Music in Mourning Ceremonies Among The Ismaili Muslims in Tajik Badakhshan

Abstract

The paper discusses musical performances used at mourning ceremonies by the Ismaili Muslims in the mountainous Gorno–Badakhshan province of Tajikistan (hereafter GBAO). The Shī’a Ismailis make up most of the population in this province, compared to a majority Sunni Muslim population in the rest of Tajikistan. These Ismailis have lived in this remote mountainous province for centuries and therefore have evolved their own unique culture that is different from the rest of Tajikistan. The objective of the article is to contextualize the mediatory role of unique forms of local musical performances and their integration in the mourning ceremonies in GBAO. The data for the research presented here was obtained partly through a field study, involving tours of certain major areas in Wakhan and other regions of the GBAO to carry out qualitative research interviews, either in private with individuals, or at social or religious events. The interviews were not in a standardized format with one set of questions but were open-ended interviews where the interviewees could recount their knowledge on the subject of death, their own experiences of attending funerals, and provide personal anecdotes. Among the interviewees were local religious leaders (khalīfas), musical performers, lamenters and elders of the community who render important services at mourning ceremonies, and members of the community who had personal experiences of family bereavements to narrate. The data garnered from these extensive interviews, and other published sources were used to compile and contextualize the musical performances at mourning ceremonies in this region of Tajikistan.