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Birds Who Sing in Many Trees: Sufi Singers & Professionalization in Fez, Morocco
Abstract
Today in Morocco there are many opportunities for Sufi vocalists to engage in private rituals and public staged performances. While private rituals have been an important part of Sufi practice in Morocco for hundreds of years, public staged performances have only emerged in the last twenty-five years. A recent increase in performance is linked to the Moroccan monarchy’s 2004 decision to make Sunni Sufism a key element of official Moroccan Islam. This top-down promotion of Sufism in Morocco has contributed to opportunities for many singers, musicians, and listeners to creatively engage Sufism and Sufi music. However, the recent official elevation of Sufism also presents new problems. Despite the many festivals, public staged events, private rituals, radio and TV spots available to Sufis, there is fierce competition and ongoing debates regarding the qualities and abilities of a professional Sufi singer. Sufi performers must negotiate many roles such as ritual master and master performer as they operate in different contexts and become, as one Sufi singer told me, “birds who sing in many tress.” While some Sufis consider aspects of professionalization to have a deleterious effect on Sufi rituals and Sufism in Morocco, others believe that it helps preserve Sufism and contributes to more efficacious rituals. In this paper I present some prominent Sufi performers from Fez, Morocco and analyze the ways that they negotiate the different roles of a Sufi, the many contexts of Sufi ritual and performance, and different ideas of what it means to be a professional Sufi singer.
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
Morocco
Sub Area
Mysticism/Sufi Studies