Music of the heart: An interview with tassawuf singer Sami ÖZER, by Kathy HAMILTON

Tassawuf music is the mystical music of Islam. Used during Sufi ceremonies to remind one of God and divine love, tassawuf music is now gaining a wider audience worldwide. When friends ask me to explain tassawuf music, I respond with a story. 

A friend of mine has a world music radio show in Colorado and I sent her a collection of Sami Özer's CDs. One day she featured Sami's music on the show and received a call from a listener who was crying. The caller had been driving on the highway when Sami's music began playing. 

She started sobbing so uncontrollably that she had to pull over to the side of the road and stop the car. She sat there as traffic sped by, listening and crying because music in a language she had never heard before moved her heart. When the show finished she immediately called the radio station to find out what this music was that had affected her so deeply. That, I say by way of explanation, is tassawuf music. 

Sami Özer, one of the leading Turkish Tassawuf singers, was born and raised in Istanbul. He has recorded 10 CDs to date and is featured on the soundtrack of the movie "Her Şey Çok Güzel Olacak." He has recorded and performed around the world with orchestras and rock groups, bringing the tassawuf music of Turkey to millions.

What is tassawuf music? 

Özer: Tassawuf is a form of spiritual music that is directed to the heart and speaks directly to it. It is a very complex musical form and there is a rich subtleness to it. It is music to stimulate the consciousness. It is the music of divine love. 

When we say that it is the music of love, we do not mean love in the ordinary way. In Arabic there is the word aşk. This is translated into English as simply love or passion, but there is a much deeper meaning to it. Aşk speaks to the heart. It is the love of God, and it is God's love for us. It is not a romantic type love. It is not even the love of a parent for a child. It is something deeper than that. It is the love that is at the core of our being, the love that brought the world into existence. It is love for the sake of love. This is the heart of tassawuf music. 

Tassawuf music is not just the music itself. It is, rather, a way of life. It is a way of living spiritually and consciously. This is the goal of tassawuf music: to bring one to a constant state of awareness. It is to be able to live in a constant state of awareness of God and God's love. 

The music is a reflection of tassawuf sohbets, or discourses, which show the importance of love and how to reflect that divine love in ourselves. Islam is love -- not fighting. Tassawuf brings the true Islam to light, the Islam that is peace. What I have learned from those who came before us is that tassawuf and Islam together are love. This is the real Islam. 

Historically, during Ottoman times, tassawuf music was very strong and widely spread. Unfortunately, since that time it has become spoiled and corrupted. The purity of intention in the music faded. Unfortunately, today some of it is very commercial and the feeling gets lost then. I try to go back and recapture the original, purer form of the music. 

What is your musical background and how did you begin performing tassawuf music? 

Özer: My music career started literally with the music of the streets. I have an excellent ear for music, and I was fascinated with the muezzin in the neighborhood mosque as a child. So my first love of music started with the ezan. I studied with Serif Efendi, a hoca (teacher) with a beautiful voice. He taught me a love of singing. Later I studied with the composer Amir Ates, and then with Emin Ongan at the Üsküdar Musıki Cemiyeti. Everything I know about classical Turkish music I learned at the Üsküdar Musıki Cemiyeti. This was my first serious study of music in any sense. 

After winning the Golden Voice Competition in 1974 I worked mainly in small concert halls and part-time for TRT. In 1986 I became a member of the Türk Tassawuf Musıki Vakfı. It was here that I began to study and to love tassawuf music.

I started studying tassawuf music at the Türk Tassawuf Musıki Vakfı with Sefer Efendi, the head of the foundation at that time. He had gathered together the largest collection of Sufi music in the world, and his knowledge of the genre was beyond anyone else's. Everything I know about tassawuf music I owe to Sefer Efendi. 

I sang one song from my repertoire for him when I first began to study with him. He gave me another song to learn, and for two years that was the only song I worked on. He made me practice it until I finally understood the inner dimensions of the song. He said he wanted to have tassawuf music heard by everyone, not just by those in mosques. He made my first recordings possible and he chose the songs I recorded. 

How does tassawuf music differ from Gregorian chants or other types of religious music? 

Özer: Christianity is a true religion and Gregorian chants are also mystical music that sings about the love of god. The styles are different but the spirit is just the same. 

Also, there is a difference that needs to be made between tassawuf music and mosque music. They both have ilahis and mevlud (recited poem about the life of the Prophet Muhammed) in common. The main difference between the two is that tassawuf music is also used to direct the rhythm of the zikhr, or ceremony for the remembrance of God. 

The big difference between it and other Turkish music is that it puts mystical poems to music. The poems that are set to music are generally ones to make a listener think about their own state of being as well as the purification of the soul and heart. It reminds us of all the stages that a person has to go through to perfect themselves in order to be perceptive to the divine love or aşk. For instance, one poem talks about how Hz. Yunus (Jonah) said the ones who die are like animals, but the true lovers never die. So, this poem, set to music, talks about the timelessness of life and shows that what one should aspire to reach is that everlasting, eternal love. 

Is tassawuf music always vocal or sometime instrumental? 

Özer: It is instrumental sometimes, for instance, when there is a ney (reed flute) solo, but you cannot forget about the poem, which is a very important part of the message. The purpose of the poem is to teach listeners how to try and better themselves and their lives. Music is such an integral part of our lives. When a child is newly born, even the crying is music. Mothers who don't know anything about music will simply choose a melody and hum it to soothe the baby. It's a natural part of us. 

What are the makams that are in tassawuf music? 

Özer: When most people think of tassawuf music they think of illahis, or hymns. But it is really much more than that. There are hundreds of makams, or modes or moods, of tassawuf music, but only about eight or nine are still commonly used. These makams correspond to different emotions within us all. Each one is used at different times and for different results. During the remembrance ceremonies of the Sufis (zikhr) the music is used to raise the consciousness of the participants and remind the listeners of God. Each makkam has a specific purpose and is used depending on the audience and the mood. 

For instance, the ezan, or call to prayer, can be sung on different makams, and if you listen closely you will hear not only the words but the mood. Now this is not done so often, but in Ottoman times every ezan had a specific makam that was used. It is very hard to describe makam, but a person with a good musical ear can hear the difference between the moods of music. It reflects a very specific state. 

Nature itself is full of music, each with its own makam. Every single thing in nature has a makam, not just animals. A storm has a particular makam, as does a summer breeze. It is around us all the time. 

Many years ago Muzaffer Ozak, a well-known sheikh from Istanbul, was traveling in America. Someone came up to him and told him that music was forbidden and bad, therefore he should stop performing tassawuf music. Muzaffer Ozak asked the man to sit and speak with him about this matter for a few minutes. They sat together while he listened to what the man had to say. Then Muzaffer Ozak looked at the man and said, "Do you know that you were just speaking on the uşak makam?" So, you see, even when we speak we use different makams. 

What languages are used for tassawuf performance? 

Özer: It's usually sung in Arabic or Turkish. But now it is being translated into other languages as well. Some of it has been translated very beautifully into Spanish. 

How is tassawuf music taught? How is the tradition being preserved today? 

Özer: More than just in the conservatories, it is taught through sohbets (spiritual discourses), regular classes from a master in the tradition and exercise. The way of tassawuf cannot be transmitted through words, but rather, it is transmitted through states. You could say that it is a science transmitted through spiritual states. Of course, you have the technical part, the words. But the hal, or state, is the love that gives it soul. If you learn tassawuf music only through words, and not through the state itself, you will not be able to transmit anything of its soul to the listeners.

The notes are, of course, written down and recorded. Sefer Efendi saved many from oblivion by recording them. He went from village to village many years ago, traveling with old-fashioned, heavy recording equipment. In this way so much of it was preserved. 

How is tassawuf music in Turkey different from other countries? 

Özer: There is no major difference. They all say the same thing. It's just minor differences in style. The Arabic ilahis have a lot of impact with the rhythm and words. The way I understand it is that there is a tradition of the Prophet Muhammed that says that the language of paradise is Arabic and that Arabic has an incredible impact on the soul. 

How does the music affect the audience if they don't speak the language? 

Özer: Because it's music that reflects the heart it can move the audience, even if they don't understand the actual words. They hear with their hearts. In the 1990s I went with Sefer Efendi to America. He had just put one of mystic poet Yunus Emre's ilahis to music. This particular poem was about the miraj, or night journey of the Prophet, and it was the first time I had sung it for an audience. All the Americans were in tears while listening to it, even though they didn't understand the actual words. 

Music is the only common language between people in the world. Everyone can understand it. I don't understand English, but there is some music sung in English that affects my heart when I hear it. Like Mahalia Jackson or Nat King Cole. Mahalia's spirituals are ilahis and I get deeply emotional when I listen to her. Now and then, when listening to music we go beyond ourselves and it is the soul that remembers the melody of the divine words, whether consciously or unconsciously. This is the goal of tassawuf music.