Interestingly, development of Qawwali coincided with growth of bhajans of Hindus. All credit to the India’s cultural diversity because of which two entirely contrasting genres of music coexisted and prospered together. Example of Kabir, the famous bhajan singer demonstrates the above stated fact. He is equally respected by both Hindu and Muslims.

 

Qawwali in its true sense symbolizes the Sufi tradition. Sufism is an Islamic philosophy which aims to achieve the real truth and heavenly worship by unswerving individual experience. It is also known as tasawwuf in Arabian. Sufism emphasizes on remembering god in vocal form through Qawwali.   

 

Development of Qawwali hit a roadblock during the time of Mogul emperor Aurangzeb. But with the fall of mogul empire, it again regained its rhythmic popularity amongst the masses. Though, problems occurred during British Empire because of lack of patronage but at the same time, the practitioners found the required freedom to indulge in the passion of playing qawwalis all over the India.

 

Then came the golden period of Qawwali with the arrival of Indian film industry. Indian movies helped a great deal in spreading the popularity of qawwalis. On one hand Indian films helped in revival of this precious genre but at the same time, filmy qawwalis had started to acquire those ostentatious attributes. Many great qawwalis have been included in Indian movies. In fact, during certain time duration most of the movies had at least one Qawwali sequence. Qawwali had found its voice again, though not in its purest form but still mere presence of it was sufficient to energize the audiences.