The Sufi Dimension in The Experience of The Artist Omar El Zahi Between Al-Hadra and Al-Shaabi Marriage

Abstract

The spiritual religious content formed an important criterion in the selection of artists of the "Châabi" song in the city of Algiers when choosing the sung repertoire « Melḥun », that has been dubbed "Al-Djid" in contrast to a repertoire with themes of love and wine, since this musical style was once called "Al-Madh". Therefore, weddings in the city of Algiers were filled with the poems of the Sufi poet Sidi Lakhdar Ben Khlouf, Mohammed Ben Msaib, and others from Algeria, and the poems of Abdul Aziz Al-Maghrawi, Sheikh Mohammed Al-Najjar, Al-Arabi Al-Miknassi, and others from Morocco.

This Sufi religious content, which examined beseeching Allah by praising the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and expressing love for the Holy Kaaba, continued to be present in the "Châabi" song in Algiers, which still proclaims its submission to the righteous friends of Allah to this day. It was the most major factor that shaped the human and artistic personality of the artist Omar Al-Zahi, bringing him closer to the world of Sufism.