Music-Culture VIII

For my musical ethnography project, I am studying the music culture of Qur’an recitation, also known as qira’ah. Because I am a part of this culture, both in that I am a Muslim and therefore go to the local masjid every week and listen to Qur’an recitation and that I am a student of this art form, it is not too difficult for me to analyze this music culture.

However, my local masjid is a part of the Turkish community center in Richardson. Because it shares the same building with other Turkish foundations and because it is not a big masjid, people mostly use it to pray their daily prayers, usually alone. Only on Fridays and other holy days is the masjid used in full capacity. Because of this, there are not always many chances for me to hear Qur’an recitation in all its beauty.

In many cases, such as during prayers, the Qur’an is recited in a faster manner, though still quite slow. In some cases, such as Islamic holy days (i.e. eids), a local imam or a good qari’ (reciter, reader), the latter being more preferred, will sit in front of the jama’ah (community) and recite slowly and beautifully.

In such events, one can really analyze the music culture well, as I was lucky enough to do so two weeks ago at the Mawlid celebration. I also get a chance to listen to beautiful qira’ah from my Qur’an teacher, who is also the imam (leader) of the masjid, on weekends. Because I am so close to this music culture, I was able to conduct an interview with the imam and listen to qira’ah.