The Sound of Salvation: Voice, Gender, and the Sufi Mediascape in China

The Jahriyya Sufis in northwestern China have a unique religious soundscape, with the "loud" (jahr) remembrance of God in liturgical rituals featuring distinctive melodic vocal chants. Guangtian Ha's ethnography, The Sound of Salvation, explores how the use of voice in liturgy helps the Jahriyya to sustain their faith and endure political persecution. It situates the Jahriyya in a global multilingual network of Sufis and shows how their soundscapes result from transcultural interactions. Ha argues that the resilience of Jahriyya Sufism stems from the diversity and multiplicity of liturgical practice, which is rooted in notions of Sufi sainthood.

Format: Hardback
Length: 312 pages
Publication date: 22 February 2022
Publisher: Columbia University Press

The Jahriyya Sufis, a predominantly Sinophone order of Naqshbandiyya Sufism in northwest China, inhabit a distinct religious soundscape. Their spiritual practice revolves around the "loud" (jahr) remembrance of God through liturgical rituals characterized by distinctive melodic vocal chants. In his groundbreaking work, The Sound of Salvation: An Ethnography of Jahriyya Vocal Recitation, Guangtian Ha delves into the intricacies and significance of Jahriyya vocal recitation. Drawing from nearly a decade of fieldwork, Ha explores how the use of voice in liturgy sustains the faith of the Jahriyya and enables them to endure political persecution over the past two and a half centuries. He situates the Jahriyya within a global multilingual network of Sufis, highlighting how their characteristic soundscapes emerge from transcultural interactions among Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and Chinese Muslim communities. Ha argues that the resilience of Jahriyya Sufism is rooted in the diversity and multiplicity of liturgical practice, which he demonstrates is deeply intertwined with notions of Sufi sainthood. He also examines the movement of Jahriyya vocal recitation to new media forms and highlights the gendered opposition of male voices and female silence that shapes the group's rituals.

The Sound of Salvation, spanning diverse disciplines such as anthropology, ethnomusicology, Islamic studies, sound studies, and media studies, employs Arabic, Persian, and Chinese sources to offer fresh perspectives on the importance of sound in religious practice, the role of gender in Chinese Islam, and the connections between Chinese Muslims and the broader Islamic world. This comprehensive work contributes to our understanding of the multifaceted nature of religious expression and its impact on society.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231198066