus” and its son in one song.

The song is as stated; “ Hormat bagi Allah Bapa, Hormat bagi Anak-Nya, Hormat bagi Roh Penghibur, Ketiga-Nya Yang Esa.Haleluya!Haleluya!Ketiga-Nya Yang Esa”. This song is the basic song to encourages and motivates people to love God “ Tuhan Tritunggal Yang Esa”. The melody for the “sya’ir”, must be in the

harmonies ways, when someone chant, she or he must chant harmoniously. 113

Hormat Bagi Tuhan Bapa Do=Bes 4/4

5 3 1 5 I 3. 2 1 5 I 6 6 5 1 I 5 4 3 . I 5 3 1 5 I

Untung Ongkowidjaya, Wasiat,Iman dan Musik, (Jakarta:Yayasan Komunikasi Bersama, 2009),p-27

G.Riemer, Cermin Injil, Ilmu Liturgi, ( Jakarta: Litindi, 1995), p-90-100, read also John L. Esposito, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, p-204

M.Th.Mawene, Gereja Yang Berbunyi, (Yogyakarta:Penerbit Buku dan Majalah Rohani Andi,2004),p-5

Hormat bagi A-llah Ba-pa, Hormat bagi A-nak-Nya. Hormat ba-gi

3 . 2 1 7 I 1 7 6 7 1 I 7 6 5 . I 2 . 2 7 5 I 3. 2 1 6 I Roh Peng-hibur , Ke-ti-ga-Nya Yang E-sa, Ha-le-lu-ya! Ha-le-lu-ya

4 3 2 1 I 1 7 1 . II Ke-ti-ga-Nya Yang E-sa 114

The significant of knowing this song is to identify the meaning of chanting according to Christian people. Thus, the song of the Church is totally related to the verses done by their own believers. The stories, the praises and words, are created from the human thinkings not from the God words. Eventhough some of them, took from the bible but it seems that there are various songs and multiple songs which are not from the verses of their God. As stated by H.A. Pandopo, in his book “Menggubah Nyanyian Jemaat,” he stressed that : “ Bahasanya harus sederhana, isi katanya tidak bersifat sangat pribadi, lagunya tidak terlalu rumit, lagi pula dalam bentuk umumnya, baik dalam sya’ir, maupun dalam melodi harus stabil, tidak berubah-rubah dari bait ke bait. Terutama relasi antara kata-kata dengan lagu harus mantap…”.

Another different of chanting in the Church is the categorization of the chanting ways. In the chanting of Church songs, there are three categories; one is the individual song, group vocalist song and the last is the combination voice song ( sopran, alto, tenor, bas). It is certainly define that these activities persuade people to praise the God always. S.P de Ros, one of the liturgy scholars explain about the songs of church just like the songs of other. Music is created by God, and God always need frank people to sing nicely with the music. It is a sin for the Christian people to neglect the songs of church and they do not chant to praise God. And it is important to accept other songs either single song, choir or instrumental song in the church. 115

114 M.Th.Mawene, Gereja Yang Berbunyi, p-5

H.A Pandopo, Menggubah Nyanyian Jemaat,(Jakarta:BPK Gunung –Mulia, 1984), p-10

Thus, from the above example of the song used in the Church, the process of chanting in Cristian tradition is using the songs written from many of Cristian’s believers not from the God’s words. Moreover, the way they chant is either individual or together in choir techniques. As we know that, they tend to sing the church song together, with the whole community in the church. Whereas, Qur’anic chanting is done individually, not like a choir or a group of mix voice.

Robert T. Handy 116 in his writing said that the important theme in Christian thought is the understanding of the church as a special community, a new and

universal people.He also claimed that the church in history is not perfect, it is mixed with with the ungodly, but at last in its eternal fulfillment it will be pure.

Furthermore, at that time, the Protestant Reformation of the 16 th century placed particular stress on the idea of the church as the community of the faithful. Martin

Lurther (1483-1546) emphasized the church as a company of God rather than as an institution mediating grace. For him, the church was a community which extended over God’s world. Therefore, at the beginning of the history, the modern Anglican chants, practiced no intonation. But, when the time goes by, they upgrade the way of chant by putting into the phrase, melodies and intones.

Thus, these melodies and intones applied in the songs by the believers of the church. Then, they put also, a system or rule to be the guidelines for chanting. This

can be simplified into a diagram 117 :

116 Robert T. Handy is an Associate Proffesor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary. 117 The Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition, ( New York: Americana Corporation, 1829),

p-292

The above diagram is simplified in order to clarify the system of chant in the church. This is only one example of the practices done in the church. This is what had been practiced by the Anglican Church. The Anglican church enables any normal chant( tunes for chanting are called”chants”) to be used to sing any psalm or canticle.

Unlike the rhythms used are close to the rhythms of ordinary speech. 118 Many other examples can be traced in chanting, because different believers of Christian people

have different ways in chanting. However, above explanation showed that the system of chant in the church is not the same as what the Muslims done in chanting with Qur’an.

From the early history, Gregorian chant eventually replaced the local chant tradition of Rome itself, which is now known as Old Roman chant. In the 10th

118 www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/Anglican-chant , surf on 6 October 2009 118 www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/Anglican-chant , surf on 6 October 2009

Later sources of these other chant traditions showed an increasing Gregorian influence, such as occasional efforts to categorize their chants into the Gregorian modes. Similarly, the Gregorian repertory incorporated elements of these lost plainchant traditions, which can be identified by careful stylistic and historical

analysis. 119 It's not difficult to practice Gregorian chant unlike Qur’anic chanting. You

don't have to be a great singer with a wonderful voice. You need to seek out a choir which sings plainsong – perhaps at a local church - or a choir which sings mediaeval music. Seems, it uses the musical notes and simple lyrics, written by the Pope or priest, its only needs someone to practice and hear the songs and then, follow the rhymes and rhythms. Below is the example of the musical notes used for the Gregorian chanting.

Diagram 3: Model of musical notes in Gregorian songs.

119 http://www.music-for-church-choirs.com/gregorian-chant.html , surf on 17th September 2009

By the 13th century, the neumes of Gregorian chant were usually written in square notation on a four-line staff with a clef, as in the Graduale Aboense pictured above. In square notation, small groups of ascending notes on a syllable are shown as stacked squares, read from bottom to top, while descending notes are written with diamonds read from left to right. When a syllable has a large number of notes, a series of smaller such groups of neumes are written in succession, read from left to right. The oriscus, quilisma, and liquescent neumes indicate special vocal treatments, that have been largely neglected due to uncertainty as to how to sing them. Since the 1970s, with the influential insights of Dom. E. Cardine (see below under 'rhythm'), ornamental neumes have received more attention from both researchers and performers.

B-flat is indicated by a "b-mollum"(soft), a rounded undercaste 'b' placed to the left of the entire neume in which the note occurs, as shown in the "Kyrie" to the right. When necessary, a "b-durum" (hard), written squarely, indicates B-natural and serves to cancel the b-mollum . This system of square notation is standard in modern chant books.

Several features besides modality contribute to the musical idiom of Gregorian chant, giving it a distinctive musical flavor. Melodic motion is primarily stepwise . Skips of a third are common, and larger skips far more common than in other plainchant repertories such as Ambrosian chant or Beneventan chant . Gregorian melodies are more likely to traverse a seventh than a full octave, so that melodies rarely travel from D up to the D an octave higher, but often travel from D to the C a seventh higher, using such patterns as D-F-G-A-C. Gregorian melodies often explore chains of pitches, such as F-A-C, around which the other notes of the chant gravitate. Within each mode, certain incipit and cadences are preferred, which the modal theory alone does not explain. Chants often display complex internal structures that combine and repeat musical sub phrases.

Therefore, traditional music of the Roman Catholic Church is the Gregorian chant. Scholars maintain that it is rooted, like the music of the Byzantine church, in the pre-Christian service of the Jews. Many Gregorian practices were taken from the Therefore, traditional music of the Roman Catholic Church is the Gregorian chant. Scholars maintain that it is rooted, like the music of the Byzantine church, in the pre-Christian service of the Jews. Many Gregorian practices were taken from the

with neither harmony nor polyphony to support it. 120

C. Qur'anic Chanting The Holy book of Islam, Qur’an literally means “recitation”, also sometimes

known as Qur’an, Quran, Koran or Al-Qur’an. It is the central religious text of Islam. There are various ways of dividing the Qur’an into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading, recitation and memorization. Recitation is the process of reading sacred text of Islam in the systematic way. It is stated in Qur’an verse 73:4,

“…and recite the Qur’an in slow, measured rhythmic tones.”

Throughout the long centuries of Islamic art, one of the great values of Islamic civilization and especially art has been Qur’anic chanting. The highly performance of reciters all over the world, always enlightened the beautiful art in Islam. With the excellent and powerful intone in reciting the Qur’an, will always enhancing Muslim and non Muslim to discover origin of this discipline.

Regardless of the admissibility or not of music in the world, usually Islamic music generally strives to achieve and express as much as possible of the ideas as set down in the Qur'an. However, the exact word use for Qur'anic recitation with melodies and intonations is known as chanting. The precise terminologies used for the process of reciting Qur'an melodiously together with connotation system of tajwid, are the words, nagham, talhin or tarannum. When it comes to elaborate such words into

John L. Esposito, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, p-211-212

English, the word chanting is considered as the nearest terminology for this activity. Although not 'music', the recited Qur'an with melody is a musicalized performance that the Qur'an itself states will transform the people who commit to its engagement over time.

121 The art of Islam becomes famous such as the Arabic reading, melodic recitation of the Qur'an, its memorization and chanting activities were a key focus of

Islamist, nationalist and developmentalist programmes, blending with the compatible goals such as da'wah, or islamic outreach. 122 Every century has had ''guardians'' of the

qur'anic qira'ah tradition who wrote, preached, or acted to preserve the integrity of this vocal tradition. The society efforts provide a continuity and homogeneity in the chant tradition which makes it possible for the Muslim to feel comfortable with the

competent Qur'anic recitation heard in any part of the Muslim world. 123 According to M.Gade, in the Islamic tradition, the “melodic” aspects of

Qur'an recitation may not be fixed in any one performance or in overall system. This is the result of the god speech cannot be associated by human technical artistry. Moreover, it is not known what melodic structures were used in the recitation of the Qur'an in the earliest period. However, the starting point of compilation in

“mujawwad” reading was known in 'Abbasid period. 124 The immergence of the Qur'anic chanting studied and documented in Baghdad since nineteenth century. 125

1) The Oral Origin of Quranic Chanting

121 A distinction must be made between sacred art of Islam and traditional Islamic art. The sacred art relates directly to the central practices of the religion and the practice of spiritual life, embracing such arts as calligraphy, mosque architecture, and Quranic psalmody. See, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality , p-14

122 Anne M. Gade, History of Religions: Taste, talent and the problem of Internalization: A Quranic Study in Religious Musicality from Southeast asia, Vol.41,p-2 123 Louis Lamya al Faruqi and Ismail al Faruqi, The Cultural Atlas of Islam, p-458 124 Anne M.Gade, History of Religions: Taste, talent and the problem of Internalization: A Quranic

Study in Religious Musicality from Southeast asia, Vol.41,p-380-381 125 Louis Lamya al Faruqi and Ismail al Faruqi, The Cultural Atlas of Islam, p-459

There are several terminologies use to describe this exercise of reciting Qur’an with melodies, such as taghanni or al-ghina’,naghâm, tarannum 126 , talhîn and

tarnîm. 127 These terminologies bring almost the same meaning to Qur’anic chanting. Other than this, the word mujawwad and murattal are also use to define this practice.

Taghannî or al-ghinâ’is one of the word use in the Prophet’s tradition or hadîth . A famous hadîth has it that :

“He is not one of us who does not chant the Qur’an” ( Bukhari) 128 .

The support to practice recitation with beautiful voice and chanting is found in another hadîth:

“ There is no other adorable things that Allah love as He loves the way of Prophet’s beautiful voice to chant the Qur’an and recite it precisely” ( Bukhari and Muslim). 129

This hadîth give the right definition of Qur’anic chanting activity. In Asia, the word naghâm or tarannum is use to describe the activities of reciting Qur’an with melodies and intones or can be said as chanting. The way to chant is to express the message of the Holy Qur’an, furthermore to enlighten the meanings, to feel the

The term tarannim is also used to show the beautifulness of syi’r in Arabic language. It is assumes as the voice of flute and the food for the heart. See Mahmud ‘Ârîf, Tarannim Al Lâîl, Syi’ir, (Jeddah: Dar al Bilad, 1984),vol.1,p.11

Syar’i Sumin, Tesis Seni Baca Al Qur’an dan Qiraat Tujuh, serta perlaksanaannya dalam kurikulum Sekolah Tinggi Agama Islam Pengembangan Ilmu Al Qur;an ( STAI-PIQ) Sumatera Barat, (Jakarta: Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah, 1998), p.16

128 Zainuddin Hamidy, Terjemah Sahih Bukhari, (Singapore: Darel Fajr Publishing, 2002),vol.1, p- 78

Muhammad bin Abdullah al-Khatib al-Tabrizi, Misykât al-Mashâbîh, ( Beirut:Dar al-Fikr, 1991),p.600,no. hadîth :2193, vol. Adâb al-Tilâwah wa Dûrûs al-Qur’an.

The word tarannum which being used in Malaysia is actually taken from the Prophet tradition :

!" # $ % & ' # $ “Thing that Allah allowed on the Prophet is to recite Qur’an beatifully in

tarannum wwith Qur’an. -.

One very revealing hadîth concerning recitation style is the following: “Recite the Qur’an with the modulations and tones of the Arabs, but avoid the

modulations of those who recite love poetry and the modulations of the people of the two books. After my death, people will come who will trill when they recite the Qur’an as is done in singing and wailing, but it will go no farther than their throats,

and they and those who are charmed by their performance will led into error.” 131 It shows that Muhammad approved the old Arabian songs and found them

conformable with the spirit of the revelation; or at least, they did not suggest art song or alien religious traditions. Beauty, improvisation, and affect are all stipulated as necessary components of orthopraxy vocalization, as conveyed by a hadîth account,

130 The term ‘music’, musîqa, ghinâ, has never been technically use for Qur’anic chanting because this practice is directly religious character which overflows into the heart of the believers. See Seyyed

Hossein Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality, (New York:State University of New York Press,1987),p.152- 153, read also Ismail al-Faruqi and Louis Lamya al-Faruqi, The Cultural Atlas of Islam, see also, Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Mysticism of Sound and Music, ( Boston: Shambala Publications,Inc,1991),p.1-173.

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A Q R" <M$* 2 :I $ <Q Q <2P O2 “Beautify (hassinû,zayyinû) the Qur’an with your voices.” The Prophet also

known to have a beautiful voice gifted from Allah and appreciated by others. 132

2) History of Qur’anic Chanting From the beginning of the initial revelation of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, its recitation has existed in conjunction with - in fact it traditionally preceded-the orthographic representation of text. The oral transmission happened during the time of the Prophet where he learned to recite it through the recitation of the Angel Jibra’il, who related it from God.

Later, the Prophet in his life, accepted the way of reciting the Qur’an by Abu Mûsa Al Asha’ri, there is the report that the Prophet said; “O, Abu Musa! You have

been given one of the musical instruments (voice) of the family od David ( Daûd)”. 133 Moreover, in other occasions, compilers of traditions relate accounts about the

Prophet’s reaction to hearing the Qur’an, such as his shedding tears. From this hadith, ulama’s claimed that the Prophet accepted and encouraged

companions in reciting Qur’an beautifully and melodiously. According to Hassan Syukri Abdullah, the Prophet started to recite Qur’an as

taught by the Gabriel ( Jibril) in 610 M. Then, the Prophet taught the companions with these verses and melodies. Among them are Abdullah Mas’ud, Abu Musa al Asy’ari and other. After them, the tabi’in continued to spread the teaching and learning of Qur’an and together with tarannum. They were Alqamah b Qis di Kufah (62 H).

Anna M.Gade, Perfection Makes Practice, p-179 133 Zainuddin Hamidy, Terjemah Sahih Bukhari, (Singapore: Darel Fajr Publishing, 2002),vol.8, p-

Abdullah b Saib di Mekah (70 H) and other. This is how the development of tarannum began in the Muslim communities. 134

No doubt the way of reciting and chanting of Qur’an must rely on the correct pronunciation, vocalization and grammatical reading of Qur’an which is known as tajwîd. Seems this thesis, will focus about the different between chanting ( tarannum) and vocalization system ( tajwid), the further elaboration of tajwîd will be discussed in the next chapter.

Reciting Qur’an is an activity related to the devotional piety of Muslims. It is said that the Qur’an itself will testify to the pious practice of the reader in his or her lifetime. It has been known for Muslims, the one who recites Qur’an, ayah by ayah, sura by sura and even letter by letter will be rewarded by God. Such as the report transmitted by al Thirmidhî;

“For every letter that you read, you will get tenfold reward.” 135

Other report by Ibn Masûd, the Prophet said; “Read the Qur’an for you will be rewarded at the rate of the [ the recompense

of ] ten good deeds for reading every letter of the Qur’an.” 136

Therefore, there is a strong emphasize that reciting Qur’an brings both individual and collective rewards. Because of that, the activity of recitation developed in many ways as long as accepted and practiced by the Prophet and companions. Here comes, the way of recite it nicely, melodiously and beautifully when reported that the Prophets loves the voice of Abû Mûsa.

134 Hassan Asy Sykuri bin Abdullah, Pengenalan Tarannum Bil Quran Serta Mengarabkan Tarannum dan Suara untuk Bacaan Al-Quran, (Selangor; Darul Qur’an, 2008), p-3

135 Zainuddin Hamidy, Terjemah Sahih Bukhari, vol.8, p-32 136 Zainuddin Hamidy, Terjemah Sahih Bukhari,vol.19, p-24

The history of chanting activities might be begin at the time of the Prophet, but without certain songs created especially in reciting the verses. However, when the time goes further, there were some changes and developments towards the way of reciting the Qur’an. According to Ibn Manzûr in his book, Lisânul ‘Arab, there were two opinions related to the songs which had been practiced until this day. The first opinion said that the melodies derived from the songs sung by the non muslim children captivated during the war between kafîr and muslimîn.

The second opinion said that the melodies came from the melodious songs of the Arabic tradition. Thus, some said that the melodies being used for reciting Qur’an. Conversely, the puzzle keeps playing in minds, about the exact history of the melodies. For some ulamas they claimed that the melodies derived from the sounds of nature, such as from the birds singing and sound of leaves and branches when the wind goes by. Here comes the question of who was the person conceded these melodies into the songs of Qur’an? What really encouraged him in transferring the sound into beautiful songs of Qur’an?

If the melodies come from singing, there must be the musical notes from the beginning of the history. Whereas, according to Ahmad Syahid, it was impossible to implement the musical notes into the Qur’anic chanting because there are various harkat, burdah and tobaqat of voices in one song. Moreover, the way of tarannum is deeply associated with the feelings, thus it is difficult to express it through musical

notes. 137 Reciting in a melodious voice (tarannum) may also means:

1 – Making the voice beautiful when reciting, whilst reciting aloud in a tone that conveys the feelings of humility, softening of the heart and sadness, without making too much effort or exaggerating.

Taghanni means reciting aloud, as it was narrated in Saheeh Muslim that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allah SAWS (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Allah does not listen to anything (more approvingly) than He listens to a

Ahmad Syahid, “Pembinaan Qari Qari’ah dan Hafiz Hafizhah”,in Bunga Rampai Mutiara Al Qur’an , (Jakarta:PP Jam’iyatul Qurra’ wal Huffaz, 2006), p-23

Prophet reciting the Qur’an aloud in a melodious voice…” This indicates that we are commanded and encouraged to make our voices beautiful when reciting Qur’an.

This hadîth clearly states the meaning of tarannum. The phrase “reciting aloud” explains it. Reciting aloud means raising one’s voice when reciting and making it beautiful, in a natural manner with no artifice, which one enjoys and finds pleasure in. Before the Qur’an was revealed, the Arabs used to sing hudaa’ (songs of camel drivers) when riding camels, to make the journey pass more quickly when they were sitting in their saddles, and so on.

But when the Qur’an was revealed, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah

be upon him) wanted to make them focus on the Qur’an and raise their voices and make them beautiful when reciting it. He wanted that to take the place of singing, whilst paying attention to the correctness of the recitation. So in place of the pleasure of singing, they were given the pleasure of reciting Qur’an, just as everything forbidden was replaced with something that was better for them. This making the voice melodious in recitation should be done in a natural manner, not by means of teaching and training according to the rules of music.

Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that reciting Qur’an with a tune and in a melodious voice, if it is done naturally with no exaggeration or special teaching or training, when it is permissible. If extra effort is added to the natural tone to make it more beautiful, such as when Abu Musa al-Ash’ari said to the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “If I had known (you were listening), I would have made it more beautiful for you,”. But if the reciting in a melodious voice is done in an artificial manner, with special training and musical rhythms, this is something which the salaf despised, and which they criticized and condemned. It is known that the salaf used to recite the Qur’an in a sad tone, making their voices beautiful and giving it a sad tone sometimes and a joyful tone sometimes. This is something natural.

Nowadays, in the Asia and Southeast Asia, especially in Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia and Malaysia, the recitation of Qur'an together with the chanting melodies Nowadays, in the Asia and Southeast Asia, especially in Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia and Malaysia, the recitation of Qur'an together with the chanting melodies

3) Two Types of Songs in Tarannum Research had been done by M.Gade on this matter, and she claimed that contemporary Indonesian and Malaysian sources on recitation group the Arab derived maq m t (lagu) used in Qur'an recitation into two principal types: Misri and Makawi. Misri lagu is the maq m t that were introduced in the 1960s and after, denoting modes that were known and used in Egypt (hence misri=Ar.misri). Makawi lagu is understood to comprise an older system from the Middle East, reportedly deriving from the recitational practices of Indonesian pilgrims and students who traveled to the Arabian peninsula ( and Mecca, hence the term Makawi) earlier in the century and

before.” 138 The word “Makawi” comes from the region of Makkah. The melodies of

Makkawi means songs which are popularized in Makkah. Ahmad Syahid says that the songs of Makkawi stands of seven kinds of melodies. Then, several qari and qariah simplified them into word: 2 I P

means 'jasadnya kemerah-merahan' or reddish body. This term is applied in order to show that these songs are delivered in higher tone of voice which covered the four stages of voice.

Differences between Hijazi and Misri

138 Anne M.Gade, History of Religions: Taste, talent and the problem of Internalization: A Quranic Study in Religious Musicality from Southeast Asia, p-382 , see also Muhaimin Zen and Akhmad Mustafid, Bunga Rampai Mutiara Al Qur'an, (Jakarta:PP Jam'iyyatul Qurra' Wal Huffazh,2006), p-27

• Hijazi Songs :It is something related to the geographical situation of the place,desserts, hills and high temperature. Consequently, the melodies and songs

from these places will always in a high voice and high pitch. • Misri Songs : Nil River, greenland with agricultural activities and moderate

temperature. Thus, the melodies of the songs are slow, rhythmic, nice and moderate pitch.

Ibnu Kathir stated in his book that to recite Qur’an with melodies, someone must really careful and beware of the tajwîd system and the acceptable melodies, in order to make sure of the impact on the heart of the reciters, to develop the love,

passion, understanding and drive to the piety towards Allah S.W.T. 140 Al Ghazali also explains about the melodies in the Qur’anic recitation where actually he managed

to discover the beautifulness of the effect of recitation towards the listeners and reciters.

D. The Problems of Music Civilization in the World The same is true of earlier confrontations with Muslim societies. The

Crusades awakened with a dormant European interest in Islam. Advocates and

139 Hassan Asy Sykuri bin Abdullah, Pengenalan Tarannum Bil Quran Serta Mengarabkan Tarannum dan Suara untuk Bacaan Al-Quran, p-5-7

140 About the middle of the middle Ages there lived a man who has left the most lasting traces behind him and who has ever been revered as the greatest teacher of Islam, Abd Hamid Muhammad Ibn

Muhammad Al-Ghazali (d.in 505/1111-2) was born at Tus in Khurasan, Persia, in 451,1059-60. First the studied at nisabur with al-juwayni imam al-haramayn, after whose death he settled down at-Baghdad, where he was in 484/1091-2 appointed by the vizier Nizam al-mulk to chair of the Nizamiyya. He had alreddy by then displayed a great literary activity in writing many works on the shafi’ite school of jurisprudence and religious philosophy. After a four-year teaching he retired from public life and devoted the rest of his life to meditation. He spent ten years in seclusion and Sufi contemplation, visiting Jerusalem, Damascus, Makka, and Alexandria. His place of retirement and meditation is still shown in the great mosque of damascus. Having returned in 500/1106-7 to his native town, he founded a sufi convent and died there. Al-Ghazalis personality is unique in islam because he went through all the conflicting tendencies of the spiritual nature of his age. He considered not speculation but the careful cultivation of spiritual life as the aim of theology. His great significance was due to his intrinsic criticism of all the contemporary scientific ideas.

veterans of those “holy wars “supplied heavily biased images of infidel Saracens that satisfied that interest and convinced most Europeans that the Muslims were a perpetual menace. The same thing happened again when the Ottoman Empire advanced militarily into Eastern Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Frightened Christians wanted to know how “the Turk” had become so powerful, and this stimulated a multitude of publications from sophisticated analyses of the structure of the Ottoman government and army, to hysterical sermons, both Catholic and Protestant, calling for new crusades.

Our current period of crisis differs from these earlier confrontations in one aspect in particular. The Muslims who defended themselves against the crusading European invaders in the twelfth century and who fought to extend the empire of the Ottoman sultans in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries knew next to nothing about Christian Europe. But today, American culture, and Western culture more generally, have been making headway in the Muslim world and influencing cultural values and institutions there for many decades. Because of these, the current crisis is radically asymmetrical, particularly at the cultural level. Many Muslims have long considered the impingement of Western culture on their own traditions a crisis. Aside from chanting the Qur’an, reciting poetry, and listening to unaccompanied male voices sing militant songs, there is scarcely any manifestation of art and creativity that they find

religiously acceptable. 141 To conclude the idea and arguments in this chapter, the writer states above

about the background and history of the development in chanting throughout the years. It is important to differentiate the idea that saying the Qur’anic chanting is the tradition from the Biblical chanting, but at last, there are too many differences in both aspects either through the history or practices.

141 Pamela Smith, The Body of the Artisan: Art and Experience in the Scientific Revolution,(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006),p-22