Malaysian fashion model and social media influencer Ike Diana argued there is no real conflict between mixing modest clothing choices and attractiveness and she willingly mixes modern pieces with traditional wear.

“Modesty is about finding the right balance of guarding your skin and wearing clothes that cover, yet are comfortable and fashionable. It is all about proportion because you can pair straight-cut jeans with a looser top or a fitted top with a flowy skirt,” she said, explaining that in southeast Asia, modest fashion was about dressing comfortably, not showing too much and clothes that fit the climate.

She said successful brands paid attention to Malaysia’s tropical climate with consumers increasingly conscious of the fabrics they choose, targeting breathability and comfort.

“We can’t wear anything leather or wool or at least wear them for long periods because it doesn’t suit the weather,” she explained.

Noting current modesty trends as being minimal yet trendy, Ike said there has been increasing interest in streetwear or basic pieces with an elevated look. This season vibrant colours, such as hot pink, have made a comeback. With more media influencers playing their roles through social media, consumer inspiration was being drawn from a variety of sources.

For Malaysian mother of one Amirah Najla Saidin, 29, choosing her modest wear demands comfort first. She observed that Malaysians lean towards more experimental choices when picking modest wear.

“Some say modest wear is loose clothes and some interpret it as long as your skin is covered, even with sheer or tight clothes,” she noted.

There certainly is plenty of choice. In Malaysia, brands such as UMMA, Imaan and Petit Moi sell an array of fashionable modest wear.

Malaysia’s influencer and model Ike Diana says modesty was about finding the right balance (Ike Diana).

Bangladeshi style

In Bangladesh the rise of ecommerce and related social media sites, including influencer webpages, has generated more creativity and choice in modest fashion ranges. Previously total coverage through burqas was common for women, but especially since 2014/15 as ecommerce took hold, retailers have been selling more abayas, khimar (traditional skirts and tops) and jilbab (another skirt and tops combination).

With ecommerce and social media opening Bangladesh to international fashion influences, these styles have been promoted by consumers seeing how women dress in Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia and other diverse Muslim countries, said Tasnuva Rahman, co-owner of Reflections of Haya, an online modest clothing retailer

These influences are driving change in Bangladesh’s modest clothing market.

“One reason is women can try different fashions and trends. The burqa fully covers one and has mostly loose fittings, but the abaya, khimar, jilbab or a simple shrug can be fitted and worn in style,” noted Rahman.

Bangladeshi Muslim women wearing khimar (Reflections of Haya).

She added that teens and young girls preferred bat-wing abaya or shrugs over long tops, while middle-aged women prefer khimar and jilbab. Khimars are now also produced on a large scale by Bangladesh’s strong clothing industry:

“One can easily get a khimar for $5 when custom-tailor-made items cost $45 to $50. So, women buy khimar from any market,” said Rahman.

Fabric choices have also diversified. One e-retailer noted where previously women for burqas, women preferred BMW fabric, a variant of georgette from China, for their burqas, they now choose lightweight cherry georgette, silk, polyester cotton and pure synthetic fabric.

Old women like free-shaped, batwing cut, light-weighted fabric to carry with any dress, especially during summer and for winter, when temperatures fall to 11-14°C, they wear a coat or shrug over long tops.

Rural women still prefer heavy-work long burqas, while urban women prefer abaya shrugs to wear over any dress, noted Rahman.

Colour blocking is one of Gulf influencer Nada Nader’s favourite styles that she often promotes on her social media (Nada Nader).

The Gulf gets colourful

In the wealthier Gulf region, modest fashion is becoming increasingly inclusive and diverse with streetwear, activewear and fast fashion now trending among Muslim women.

“Modest fashion is no longer about wearing long-flowing gowns and loose-fitting black abayas. We now see colourful outfits and abayas, as well as modest streetwear, innovative hijabs and turbans with patterns,” Sarah Bradshaw, a modest fashion designer and founder of United Arab Emirates-based (UAE) Sarah Bradshaw Couture, told Salaam Gateway.

She said as the region’s often-fierce summer heat kicks in, women are opting for eye-catching colours such as light green, orange, mustard, beige and light pink – and for fabrics like silk and linen that are appreciated for their softness, elegance and comfort.

Born in Paris and based in Dubai, the 31-year-old social media influencer who has more than 22,000 followers on Instagram, said while high-end brands are becoming aware of the market’s potential and launching modest-wear collections, so are fast-fashion brands.

Colours such as orange, mustard, and beige are trending this summer in the Gulf (Sarah Bradshaw).

Mainstream retailers eye up modest fashion

For instance, PrettyLittleThing, a UK-based fast-fashion retailer, has gained popularity since launching a Middle East-dedicated ecommerce platform in 2020. The brand, known for its affordable prices, offers a collection of modest outfits.

Bradshaw said many modest-fashion influencers are also promoting low-cost outfits from Shein, the Chinese online fast fashion retailer, and Modanisa, a Turkish modest fashion ecommerce platform.

“Although I think the modest-fashion industry is becoming more sustainable thanks to educated and conscious consumers,” she said.

One example is The Giving Movement, a Dubai-based sustainable athleisure label that offers modest activewear, streetwear and loungewear. With its emphasis on ethical manufacturing and recyclable fabrics and its promise to donate $4 to charities for every item sold, the brand has gained numerous fans since its 2020 launch and recently raised $15 million from investors.

Bradshaw has also observed modest fashion becoming more inclusive, embracing different age groups, styles and body shapes.

“We have to keep in mind that the success of the market lies in understanding everyone defines modest fashion in their own way,” she said.

However, one challenge for all modest fashion brands in the region is the summer heat and humidity that does not encourage people to dress up.

Tunisia’s Sabrine Sbei, an influencer and retailer, wearing a modest fashion design (Sabrine Sbei).

Keeping it cool

“During the UAE’s summer, some people find it difficult to stay stylish and fresh outside. They might think it’s a waste of money and time to wear nice clothes as they won’t be able to enjoy them outdoors. This can negatively impact the modest fashion market,” said Bradshaw.

Modest fashion also reflects the diversity of consumers in a society. Tunisia, with its strong secular and religious traditions, has a mosaic of tastes when it comes to fashion and style. This has fed into modest fashion that is often more stylish in North Africa than in some more conservative Muslim cultures.

Sabrine Sbei, an Instagrammer, stylist and model and owner of ecommerce line Spity Shop told Salaam Gateway modest fashion trends incorporate both loose and tight outfits. For more modest consumers, a tight dress will be worn with an upper robe, such as an abaya, but for more secular women, these dresses could be worn alone.

As for colours, trending hues for modest and regular clothing are the same.

“Fashion focuses on bright colours, such as pistachio, bright orange, bright pink and similar funky colours,” said Sbei.

Modest fashion influencers are promoting soft, cool fabrics like silk and linen this summer (Sarah Bradshaw).

Arabic calligraphy

Tunisian fashion manufacturers can make variants of the same style to suit consumers’ modesty.

“The same clothing style is made for both women with and without hijab; the only difference is the length of the outfit, and what it covers,” she added.

When it comes to fabric, she said trendy fabrics like crumpled crepe fabric that achieve the perfect shape for loose trousers are common. The increase in local digital textile printing and its ability to deliver elaborate designs was also having an impact.

“Arabic writing is trendy on modest clothing this year, along with flowery vests and robes that are elegant and beautiful,” said Sbei.

Ultimately, in Tunisia, as elsewhere in the Muslim world, modest fashion is about wearing long clothes, made to cover the whole body, except for the hands and face.

Sbei said: “I love modest religious outfits myself, but it depends on everyone’s tastes and beliefs. There are Muslim women who would prefer a turban; others who cover their chest with an extra layer of their hijab and others just throw the hijab extra layer on their shoulders. It remains a personal choice based on how they apply their religious beliefs.”

Tunisian influencer and retailer Sabrine Sbei wearing her own ‘Spity’ modest design (Sabrine Sbei).

The Nigerian khimar

If more evidence was needed to reflect modest dressing is becoming a matter of style, consider Nigeria where the khimar, the long hijab-style robe that can be worn from head-to-toe, is becoming a symbol of trending modesty fashion.

“For Muslims it’s a good sign of faith, but it’s becoming more fashionable and people are really interested in wearing it, making it and selling it,” Amuda Faridah, a Lagos-based retailer of modesty fashion wears, told Salaam Gateway.

Faridah, a Muslim with an online store on Instagram, said social media has been instrumental in making the khimar popular across Nigeria.

“It’s becoming more stylish because it’s coming out in different colours with modesty fashion influencers portraying different styles on social media.”

For less formal modesty wear, two-piece outfits are also popular.

Nigerian Muslim modest fashion has real flair (Amuda Faridah).

“It’s either a shirt and a palazzo (trousers) or a shirt and skirt, but it’s a two piece. Most times it can be same the fabric with the same or different colours … it can be plain or patterned,” Faridah noted.

She added that Nigerian Muslim women sometimes paired these two piece outfits with a kimono for a three-piece look. These combination outfits are popular with Nigerian designers who often sell them online as ready-to-wear packages.

However, Faridah said dresses and abayas bought in Nigeria were often imported from the UAE, Malaysia and Turkey. The one currently trending was embroidery abayas with theses dresses fitting into what modesty fashion means for Faridah and countless other Muslim Nigerian women.

“They cover 80% of your body. Your arms are covered, your sleeves are covered and the pants are long. That’s what I understand as modesty. For instance, abayas are fashionable. They carry embroidery, are colourful and make modesty look fashionable,” she said.

When it comes to how these clothes fit, Faridah said consumers should have a choice. However, modesty wear should not tight fitting.

Not all modesty consumers would agree, rather stressing the need for skin coverage – and it is this diversity of views that is feeding energy and choice into the global Muslim fashion world.

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With Saudi Arabia opening its doors to tourism, it is promoting some of the most spiritual mosques in the world, for Muslims, and the most historical.

The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project for the Development of Historical Mosques was announced in 2018 and has been tasked with preserving and restoring 130 mosques situated throughout the kingdom. The first phase restored 30 mosques in 10 regions.

The oldest mosque dates to 1432 BCE. It was restored during the first phase at a cost of more than 50 million Saudi Riyal ($13.3 million). The second phase of the historic mosques development project includes 30 historical mosques distributed across the 13 regions of the kingdom.

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In the ‘Best Holiday Destinations for Your Phone’, the USA was the best place to take your phone on vacation this summer, followed by the Netherlands and Italy. The United Kingdom, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) collectively held the fourth ranking.

Turkey, the only other OIC country in the ranking, took eleventh place, ahead of Thailand, Croatia, Hong Kong, Mexico and Greece.

Italy had the highest number of posts on Instagram across all countries measured at 152 million, followed by the USA at 126 million, the UAE at 68 million posts, Hong Kong at 41.3 million and the Netherlands at 17.4 million posts.

The USA scored a total of 87 out of 110 in the index. It scored highly for 4G availability – the highest amongst all 17 countries – SIM card availability, cybersecurity and number of free public Wi-Fi spots. The Netherlands trails considerably behind with a total score of 75. Its top scores include higher 5G speeds than any other country, great 4G availability and internet penetration rate, and promising online censorship scores, the Index notes. Italy is in third place with a score of 67, due to its low data costs and being the most popular country based on Instagram posts.

Hungary, Mexico and Greece do worst for travelling with your phone from the UK. Hungary gets 44 out of 110 mostly due to low popularity on social media, low number of free Wi-Fi spots and a poor rate of contactless payments. Mexico scores 46 due to low 4G availability, few contactless payments, low cybersecurity measures. Greece also scores 46, with its low number of free Wi-F spots and a poor contactless payments rate.

Source: Currys.

Turkey is where it is cheapest to use your phone when considering the number of free Wi-Fi spots (278,376), costs of mobile data ($0.72 per 1GB of data) and 82% internet penetration.

The UAE has incredibly high internet penetration rate (99%), comparatively high data costs ($3.78 per 1GB of data), low number of free Wi-Fi spots (68,930), 91.70% 4G coverage, high 5G speed (32 MBPS), and an average mobile internet speed of 134.41 Mbps.

In 2009, when I joined DinarStandard, I was introduced to the halal tourism concept. Our work focused on raising awareness among industry stakeholders about the Muslim marketplace and the basic needs of Muslim travellers.

In partnership with CrescentRating, we produced a global Muslim travel report and held workshops to educate stakeholders. The conversation centred on the market size; minimum requirements to address and how the industry could focus on Muslims while keeping mainstream travellers engaged and happy.

Although these topics remain ongoing, the conversation has expanded to include how Muslim travellers can address sustainability issues and acknowledging the tayeb (pure and ethical) aspect of Muslim-friendly travel in terms of doing no harm and benefitting the host community.

A few years later I met the Holiday Bosnia founder and discovered their trips embodied these principles. Beyond addressing the basic needs of Muslim travellers and revealing the country’s natural beauty, food and attractions, the company nurtured a meaningful experience.

Addressing the spiritual and philanthropic inclinations of Muslin travellers, Holiday Bosnia helped Muslim travellers develop deep connections to the communities they visited through financial support of projects like rebuilding villages, supporting orphans, sponsoring students, empowering peace-building initiatives and cultivating interfaith exchanges.

Around that time I also met the founder of UK-based Andalucian Routes, a travel company that immerses UK Muslim youth in the Islamic heritage of southern Spain. As part of these leadership retreats, the youth enjoy sightseeing and adventures and gain pride in their Muslim heritage.

Consequently, they return home more confident about their Muslim identity and Islamic roots.

Those early years were a whirlwind of conferences and FAM (familiarisation) trips to Spain, Jordan, Turkey and other destinations. Conference topics ranged from defining halal tourism and debating the terminology to identifying the needs of Muslim travellers; marketing the segment and considering future trends.

In 2013, I was asked to address the topic at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest global travel convention, and had expected my talk to be designated to a small break-out room, leaving the larger settings for the uber-interesting and well-established speakers.

Imagine my surprise when I learnt I would be addressing a 300-strong audience.

While I felt unprepared to host such a large group, I was thrilled by the interest level. Unfortunately, I was not surprised by the lack of awareness exhibited by the conference logistics staff, who, five minutes before I was going on stage, asked me to “just please take off the scarf on my head” so the male sound technician could fix my hands-free microphone.

As you might have surmised, I used a hand-held mic.

Halal consumer sentiment

As part of DinarStandard’s Muslim-friendly travel consulting practice, we researched consumer sentiment and preferences. In a 2016 social media listening project, we found 78% of the interactions on halal travel were positive; 6% negative and the balance neutral. Hajj and Umrah-related keywords represented 61% of the interactions, indicating most Muslims define halal tourism in terms of religious pilgrimage.

I believe this still pertains.

In a recent consumer survey, 84% of respondents researched whether destinations fulfilled their religious needs. In the same study, 39% believed tourism destinations and brands were neglecting their religious needs.

These findings indicate lost opportunities for destinations and travel companies.

Amid a focus group conducted with Generation Z and Millennial Muslim micro-influencers as part of the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2022 Report, one respondent perfectly summed up Muslim travel.

“Muslim-friendly travel is when the traveller can experience and enjoy activities in a country while still meeting their Islamic obligations.”

One suggestion gleaned from the focus group was that travel organisations provide a more accurate image of the country to counteract the negativity often highlighted in the news (like Islamophobic reporting and negative comments about the safety of the various destinations).

Mainstream tourism issues go hand-in-hand with Muslim-friendly tourism

When we initially advocated for Muslim travel in 2010, the conversation was basic.

“What are the main requirements of Muslim travellers and how do we fulfil them?”

In some parts of the world and for some brands, this conversation has shifted to more interesting topics such as halal wellness retreats, adventure travel and volunteer tourism for Muslim travellers. Businesses and organisations targeting Muslim travellers now have nuanced messaging that, instead of emphasising the halalness of the trip, highlights the exciting features.

Today, influencers are brand ambassadors helping industry stakeholders enhance their content marketing.

Originally, our expertise was tapped for purely halal tourism-related projects including a pilgrim real estate project and a hajj and umrah portal (because of the deregulation of umrah). Over time, we were called on to provide strategy advisory on sustainable tourism in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, destination development and tourism corridors.

We also provided this training to a newly established destination management office in Al Quds, the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

Recent industry shocks and silver linings

Despite the growth in halal travel, there are still speed bumps. I witnessed the economic shock triggered by COVID-19, but also the sooner-than-expected changes driven by necessity. Trends projected for the next decade became a reality – touchless travel, robots, artificial intelligence (AI) interface and autonomous vehicles – were fast-tracked.

In the past year, I have experienced both a workation and medical tourism; the first in Turkey and the second in Mexico. Both gave me a chance to fully experience each country instead of just passing through them.

Despite the progress made in halal travel, there is still a long way to go for full maturity. Earlier flagged issues still exist: no unified standards or terminology, limited awareness even among OIC countries, underdeveloped branding and fragmentation.

They need addressing while the industry contends with technological innovations like driverless transportation, blockchain, AI and robots as tourism workers.

With the progress behind and possibilities ahead, I dream of a future in which Muslim-friendly travel fully embodies the teachings of Islam regarding responsible and sustainable tourism. I also anticipate the day Muslim-friendly/halal travel is clearly defined and the offerings standardised. I envision a future where numerous strong brands offer top-notch products and services, while deserving start-ups effortlessly raise the required funding to thrive.

Reem El Shafaki is a partner at DinarStandard, heading up the research and advisory team.

© SalaamGateway.com 2022. All Rights Reserved

While Qatar’s hospitality sector’s performance edged down to 62.5% in the first quarter of 2022 (2021: 77.4%), current flight bookings demonstrate an encouraging sentiment and experts say, supported by a robust gross domestic product (GDP) outlook, Qatar’s focus will shift from infrastructure development to tourism.

The aim is to ride the World Cup Soccer wave to its maximum as the country hopes to mimic the post-tournament highs the $14 billion added to the Russian economy in 2018.

“As of 1 July 2022, flight bookings for Qatar during the FIFA World Cup are already 2% ahead of where they were in 2019, pre-pandemic; and bookings for the first nine days are 98% ahead,” Olivier Ponti, VP Insights, at travel data and analytics company ForwardKeys, told Salaam Gateway.

He expects surges in flight bookings and, to a lesser extent cancellations, after the qualifying games’ results are known and fans support their teams in the latter rounds.

The tournament held in Russia in 2018 attracted almost three million foreign visitors. For Qatar, besides fans travelling internationally, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report published in June suggests the end of the diplomatic falling-out between Qatar, other Gulf countries, and Egypt, which lasted from June 2017 to January 2021, will boost intra-regional travel.

Transnational travel itineraries during the World Cup period will also spur tourism demand in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries with visitors’ spending increasing excise tax and VAT revenues in the applicable countries.

Oman and the UAE will likely benefit the most as fans may choose to stay there, given limited accommodation options in the host country. Qatar Airway’s same-day flight shuttle service from Muscat and Dubai, advertised for $258 in economy and $998 in business class, will bring soccer enthusiasts to the games in Doha.

Beyond the FIFA World Cup

Qatar’s GDP recorded an average 4.5% growth between 2010, the year the country was awarded the right to host the World Cup, and 2020, according to the IMF. In 2022, Qatar’s real GDP growth is forecast at 4.1%, fuelled by higher hydrocarbon prices.

This makes Qatar the second-fastest growing GCC nation after Saudi Arabia with 5.1%, according to data analytics and consulting company GlobalData.

Most of the $300 billion investments in preparation for the World Cup covered general infrastructure projects such as building an integrated railway and metro system, road development, airport expansion and building Lusail city where foreigners can buy properties. Qatar spent between $6.5 billion and $10 billion building the eight stadiums; an amount the IMF reports is in line with the spending of previous hosting countries. These infrastructure projects realise Qatar’s ambitious tourism strategy, including spreading tourism offerings across the country rather than just Doha.

While a Qatar Tourism spokesperson told Salaam Gateway the plans don’t contain a specific Muslim-friendly tourism focus, the strategy anchors upholding Qatar’s Arab and Islamic identity. These include encouraging family values as one of its four guiding principles.

Speaking at an industry event earlier this year, Berthold Trenkel, chief operating officer at Qatar Tourism, said Qatar targets six to seven million visitors by 2030, about three times more than the 2.1 million visitors recorded the year before the pandemic outbreak.

“We’re also talking about nearly doubling the GDP share to 12%,” Trenkel said.

As a way to grow inbound tourism, Trenkel names cruise ship tourism which accounted for 190,000 visitors in 2019, spurred by the inauguration of Doha port’s new Grand Terminal before the start of the World Cup.

According to Qatar Tourism’s website, the 24,000m2 terminal can handle 12,000 passengers daily, offering them the same level of service and facilities as Hamad International Airport. This includes seamless immigration, customs and foreign exchange facilities, along with other tourist services.

Future tourism markets

While Qatar Tourism expects to grow visitor numbers from GCC countries – for example through a recent partnership with Emerald Cruises that introduces new superyacht luxury cruises and offers eight-day itineraries with stops around the Gulf region – the country’s future tourism market is going to be a mixed bag.

According to Fitch Solutions, Qatar expanded its source markets as the Saudi-led blockade, which ran from mid 2017 to early 2021, encouraged the country to find non-GCC markets and develop new tourism ties with mainland China, Europe and the USA.

For 2022, Indian arrivals are forecast at 303,000, followed by primarily GCC markets in the top 10 including Saudi Arabia (291,000), UAE (65,300), Oman (64,000) and Kuwait (46,000). The UK (111,260), US (77,000) and France (34,900) make up the three long-haul destinations in the top 10 ranking.
Fitch Solutions sees Middle East and North African (MENA) arrivals growing from 711,100 in 2022 to over 1.1 million by 2026, driven by Saudi and UAE visitors. Over the same period, European arrivals will grow from 308,100 in 2022 to 620,600 by 2026, while Asia-Pacific visitors, driven mainly by Indian and Chinese tourists, will grow to 905,800 by 2026, up from just under 534,900 in 2022.

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Humans have known music since the dawn of existence. What is astonishing is wherever cave sounds are more interesting, we are also likely to find the greatest concentration of prehistoric art. The first person who mapped in detail this great link between sounds and cave paintings was musicologist Iegor Reznikoff.

Hence, the sounds of nature are the first music teacher and there is no wonder in describing the earth as the “macrocosmic musical instrument” and the creatures on its surface as the orchestra.

That means music is not limited to one society or civilisation with British ethnomusicologist and social anthropologist John Blacking, in his book How Musical Is Man? stating “humans are basically musical”.

Given its complexity, it has not been easy to define music or determine its date of birth. However, Wajdi Abou Diab, Lebanese composer and pianist, says “the concept of music has changed through the ages due to the change in the opinions of authors and musicologists”.

This complexity is obvious in the multi-approaches that try to answer these questions. As a term, music first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in the 13th century, but even specialised encyclopaedias disagree about its definition.

Consequently, German musicologist Heinrich Hüschen says “to the present time no complete and definitive definition of music (exists) and thus no absolute solution to the question of what music is”.

Abou Diab adds it is possible to say “the meaning of music has transformed into any singing or playing of a musical instrument that produces sounds with a specific pitch, height and intensity.” It has a specific time period and is often associated with what a person likes to hear and accept.

Muslim historian Al-Masudi in his book Mouruj al Dhahab wa Maadin al-Jawhar (English translation: The Meadows of Gold) wrote “the geographer and musicologist Ibn Khurradadhbih says ‘there are many opinions concerning the origin of music’.”

Muhammad ibn Jarir ibn Yazid, also knoswn as Al-Tabari, says the origin of music dates to Adam and Eve when “Cain is credited with the first song, which was an elegy on the death of Abel.”

Pre-Islamic period

In his book This is your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, Daniel Levitin, a McGill University neuroscientist, said “no known human culture now or anytime in the recorded past lacked music”. “Arabs knew music and developed it and this is obvious in the Arabic language which has many terms related to music and its instruments. Even in Arabic there is a term which cannot be translated to any other language; this term is ‘tarab’.”

Ibn Manzur, Arab lexicographer, in his work Lisan Al-Arab, defines it as “happiness, sadness and passion”, so it relates mixed emotions and indicates a merger between music and emotions.

Oud, Lamak, an instrument developed by Arabs, has a long evolutionary history. According Al-Mufaddal Ibn Salama “the first who made and played the oud was a man of the sons of Qabil the son of Adam, called Lamak”.

The oud was allegedly invented by Lamak, a descendant of Adam (Shutterstock).

Reverting to nature as being the first music teacher, one of the main sources for Arabic music was huda (huda el ibil, camel walking). Abou Diab says “Arabic music is rooted in lyrical music and (its) basis is the human voice”.

“It had a strong connection with Arabic poetry and the life of Arabs in the desert. It is said the first to sing was a camel shepherd who yelled to motivate the camels to walk quickly; to call them at the time of eating and drinking.”

The most famous types of this style was nasb; later divided into two types of ghina (singing) known as “heavy” and “light” and performed by qayan. Two famous qayan were Jaradatan with legends saying, after a lengthy drought, the ancient people of Ad sent a Jaradatan group to Mecca to pray for rain.

The group was so charmed by their singing that they forgot their religious duties, causing destruction on their people. Various references quote the poet Shair as a musician who played an instrument or had beautiful voice or both. He was mostly accompanied with an instrument player or vocalist like Alqama Ibn Abda (one of the Muallaqat poets) to sing his poem.

Early days of Islam

Music in Arab-Islamic civilisation covers at least 15 centuries and includes diverse regions given the religion’s geographical spread. Consequently, the music was affected by the previous and the new civilisations.

It brought to the fore significant names like Tuwais, the first professional male singer and accompanied with duff, while the female singer Azza Al-Maila was accompanied by mizafa or mizhar or oud.

These developments flourished due to the cultural conditions Islam had created and its music-supporting people like Aisha, wife of the Prophet Mohammad, Al-Hasan, grandson of Khalifa Ali and Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas.

Umayyad period

More singers, male and female, emerged and became professional. New ideas were introduced as Islam spread beyond the Arab peninsula and mixed with different civilisations, effectively pushing advances in music.

These advancements also appeared in different writings. Surayi wrote about vocal control and other things related to music, saying “the best musician is he who enriches the melodies and who quickness souls; who gives proportion to awzan and emphasises the pronunciation, who knows what is correct and establishes the irab”.

The Umayyad Khalifas also encouraged these developments. Muawiya I supported Said Khathir, a famous musician at that time; Yazid I was a poet and music lover and the first to introduce musical instruments and singers into his majlis (salon or court).

The colonnades of the 8th century BCE Umayyad palace at Anjar, Lebanon. The Umayyad Khalifas were supportive of musicians (Paul Cochrane ©).

Abbassid period and after

During these periods, music and sciences reached their peaks given the Khalifas support for translations and sciences. There also appeared the philosopher-musician who wrote about every musical field and the arena with professionalism

Abou Diab says the Arab-Islamic civilisation added more knowledge to the world of music, especially the Abbasid era.

“The generosity of the Abbasid Khalifas over the musicians is one of the most important reasons for the flourishing of Arabic music.”

Theoretically, most books dealing with musical theories or teaching, used the ud to show the dimensions, basic degrees and nuances to explain the maqams and methods of playing. Abou Diab added that, for example, Al-Munajjim discussed the eight modes in terms of the diatonic fretting to which their names related on the ud’s upper strings.

Philosopher-musician Al-Kindi wrote about ordered chordophones according to the number of their strings and was the first philosopher-musician to explain iqaat, naming the ud as the “instrument of the philosophers”. Ibn Sina, known in the west as Avicenna, introduced rast as a new musical terminology.

Music therapy

The Abbassid period knew and developed music therapy. In his book Tibb Al-Mufus, Ibn Aqnin says, “In the case of melancholy... the (patient) can cure it by listening to the performance of instrumentalists and to sing of poems”.

Al-Kindi says the musician should “develop diagnostic skills parallel to those of the physician” to prescribe suitable treatment.

Present time

Establishing the musical history of the Arab-Islamic civilization is not easy, but necessary to understand the modern era. As Arab-Islamic music grew regionally, two major branches emerged – the eastern branch (Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon) and the western branch (Morocco and Tunisia).

According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, both may derive ultimately from the court music from the Umayyad and early Abbassi periods. One of the most famous conferences tackling early Arab-Islamic music was held in Cairo in 1932 and renewed attention to many theoretical issues.

The result was a six-volume publication on music theory by Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger called La Musique Arabe.

Abou Diab credits the maqam system for providing Arabic music with its characters. The maqam contains a wider range of dimensions including the ton, half and three-quarters and various modifications according to the maqam.

By its nature, Arabic music is monophonic, placing importance on the horizontal melodic path. The musician adds the difference in instruments and playing methods, improvisation and language.

Again, the Gulf states refreshed the historical music and spread it globally. It evolved in Saudi Arabia, and now the country is encouraging musical development and pushing it to the highest level.

Support comes from the government with new music schools being opened and concerts and the Madrasati platform, the online education platform, boosting interest. The aim is to provide students with a clear idea of ​​music; the skills of writing musical notes and learning international artists’ techniques.

It will also enable students to understand and differentiate popular musical styles in the Kingdom and identify musical instruments. This will introduce students to various traditional musical styles from the Kingdom’s different regions.

The seven notes have returned to Saudi Arabia and their new modern shape is ready to again fly you to the boundaries of the limitless universe.

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