Professor Mohd Anis Md Nor

Seminar on Music Spirituality and Islam
Organized by
The International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia, the
Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore, the University
Scholars Program, National University of Singapore, and
Museum Volunteers JMM
12th December 2012
Zapin: Is it Dance, Music or Dhikr?
Professor Mohd Anis Md Nor
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur
Overview
1. Introduction of Zapin as a Hybrid
performance tradition in Malaysia and
Southeast Asia
2. A Macro View: Zapin signifying ArabicIslamic-Malayic representations
3. A Meso View: Zapin as a Malay performance
tradition
4. A Micro View: Zapin as Dhikr
5. Conclusion
Introduction
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Zapin representing Johor-Riau tradition
Revival in 1990s
Influenced by Hadhrami Arab Zaffin
Eclectic mix of indigenous dance and musical
styles percolated with Malay aesthetics and
propriety
• Invented tradition and a new genre
Zapin (Malay) & Zaffin (Hadhrami)
Zapin-Melayu (Malay)
Zaffin (Hadhrami)
• Hybrid & syncretic music and
dance tradition in insular
Southeast Asia
• Took roots in the Malay
Peninsula, Singapore and
throughout the islands of
Indonesia from the 15th century
onwards in the form of a peculiar
tradition that embodies ArabicMalay-Islamic nuances
• Dance and music of the people
of Wadi Hadhramaut (Arabic:
‫حضرموت‬‎Ḥaḍramawt) of the
Hadhramis who speak
Hadhrami Arabic
• Large-scale Hadhramaut
migration in the early 19th
century brought sizeable
Hadrami minorities all around
the Indian Ocean including
Southeast Asia (Engseng Ho,
2006).
Zapin (Malay) & Zaffin (Hadhrami)
Zapin
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Indigenous Muslims who lived on the
coastal shores of East Sumatera, west
peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Java,
Kalimantan, South and Southeast
Sulawesi, Ternate, Halmahera and the
islands of Nusa Tenggara were highly
impacted by the presence of the
Hadhrami who migrated from
historically important cities such as
Shibam, Say’un and Tarim, which
contains the highest concentration of
descendants of the Prophet
Muhammad anywhere in the world.
The Hadhramis even became rulers in
the Sultanate of Siak and Palembang in
Sumatera, Pontianak in West
Kalimantan, and married into royal
families in the Malay sultanates of
Peninsular Malaysia
Zaffin
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Brought along their highly tribal society of old
Seyyid aristocracy who were descendent of the
Prophet Muhammad to Southeast Asian
Hadhramis brought Takhmis and Qasida
(religious music), metric composition of sung
poem in Arabic poetry philosophizing life and
religious matters; Dan, a form of music; Zaffin, a
music and dance form that is exclusively
performed and practiced by the Hadhrami Arabs
from Wadi Hadhramaut
Apart from being highly revered as Sada (plural
for Seyyid or Syed (‫ )سيد‬who are descendants of
Prophet Muhammad), the Hadhramis who
comprises of two main groups in Southeast Asia,
namely Ba’Alawi and Irsyadin (Shahab, 2012),
were considered as highly literate in religious
matters and were often employed as qadhi or
legal specialists and scribe.
Wadi Hadhramawt
Shibam
Say’un
Tarim
Al Kaf Palace in Tarim
Zapin: A Macro view
Zapin
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The Malays created the Malay zapin
from the Arab zaffin as a hybrid form
which signifies respect and admiration
to the Hadhrami Arabs or Sayyeds in
particular. The Malays in Malaysia had
adapted and developed the nuances of
Islamic-Arabic zaffin by creating their
own pseudo-Arabic expressions through
Zapin Melayu, an example of hybridity
and syncreticity par excellence (Mohd
Anis Md Nor, 2011).
Malay Zapin (which is now known by
various other names such as Jipin,
Jepin, Japin, Zafin and Dana in Malaysia,
Indonesia, Southern Thailand, Brunei
and Singapore) celebrates events
associated with weddings,
circumcisions, and social events of
religious significance such as Maulidur
Rasul (Prophet’s birthday).
Zaffin
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The Hadhramis’ art of playing music
with the oud or al-‘ud (pear shape
lute, which is locally known as the
gambus), hand held drums
(marwas or marawis) and singing
Takhmis and Qasida by the BaAlawi Hadhramis were easily
adopted by indigenous Muslims
with adaptations that made
indigenous performances markedly
different from their Arabic origin, as
examples of permissible (mubah)
performances.
In the case of Hadhramis’ Zaffin,
their dance and music are
commonly associated with the
qabilah (tribe) or bani (origin to a
common forefather) of the BaAlawi.
Men in the village dancing the "bara" or dagger dance at a wedding in the village of Shibam.
http://www.gildedserpent.com/articles13/dancingyemen2jalilah.htm
Zapin Arab (Zaffin)
Zapin Arab (Zaffin)
Meso View: Zapin as a Malay
performance heritage
• Zapin is conventionally structured into three
parts
• First part – taksim, an improvise solo by a
single ‘ud or gambus
• Second part – melodic section with kopak, a
loud rhythmic interlocking marwas drumming
• Final section – wainab or wainaq or tahtim
• Musical sections of zapin correspond with the
sections of dance
Lagu Zapin-Melayu
Zapin is performed to celebrate Malay-Islamic festivals or rites of passage such as weddings (Kenduri Kahwin),
circumcisions (Sunat Rasul) or completion of Quranic readings (Khatam Quran) after the completion of the final
evening Isya prayer at the nearest mosque or Surau (a congregational prayer house smaller than a mosque). It
is a performance tradition inclusive of the communitas when individuals from one single village or several
villages partake in the liminal state of performativity. A typical village performance may be described as follows.
A Zapin performance begins with a congregation of villagers, musicians and dancers, in an area in
front of a house or surau, allotted and marked for Zapin performance. Canopied shelters or make
shift sheds are built to shield foods and drinks from the elements. Participants and observers from
the village or villages hover around or near the shelters mingling as they share news and village
gossips. The performance area is lighted with florescent lamps from extended electric cords
shinning bright spots in the otherwise dark surroundings. Benches, chairs and stools are placed at
the edge of the brightly lighted performance area for musicians and participants. A hush silence
befalls when the cords of the ‘ud or gambus is plucked by a solo musician playing the taksim, a
prelude to the song to be played before the rest of the musicians play the harmonium, marwas
(hand-held drums), dok (barrel drum) and violin. The enchanting cords of the taksim alludes the
sound of far but familiar Middle Eastern music signifying Arabic-Islamic nuances to be celebrated
with joyous display of structured foot and hand movements carving floor plans on the hard
ground with indigenous choreographies from an eclectic technique of skips and jumps. It sets the
tone for Zapin to emerge where musical skills and dancing the Zapin are tested. Dancers appear in
two rows or in pairs to gambol with improvised but planned schema of movements to outdo and
outplay others, applauded and raucously acknowledged by all that are present. As midnight
approaches, the dancing, singing and music making continue to pulsate with the shifting roles
and exchanges of musicians and dancers embracing larger number of participants. In the slightly
unlighted corners of the performance area, women perform their female Zapin style, copied and
followed by younger female adult interlacing with soft laughter and hushed remarks. They too
may perform the movement’s motifs repeatedly as long as the music keeps coming from the
men’s section, well past midnight. The composite event is an occasion beholden to members of
the family as they dance, sing and make music together in a big family. It signifies family
allegiance, blood-relation, group celebration, secular Malay performance but celebrating a
significant moment of a Malay-Islamic festivity. (Mohd Anis Md Nor, 2007)
Zapin as Dhikr: A Micro View
• Zapin music could become silent dikhr i.e.
uttering God’s name and methodological
repetition of the first shahadah (proclamation of
one’s belief in Allah and in his messenger,
Muhammad).
• It stresses an inwardness of contemplating God’s
existence and his absolute trescendence, forms
the corpus of dhikr’s affirmatioon of tawhid, the
essence of Islam that affirms Allah (SWT) to be
the One, the absolute, transcendent Creator, the
Lord and Master
Zapin as Dhikr
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Dhikr by followers of a tariqah or tarikat of Sufism.
Framing the dancer’s 4-beat basic dance steps as pulses accompanied by the
musical sounds of the instruments such as the marwas hand drums and the
dok barrel drum.
The compound structure of zapin drumming patterns within a 16-beat
colotomic unit and the overarching rendition of zapin songs or qasidah
consisting of repeated quatrains of passionate verses in praise of Prophet
Muhammad and/or the attributes of God either literally or metaphorically,
provides the spatial and sonic space for dhikr.
Dance movements begin on the second drum beat, which is of low timbre as it
initiates the kinemic pulse.
Dhikr is first uttered during the first high timbre beat of the marwas drums.
The first shahadah, Lā ilaha illal-Lāh, Muhammadun rasūlula-Lāh (“There is no
god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God”) commences on the high
timber beat while the dance begins on the low timbre beat, which forms the
second drum beat.
The entire dhikr would be completed at the end of the 8-beat phrase of
repetitive rhythmic 4-beat pattern of three or more marwas drums. By then,
the dhikr-dancer completes his dance motif as he completes the first round of
his shahadah. The dhikr would be repeated over the 8-beat phrase into a
second round of shahadah recitation as the dancers complete his dance or
choreme over 16-beats colotomic unit.
Conclusion – Macro Level
• At a macro level, Zapin represents a hybrid performance
tradition that connects the Malay world with Islamic
performative traditions from the Arabian Peninsula. It
represents Malay-ness and Islam in the way Muslims in
maritime Southeast Asia associate permissible music and
dance tradition with the Arab Zaffin and all its significations
of respect and admiration of the Sayyid or Syed (‫ )سيد‬as
descendants of Prophet Muhammad represented by the
Hadhrami Arab’s diaspora in Archipelagic Southeast Asia.
The Malay reverence to the Hadhramis whose role in
shaping Islamic da’wah (‫ةعو‬‎‫)د‬, which literally means issuing
or inviting people to the faith through the activities of a dā‘ī
(religious worker) or du‘āt (a volunteer community effort)
and the propagation of Sufism or taṣawwuf (‫)تصوف‬
to reach
ّ
the inner mystical dimension of Islam, has transformed the
Hadhrami Zaffin into a syncretic visual and performing arts
that Zapin has attained today.
Conclusion - Meso Level
• At the meso level, the Zapin communitas have embedded a sense
of ownership that is deeply rooted in Malay political governance,
commerce and literature. Diachronically, the Malays are beholden
to Zapin as important political, religious, and cultural signifiers of
their socio-cultural heritage. Synchronically, Zapin represents
Malay-Arabic soundscapes that are resplendent with Malay dance
movements. To the Malays, Zapin is extra ordinary because of its
eclectic nature. Zapin songs are composed to sound Arabic without
necessarily keeping to a specific maqam or melodic modes in spite
of sounding almost similar to an Arabic maqam. Zapin dance
movements are nuanced with a mixture of wide strides and strong
foot works evoking some form of Middle Eastern dance steps but
has an overall grace of Malay dance movements, languid and soft.
Conclusion – Micro Level
• At the micro level, the performative fusions of soundscape, body
movements, gestures and sung texts in Zapin presage spiritual
acuities sacrosanct to Sufism that reinforces the pinnacle state of
temporality of the silent dhikr. The performers are in betwixt and
between the sacred and the profane, a liminal state of being that is
crucial to the existence of a Zapin communitas. Zapin becomes
knowledge of the esoteric, known and understood by those whose
tariqah commands the Sufi murīdīn to embrace God’s call to
perceive his presence both in the world and in the self. Hence Zapin
holds a special place amongst the Malays in Southeast Asia who
regard it as the closest resemblance of an Islamic performance
tradition, indigenous yet exogenous. Zapin embraces dance, music
and dhikr as a single performative entity.
Terima Kasih
Thank You