{
  "slug": "qawwali",
  "name": "Qawwali",
  "aliases": [
    "sufi qawwali",
    "qawali",
    "sama"
  ],
  "description": "Sufi devotional singing from the shrines of Delhi and the Punjab, seven centuries old and still performed as a party of voices, harmonium and clapping hands driving a listener towards ecstasy rather than towards a chorus.",
  "origin": {
    "place": "Delhi and the Punjab",
    "year": 1300
  },
  "lineage": [],
  "bpm": null,
  "updated": "2026-08-30",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/qawwali/",
  "trackCount": 6,
  "curatedBy": [],
  "playlists": {},
  "tracks": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "trackKey": "amir-khusrau--chhaap-tilak-sab-chheeni",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/amir-khusrau--chhaap-tilak-sab-chheeni/",
      "title": "Chhaap Tilak Sab Chheeni",
      "artist": "Amir Khusrau",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/amir-khusrau/",
      "year": 1300,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Written by the man usually credited with inventing the form, welding Persian, Arabic, Turkic and Indian singing into one thing. Seven hundred years later every qawwal party still has it in the set.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Amir%20Khusrau%20Chhaap%20Tilak%20Sab%20Chheeni",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=0amMUGlH32M",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "trackKey": "nusrat-fateh-ali-khan--mustt-mustt",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nusrat-fateh-ali-khan--mustt-mustt/",
      "title": "Mustt Mustt",
      "artist": "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/nusrat-fateh-ali-khan/",
      "year": 1990,
      "label": "Real World",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Michael Brook puts a loop and a bassline under the greatest voice of the century and it loses nothing. The record that carried qawwali to people who had no idea what they were hearing.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nusrat%20Fateh%20Ali%20Khan%20Mustt%20Mustt",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4RlvDlI0EXo",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "trackKey": "sabri-brothers--tajdar-e-haram",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sabri-brothers--tajdar-e-haram/",
      "title": "Tajdar-e-Haram",
      "artist": "Sabri Brothers",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sabri-brothers/",
      "year": 1970,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The most beloved qawwali in Pakistan, and a masterclass in the slow build — twenty minutes before anyone raises their voice, and by then the room has gone.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sabri%20Brothers%20Tajdar-e-Haram",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=a18py61_F_w",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "trackKey": "nusrat-fateh-ali-khan--allah-hoo-allah-hoo",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/nusrat-fateh-ali-khan--allah-hoo-allah-hoo/",
      "title": "Allah Hoo Allah Hoo",
      "artist": "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/nusrat-fateh-ali-khan/",
      "year": 1989,
      "label": "Real World",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Two words, repeated for a quarter of an hour, accelerating. The most efficient demonstration anywhere of what repetition is actually for, and it predates every dance record on this site by six centuries.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Nusrat%20Fateh%20Ali%20Khan%20Allah%20Hoo%20Allah%20Hoo",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=EEWOiJFED94",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "trackKey": "amir-khusrau--aaj-rang-hai",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/amir-khusrau--aaj-rang-hai/",
      "title": "Aaj Rang Hai",
      "artist": "Amir Khusrau",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/amir-khusrau/",
      "year": 1300,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Sung on the death anniversary of his teacher, and still the closing piece at Nizamuddin's shrine. Devotional music where the devotion is to a person, not a doctrine.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Amir%20Khusrau%20Aaj%20Rang%20Hai",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt7JvLlZido",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "trackKey": "sabri-brothers--bhar-do-jholi-meri",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/sabri-brothers--bhar-do-jholi-meri/",
      "title": "Bhar Do Jholi Meri",
      "artist": "Sabri Brothers",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/sabri-brothers/",
      "year": 1975,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "A plea, repeated until the repetition becomes the argument. The Sabris built their reputation on records that refuse to resolve until the audience does it for them.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Sabri%20Brothers%20Bhar%20Do%20Jholi%20Meri",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8QBZwMQbAUI",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}