Abida Parveen « Simerg – Insights from Around the World

*Abida Parveen performing in Oslo, Norway. Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic*

On Saturday, February 29, 2020, Abida Parveen performed in Melbourne, Australia, in a rare appearance outside Pakistan. On the day of her performance she gave an interview to Andrew Ford, host of ABC Australia’s “The Music Show.” In discussing shades of Sufi music (Kafi) towards the end of the interview, the last question Ford asked Abida was what she would be singing in Melbourne that evening, and she replied “Man Kunto Maula.” She demonstrated a few lines from the song in the studio. The famous words are attributed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him and his family) at Ghadir Khumm when he said, “He whose Maula I am, Ali is his Maula” thus giving Hazrat Ali parity with himself as his successor to the Divine Institution of Imamat, a hereditary institution that continues to this day under the 49th Imam, Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan. The following rendition of Man Kunto Maula sung by Abida Parveen in Oslo, Norway, is deeply inspiring and worth listening to in full. It has been viewed on YouTube more than 2.7 million times (Update, January 29, 2023: We note the video is no loner available and has been designated as private.).

Date posted: March 1, 2020.
Last updated: January 29, 2023 (video unavailable.)

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*Please click on photo to read Ben Eltham’s excellent piece in The Guardian*

Abida Parveen to perform February 29, 2020 at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall

There are few artists who are spoken about with the same rapturous fervour as Abida Parveen. Perhaps only her spiritual brother, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, has inspired the same level of devotion among fans.

Parveen has been described by The Guardian newspaper as “the greatest female Sufi singer in history” and by the BBC as “one of the most remarkable voices on the planet.” In his new piece for the Guardian, Ben Eltham writes, “The devotional singer is known to move audiences to a higher plane. Meeting her in Melbourne time went ‘all bendy and loose’.” Please click here to read The Guardian’s excellent piece.

Also read “The musical, ecstatic devotion of ‘Sufi queen’ Abida Parveen” by Nick Miller in The Sydney Morning Herald.

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Video clip: Abida Parveen performs before His Highness the Aga Khan in 1994

Date posted: February 27, 2020.
Last updated: March 1, 2020.

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More on the concert in Melbourne at Australian Exclusive – Arts Centre Melbourne.

Have you attended a performance by Abida Parveen? What are your impressions? Were you awed by her performance? We welcome your feedback. Please click Leave a comment.