Sufi rock

Sufi rock is a subgenre of rock music that combines rock with classical sufi music traditions. It emerged in the early 1990s and became widely popular in the late 1990s in Pakistan. The term "sufi rock" was coined in 1993 by writer Nadeem F. Paracha to define the Pakistani band Junoon, who pioneered the process of fusing conventional rock music with sufi music and imagery.

It is mostly based on the poetry of famous sufi poets such as Rumi, Hafez, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Bulleh Shah, Waris Shah and even Kabir and is mostly sung in languages such as Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Persian and Turkish.

A few artists such as Junoon,*Fuzon and Mekaal Hasan Band have achieved commercial success as well as mainstream critical recognition while some veteran sufi folk singers such as Arif Lohar and Saeen Zahoor have also dabbled in this genre.

Artists

See also

Rock

Rock commonly refers to:

Rock or Rocks may also refer to:

Places

United Kingdom

United States

Multiple countries

Elsewhere

Rock Band

Rock Band is a series of music video games developed by Harmonix and MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts for the Nintendo DS, iOS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 game systems. The series, inspired by Harmonix's previous efforts on the Guitar Hero series, allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular rock music songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments. Players can play the lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums parts to songs, as well as sing into a USB microphone. Players are scored on their ability to match scrolling musical notes while playing instruments, and by their ability to match the singer's pitch on vocals.

The concept for Rock Band was formed while Harmonix was working on the Guitar Hero series, with the idea to expand the note-matching gameplay into multiple instruments. When their Guitar Hero partner, RedOctane, was acquired by Activision, Harmonix was acquired by MTV Games, a division of Viacom, allowing them to pursue the title. The first game in the series, Rock Band, was released in 2007 and its sequel Rock Band 2 was released in 2008. As the rhythm game market began to flounder in 2009, Viacom put Harmonix up for sale, but investors were able to buy the company, making it an independent studio. Harmonix would go on to expand the series, including obtaining the lucrative licensing needed for The Beatles: Rock Band in 2009. Rock Band 3 was released in 2010 which introduced new "Pro" features and keyboard parts. Following saturation of the rhythm game market, Harmonix opted to wait on releasing another main title for several years. Upon the release of the next generation of consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Harmonix released Rock Band 4 in October 6, 2015; the company does not plan to release further versions of the game for these consoles but instead see Rock Band 4 as a platform they can continue to expand on through game patches.

South Asia

South Asia or Southern Asia is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan SAARC countries and, for some authorities, adjoining countries to the west and east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land (clockwise, from west) by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. The terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably.

The current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. In addition, with deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Mauritius, and the Tibet Autonomous Region are included as well. South Asia is home to well over one fifth of the world's population, making it both the most populous and the most densely populated geographical region in the world. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985 and includes all eight nations comprising South Asia.

Sufism

Sufism or Tasawwuf (Arabic: تصوف‎), is defined as the inner mystical dimension of Islam. Practitioners of Sufism (Tasawwuf), referred to as Sufis (ṣūfī) (/ˈsuːfi/; صُوفِيّ), often belong to different ṭuruq or "orders"—congregations formed around a grand master referred to as a Mawla who maintains a direct chain of teachers back to the Prophet Muhammad. These orders meet for spiritual sessions (majalis) in meeting places known as zawiyahs, khanqahs, or tekke. Sufis strive for ihsan (perfection of worship) as detailed in a hadith: "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him; if you can't see Him, surely He sees you."Jalaluddin Rumi stated: "The Sufi is hanging on to Muhammad, like Abu Bakr." Sufis regard Prophet Muhammad as the Al-Insān al-Kāmil, which is a concept that describes Muhammad as the primary perfect man who exemplifies the morality of God. Sufis regard Prophet Muhammad as their leader and prime spiritual guide. Sufis also consider themselves to be the true proponents of this pure, original form of Islam.