Watser?
01-07-2007, 06:34 AM
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Arabia before the time of Islam was at the fringes of the major empires of the time: Byzantium and the Sassanid Empire. These two rivals both had a history that went back for centuries: Byzantium was a successor state to the Roman Empire, but consisted of the parts of that empire that had belonged to Alexander the Great’s Empire before that and was thoroughly Greek in culture and Christian in religion.
The Sassanid Empire was built on the ruins of Parthia which in turn had risen from the ruins of the old Persian Empire that was defeated by Alexander. Its culture was Persian and its religion was Zoroastrianism. These two ancient rivals had been at war for a long time and at the start of the 7th Century CE the ‘civilized’ parts of the Middle East (Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia) had been ravaged by the conflict.
Arabia itself had not been involved in the war and was considered a backward place, a tribal society outside of civilization. Only Yemen at the south of the Arabian peninsula was a part of the Sassanid Empire. In the heart of the Arabian peninsula there were a number of towns along the trade routes, amongst them Mecca and Yathrib.
Most of the inhabitants worshiped local gods, but there were also small numbers of Christians and especially Jews living amongst them. Mecca was also a center for the local religions because of the presence of the Ka’aba, which contains a black rock that is most likely a meteorite.
[b]Mohammed
Mohammed was born around 570 in Mecca as a member of the Quraysh, the most powerful tribe in town. The Quraysh were traders who controlled the caravan routes through the Arabian desert but the clan that Mohammed belonged to (the Hashimis) was in control of the Ka’aba and the annual pilgrimage. Mohammed’s early life is that of a trader and he made a number of voyages to Syria. He married a rich widow named Khadija. After she died in 619 he got married again (and again) to 9 women in total.
Mohammed didn’t start his religious career until he was about 40. He is said to have received his first revelation in 610 from the archangel Jibreel (Gabriel) and started preaching his message to the people of Mecca. His followers were few at first and included his wife and his uncle Abu Talib. The latter protected him from his enemies, the leaders of the Quraysh who feared his religion as a threat to their way of life (and also feared they might lose the lucrative annual pilgrimage to the Ka’aba).
After Abu Talib died the position of the Muslim community became precarious and in 622 Mohammed moved to the neighboring city of Yathrib. This move to Yathrib is called the Hijra and is considered the start of the Muslim calendar. He had been asked by the two leading (and warring) tribes there to be a mediator between them.
An arrangement was made between Mohammed and his followers on the one hand and the two tribes and some smaller Jewish tribes on the other hand. In this period Mohammed was favorable to the Jews and decreed that the direction his followers should face during prayer was toward Jerusalem. Later relations soured when it became clear the Jews were not about to recognize his claims to be a prophet in the Jewish/Christian tradition and follow him and the direction of prayer was changed to Mecca.
After the move to Yathrib Mohammed was in a position of power and his converts increased. He soon came into conflict with the Quraysh again, presumably over trade routes. A number of battles were fought between the Meccans and the Muslims of Yathrib. Mohammed’s new order was extending over most of Arabia because his followers controlled most of the wells and oases and he made treaties with the most important tribes. By 629 or 630 Mohammed and the Quraysh had reached and agreement based on mutual interest.
It was believed that the Ka’aba was founded by Ibrahim (Abraham) who was believed to be the ancestor of the Arabs as well as the Jews. On that basis the pilgrimage to the Ka’aba became part of Islam. In 632 Mohammed himself went on pilgrimage to Mecca and he died shortly after returning to Yathrib which is now know as Medina (after Madinat-un-Nabi or city of the prophet).
[b]Empire
After Mohammed’s death the community of Muslims was led by Caliphs (from khalifat ar-rasul or successor of the Messenger). The first of these were elected but soon the position became hereditary. A hundred years after the death of Mohammed, in 732, a Muslim army was defeated by the Franks at Poitiers, France. The Muslim Empire had conquered all the territories formerly held by the Sassanids such as Iraq, Persia and beyond that into Central Asia and had taken half the heartland of Byzantium: Syria, Palestine, and Egypt as well as the rest of North Africa and the Visigothic kingdom of Spain.
The reason for the amazing success of the Muslims was a combination of military strength enhanced by religious zeal, combined with the weakness of their opponents. Byzantium and the Sassanids had been weakening each other with prolonged warfare. Byzantium was also weakened by religious strife between the Orthodox and a number of heretical sects. In Spain the Visigoths belonged to the Arian branch of Christianity, unlike their subjects.
The Muslims offered religious freedom for all the ‘people of the book’, Jews and Christians. They did have to pay taxes however, while Muslims were exempt, which goes a long way in explaining why the former Byzantine provinces where Christians were the vast majority at first became predominantly Muslim over the centuries. Religious freedom was not extended to pagans or Zoroastrians however.
[b]Break-up
The conflict over who had the right to succeed Mohammed became the reason for the split of Islam into three different main branches: Sunni, Shi’ite and Kharijite/Ibadi. Nowadays most Muslims (85 to 90 percent) belong to the Sunni sect. The most radical position was that every righteous Muslim, whether he was an Arab or otherwise, should have the right to be a successor. This was the position held by the faction known as the Kharijites.
The Shi’ites (the name comes from shi’at-Ali, the faction of Ali) were the other extreme. They were of the opinion that only Mohammed’s cousin Ali and his descendants by Mohammed’s daughter Fatima, Ali’s wife, were the ones who could lead the Muslim community.
After Ali was killed his son Hassan became the leader of the Shi’ites (or Imam) but he came to an arrangement with the Caliph. The next Imam of the Shi’ites was Ali’s other son Hussain. His claim to fame is that he and a small group of followers were attacked at Karbala (Iraq) by forces loyal to the new Caliph Yazid and murdered. This event is widely regarded as the moment when Shi’ite and Sunni Islam split. The Shi’ites commemorate the killings every year at ‘Ashura with a bloody ritual.
The Sunnis were the main branch that took the middle ground. The name Sunni comes from the Sunna, the tradition that together with the Koran forms the basis of Islam. The Koran is considered the word of God as recited to Mohammed by the archangel Jibreel, whereas the Sunna is the collection of acts and sayings by Mohammed that were not of divine inspiration.
The Sunnis were the first to look to the Sunna as a basis for law and customs, but the Sunna is recognised as such by the other branches too.
The different branches were not based on different theological interpretations of the Holy Scripture or the nature of God as in Christianity, in Islam the differences were political in nature. Only later, over the course of centuries did theological differences arise.
[b]The Caliphate
The Caliphate that stretched from Central Asia to Spain, represents the good old days for the Sunni fundamentalists of today. The Caliphate soon became hereditary when Yazid succeeded his father Mu’awiyya. This dynasty of the Umayyads which ruled from Damascus was overthrown in 750 by the Abbasids who moved the capital to Baghdad.
In the Muslim state political and religious power was in the hand of the same person: the Caliph, essentially the same position as the Emperor had in Byzantium. In practice the Caliph was the political leader and religious affairs were the domain of the religious scholars, the Ulama. The Ulama as a whole are independent from the state though some of them were civil servants like the qadis. The qadis were judges who dealt with the interpretation of the Shari’a (Muslim Law). The muftis who have the power to make rulings on religious law (fatwas) were also employed by the state.
The Caliphate was in the hands of the Abbasid dynasty until the Mongols conquered Baghdad in 1258 and had the last Caliph killed. There were rival Caliphs though: the Umayyad dynasty continued in Spain, though they did not call themselves Caliphs until the last 100 years of their rule (until 1031). There was also a Shi’ite Caliphate in Tunisia founded in 909. This dynasty, the Fatimids conquered Egypt in 969 and existed until 1171.
Under the Abbasids the Caliphate gradually became a hollow shell. From the start their authority was ceremonial rather than direct, leaving the day to day running of the country to the Vizier. But gradually the Caliphs would become mere puppets of the Turkish generals that were the de facto leaders. Their claims over the territory that was ruled by the Muslims became symbolic too, with most of it ruled by local leaders who merely recognised him as their overlord without allowing any interference in practice. After the Mongol invasion there was a Caliph in Cairo for a while and later the Ottoman Sultan claimed the title for himself, but it ceased to have any real meaning.
[b]Five pillars
Every Muslim has five religious duties, the five pillars of Islam:
Shahada or testimony. This is part of the Muslim prayer. It consists of uttering the formula: There is no god but God and Mohammed is his messenger. The Shi’ites add to this: and Ali is his friend.
Salat or ritual prayer. The salat is performed five times a day at the same time. At the time of the salat the muezzins will call the faithful to prayer from the mosques. This means that 5 times a day in any Muslim city you will hear the call, usually over a jangling sound system (and one of those times is at dawn). The salat is preceded by a ritual washing of face, hands, arms and feet and usually performed at home, only on Friday afternoon are the men supposed to attend the mosque. The Friday prayer is always preceded by a sermon given by the imam (prayer leader).
Zakat or alms. The zakat is meant to go to the needy, but could also be used to buy freedom for slaves, for mujahideen or for travellers. It sometimes took the form of a tax.
The fast of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan adult Muslims (girls under 13 and boys under 14 are exempt) are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or have sex, from sunrise to sunset. At night there usually is a feast. The month of fasting is followed by a feast called Id al Fitr at the first of the next month.
Hajj or pilgrimage. Every adult Muslim who can afford to must go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his life. This means that millions of Muslims go to Mecca every year (although about 98% of Muslims outside of Arabia can not afford to go, which is probably a good thing considering the overcrowded situations as it is). The hajj takes at the same time every year, during the month of Hijja. At the tenth day of Hijja the pilgrims sacrifice an animal (usually a sheep or goat) and the Muslims who stay at home do likewise. This feast is called Id al Kabir and lasts three days.
[b]Beliefs
Islam literally means submission and is not so much about a very clear set of beliefs but rather about belonging to the Umma or community of Islam, performing the rituals and doing good works. But there are a number of core beliefs that are central to Islam.
Strict monotheism. There is only one god. The word Allah just means God (as there are no capital letters in Arabic it is literally ‘the god’) and is what the Arab Christians call God too. Islam does not allow for any other being to be on equal terms with God. The concept of the Trinity in Christianity is considered polytheism. Jesus was only a prophet according to Islam.
Belief in angels and jinnis. Angels are beings created by God out of light to serve him. The angel Jibreel communicated the Koran to Mohammed and angels fought alongside the Muslims against the unbelieving Meccans. Jinnis are creatures made out of fire that can take on human form. They can be either good or bad and can even become Muslims or marry people. The bad jinnis are also called shaitans. The devil, as-Shaitan, is also a jinni, not a fallen angel as in the Christian tradition. He was damned by God for refusing to bow to Adam.
Books and prophets. According to Islam God has been sending emissaries and prophets from the beginning of time. Adam was the first prophet. Some of them came with books. Jews and Christians worship the same God, but they have misinterpreted some of the teachings. The Koran on the other hand is the literal word of God. Four of the prophets the Koran mentions are Arabs and not mentioned elsewhere, sixteen or seventeen (one has not been identified to everyone’s satisfaction) are from the Old Testament and three from the New Testament. Most are not considered prophets in those books though, such as Adam, David (Daoud) and Solomon (Sulaiman). Mohammed is considered the Seal of the Prophets, meaning no new prophets would follow.
Final Judgment. As in Christianity there is a belief in Islam that there will be a Judgment Day when the world will end. First an antichrist like figure, the Dajjal will appear, then the Mahdi (or Imam Mahdi) will set things straight. Just before the end Jesus will return to Earth, kill the Dajjal, smash all the crosses and join the Muslim prayer in Jerusalem. In the end an angel will blow his trumpet and all the dead will be resurrected to be tried.
The Mahdi is not mentioned in the Koran and plays a more central part in the Shi’ite tradition than among the Sunnis.
[b]Sufism
In Sunni Islam a mystical tradition has developed, called Sufism. Sufis try to get closer to God by performing rituals that induce a trance-like state, mostly involving music and dance. The most well-known are the whirling and howling dervishes. Sufis follow the rules of orders called tariqa (path).
Not much of a basis for Sufism is found in the Koran, so it has always been frowned upon by the religious establishment and by fundamentalists. In Iraq there have been bomb attacks on Sufi tariqas and some tariqas have formed militias to protect themselves.
The number of Sufis has declined in the last century, though they still thrive in Africa (including Morocco, Egypt and Sudan) and Central Asia. Some of the music that originated with Sufi brotherhood has become relatively well known in the West, such as Qawali from Pakistan that was made famous by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Moroccan Gnawa and Jajouka (Master Musicians of Jajouka were ‘discovered’ by Brian Jones in the 1960s and have played with the Rolling Stones and others).
Arabia before the time of Islam was at the fringes of the major empires of the time: Byzantium and the Sassanid Empire. These two rivals both had a history that went back for centuries: Byzantium was a successor state to the Roman Empire, but consisted of the parts of that empire that had belonged to Alexander the Great’s Empire before that and was thoroughly Greek in culture and Christian in religion.
The Sassanid Empire was built on the ruins of Parthia which in turn had risen from the ruins of the old Persian Empire that was defeated by Alexander. Its culture was Persian and its religion was Zoroastrianism. These two ancient rivals had been at war for a long time and at the start of the 7th Century CE the ‘civilized’ parts of the Middle East (Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia) had been ravaged by the conflict.
Arabia itself had not been involved in the war and was considered a backward place, a tribal society outside of civilization. Only Yemen at the south of the Arabian peninsula was a part of the Sassanid Empire. In the heart of the Arabian peninsula there were a number of towns along the trade routes, amongst them Mecca and Yathrib.
Most of the inhabitants worshiped local gods, but there were also small numbers of Christians and especially Jews living amongst them. Mecca was also a center for the local religions because of the presence of the Ka’aba, which contains a black rock that is most likely a meteorite.
[b]Mohammed
Mohammed was born around 570 in Mecca as a member of the Quraysh, the most powerful tribe in town. The Quraysh were traders who controlled the caravan routes through the Arabian desert but the clan that Mohammed belonged to (the Hashimis) was in control of the Ka’aba and the annual pilgrimage. Mohammed’s early life is that of a trader and he made a number of voyages to Syria. He married a rich widow named Khadija. After she died in 619 he got married again (and again) to 9 women in total.
Mohammed didn’t start his religious career until he was about 40. He is said to have received his first revelation in 610 from the archangel Jibreel (Gabriel) and started preaching his message to the people of Mecca. His followers were few at first and included his wife and his uncle Abu Talib. The latter protected him from his enemies, the leaders of the Quraysh who feared his religion as a threat to their way of life (and also feared they might lose the lucrative annual pilgrimage to the Ka’aba).
After Abu Talib died the position of the Muslim community became precarious and in 622 Mohammed moved to the neighboring city of Yathrib. This move to Yathrib is called the Hijra and is considered the start of the Muslim calendar. He had been asked by the two leading (and warring) tribes there to be a mediator between them.
An arrangement was made between Mohammed and his followers on the one hand and the two tribes and some smaller Jewish tribes on the other hand. In this period Mohammed was favorable to the Jews and decreed that the direction his followers should face during prayer was toward Jerusalem. Later relations soured when it became clear the Jews were not about to recognize his claims to be a prophet in the Jewish/Christian tradition and follow him and the direction of prayer was changed to Mecca.
After the move to Yathrib Mohammed was in a position of power and his converts increased. He soon came into conflict with the Quraysh again, presumably over trade routes. A number of battles were fought between the Meccans and the Muslims of Yathrib. Mohammed’s new order was extending over most of Arabia because his followers controlled most of the wells and oases and he made treaties with the most important tribes. By 629 or 630 Mohammed and the Quraysh had reached and agreement based on mutual interest.
It was believed that the Ka’aba was founded by Ibrahim (Abraham) who was believed to be the ancestor of the Arabs as well as the Jews. On that basis the pilgrimage to the Ka’aba became part of Islam. In 632 Mohammed himself went on pilgrimage to Mecca and he died shortly after returning to Yathrib which is now know as Medina (after Madinat-un-Nabi or city of the prophet).
[b]Empire
After Mohammed’s death the community of Muslims was led by Caliphs (from khalifat ar-rasul or successor of the Messenger). The first of these were elected but soon the position became hereditary. A hundred years after the death of Mohammed, in 732, a Muslim army was defeated by the Franks at Poitiers, France. The Muslim Empire had conquered all the territories formerly held by the Sassanids such as Iraq, Persia and beyond that into Central Asia and had taken half the heartland of Byzantium: Syria, Palestine, and Egypt as well as the rest of North Africa and the Visigothic kingdom of Spain.
The reason for the amazing success of the Muslims was a combination of military strength enhanced by religious zeal, combined with the weakness of their opponents. Byzantium and the Sassanids had been weakening each other with prolonged warfare. Byzantium was also weakened by religious strife between the Orthodox and a number of heretical sects. In Spain the Visigoths belonged to the Arian branch of Christianity, unlike their subjects.
The Muslims offered religious freedom for all the ‘people of the book’, Jews and Christians. They did have to pay taxes however, while Muslims were exempt, which goes a long way in explaining why the former Byzantine provinces where Christians were the vast majority at first became predominantly Muslim over the centuries. Religious freedom was not extended to pagans or Zoroastrians however.
[b]Break-up
The conflict over who had the right to succeed Mohammed became the reason for the split of Islam into three different main branches: Sunni, Shi’ite and Kharijite/Ibadi. Nowadays most Muslims (85 to 90 percent) belong to the Sunni sect. The most radical position was that every righteous Muslim, whether he was an Arab or otherwise, should have the right to be a successor. This was the position held by the faction known as the Kharijites.
The Shi’ites (the name comes from shi’at-Ali, the faction of Ali) were the other extreme. They were of the opinion that only Mohammed’s cousin Ali and his descendants by Mohammed’s daughter Fatima, Ali’s wife, were the ones who could lead the Muslim community.
After Ali was killed his son Hassan became the leader of the Shi’ites (or Imam) but he came to an arrangement with the Caliph. The next Imam of the Shi’ites was Ali’s other son Hussain. His claim to fame is that he and a small group of followers were attacked at Karbala (Iraq) by forces loyal to the new Caliph Yazid and murdered. This event is widely regarded as the moment when Shi’ite and Sunni Islam split. The Shi’ites commemorate the killings every year at ‘Ashura with a bloody ritual.
The Sunnis were the main branch that took the middle ground. The name Sunni comes from the Sunna, the tradition that together with the Koran forms the basis of Islam. The Koran is considered the word of God as recited to Mohammed by the archangel Jibreel, whereas the Sunna is the collection of acts and sayings by Mohammed that were not of divine inspiration.
The Sunnis were the first to look to the Sunna as a basis for law and customs, but the Sunna is recognised as such by the other branches too.
The different branches were not based on different theological interpretations of the Holy Scripture or the nature of God as in Christianity, in Islam the differences were political in nature. Only later, over the course of centuries did theological differences arise.
[b]The Caliphate
The Caliphate that stretched from Central Asia to Spain, represents the good old days for the Sunni fundamentalists of today. The Caliphate soon became hereditary when Yazid succeeded his father Mu’awiyya. This dynasty of the Umayyads which ruled from Damascus was overthrown in 750 by the Abbasids who moved the capital to Baghdad.
In the Muslim state political and religious power was in the hand of the same person: the Caliph, essentially the same position as the Emperor had in Byzantium. In practice the Caliph was the political leader and religious affairs were the domain of the religious scholars, the Ulama. The Ulama as a whole are independent from the state though some of them were civil servants like the qadis. The qadis were judges who dealt with the interpretation of the Shari’a (Muslim Law). The muftis who have the power to make rulings on religious law (fatwas) were also employed by the state.
The Caliphate was in the hands of the Abbasid dynasty until the Mongols conquered Baghdad in 1258 and had the last Caliph killed. There were rival Caliphs though: the Umayyad dynasty continued in Spain, though they did not call themselves Caliphs until the last 100 years of their rule (until 1031). There was also a Shi’ite Caliphate in Tunisia founded in 909. This dynasty, the Fatimids conquered Egypt in 969 and existed until 1171.
Under the Abbasids the Caliphate gradually became a hollow shell. From the start their authority was ceremonial rather than direct, leaving the day to day running of the country to the Vizier. But gradually the Caliphs would become mere puppets of the Turkish generals that were the de facto leaders. Their claims over the territory that was ruled by the Muslims became symbolic too, with most of it ruled by local leaders who merely recognised him as their overlord without allowing any interference in practice. After the Mongol invasion there was a Caliph in Cairo for a while and later the Ottoman Sultan claimed the title for himself, but it ceased to have any real meaning.
[b]Five pillars
Every Muslim has five religious duties, the five pillars of Islam:
Shahada or testimony. This is part of the Muslim prayer. It consists of uttering the formula: There is no god but God and Mohammed is his messenger. The Shi’ites add to this: and Ali is his friend.
Salat or ritual prayer. The salat is performed five times a day at the same time. At the time of the salat the muezzins will call the faithful to prayer from the mosques. This means that 5 times a day in any Muslim city you will hear the call, usually over a jangling sound system (and one of those times is at dawn). The salat is preceded by a ritual washing of face, hands, arms and feet and usually performed at home, only on Friday afternoon are the men supposed to attend the mosque. The Friday prayer is always preceded by a sermon given by the imam (prayer leader).
Zakat or alms. The zakat is meant to go to the needy, but could also be used to buy freedom for slaves, for mujahideen or for travellers. It sometimes took the form of a tax.
The fast of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan adult Muslims (girls under 13 and boys under 14 are exempt) are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or have sex, from sunrise to sunset. At night there usually is a feast. The month of fasting is followed by a feast called Id al Fitr at the first of the next month.
Hajj or pilgrimage. Every adult Muslim who can afford to must go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his life. This means that millions of Muslims go to Mecca every year (although about 98% of Muslims outside of Arabia can not afford to go, which is probably a good thing considering the overcrowded situations as it is). The hajj takes at the same time every year, during the month of Hijja. At the tenth day of Hijja the pilgrims sacrifice an animal (usually a sheep or goat) and the Muslims who stay at home do likewise. This feast is called Id al Kabir and lasts three days.
[b]Beliefs
Islam literally means submission and is not so much about a very clear set of beliefs but rather about belonging to the Umma or community of Islam, performing the rituals and doing good works. But there are a number of core beliefs that are central to Islam.
Strict monotheism. There is only one god. The word Allah just means God (as there are no capital letters in Arabic it is literally ‘the god’) and is what the Arab Christians call God too. Islam does not allow for any other being to be on equal terms with God. The concept of the Trinity in Christianity is considered polytheism. Jesus was only a prophet according to Islam.
Belief in angels and jinnis. Angels are beings created by God out of light to serve him. The angel Jibreel communicated the Koran to Mohammed and angels fought alongside the Muslims against the unbelieving Meccans. Jinnis are creatures made out of fire that can take on human form. They can be either good or bad and can even become Muslims or marry people. The bad jinnis are also called shaitans. The devil, as-Shaitan, is also a jinni, not a fallen angel as in the Christian tradition. He was damned by God for refusing to bow to Adam.
Books and prophets. According to Islam God has been sending emissaries and prophets from the beginning of time. Adam was the first prophet. Some of them came with books. Jews and Christians worship the same God, but they have misinterpreted some of the teachings. The Koran on the other hand is the literal word of God. Four of the prophets the Koran mentions are Arabs and not mentioned elsewhere, sixteen or seventeen (one has not been identified to everyone’s satisfaction) are from the Old Testament and three from the New Testament. Most are not considered prophets in those books though, such as Adam, David (Daoud) and Solomon (Sulaiman). Mohammed is considered the Seal of the Prophets, meaning no new prophets would follow.
Final Judgment. As in Christianity there is a belief in Islam that there will be a Judgment Day when the world will end. First an antichrist like figure, the Dajjal will appear, then the Mahdi (or Imam Mahdi) will set things straight. Just before the end Jesus will return to Earth, kill the Dajjal, smash all the crosses and join the Muslim prayer in Jerusalem. In the end an angel will blow his trumpet and all the dead will be resurrected to be tried.
The Mahdi is not mentioned in the Koran and plays a more central part in the Shi’ite tradition than among the Sunnis.
[b]Sufism
In Sunni Islam a mystical tradition has developed, called Sufism. Sufis try to get closer to God by performing rituals that induce a trance-like state, mostly involving music and dance. The most well-known are the whirling and howling dervishes. Sufis follow the rules of orders called tariqa (path).
Not much of a basis for Sufism is found in the Koran, so it has always been frowned upon by the religious establishment and by fundamentalists. In Iraq there have been bomb attacks on Sufi tariqas and some tariqas have formed militias to protect themselves.
The number of Sufis has declined in the last century, though they still thrive in Africa (including Morocco, Egypt and Sudan) and Central Asia. Some of the music that originated with Sufi brotherhood has become relatively well known in the West, such as Qawali from Pakistan that was made famous by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Moroccan Gnawa and Jajouka (Master Musicians of Jajouka were ‘discovered’ by Brian Jones in the 1960s and have played with the Rolling Stones and others).