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Thehadra (Arabic:حضرة,romanized: ḥaḍra)[2] is a collectivesupererogatory ritual performed bySufi orders. It is often held on Thursday evenings after the night prayer, on Fridays afterjumu'ah prayer or on Sunday evenings, and can also be celebrated on special Islamic festivals and at rites of passage. It may be held at home or in a mosque.[3] The underlying term inArabic literally means "Divine Presence" and the human experience of it is known as "Hudur".[4]
The hadra features various forms ofdhikr (remembrance), including sermons, collective study, recitation ofQur'an and other texts (especially devotional texts particular to the Sufi order (tariqa) in question, calledhizb andwird), religious poetic chanting, centering on praise and supplication to God, religious exhortations, praise of the Prophet and requests for intercession (inshad dini ormadih – the latter term referring literally to "praise") and rhythmic invocations ofGod using one or more divine names, especiallyAllah,Hayy,Qayyum or simplyHu ("He"), as well as the testimony of faith andtawhid,la ilaha illa Allah (there is no god but God).
Rhythmic recitation of names and chanting of religious poetry are frequently performed together. In conservative Sufi orders no instruments are used, or thedaf (frame drum) only; other orders employ a range of instrumentation.
The collective Sufi ritual is practiced under this name primarily in North Africa, the Middle-East, and Turkey, but also in some non-Arab Muslim countries such asIndonesia andMalaysia. The Hadra is feature of theKhalwati,Shadhili,Qadiri andRifa'i orders throughout Turkey and the Balkans.
For those who perform it, the haḍra marks theclimax of the Sufi's gathering regardless of any teaching orformal structure – it often follows a formal teaching session as a way of internalizing the lessons. Musically, the structure of the haḍra includes several secularArab genres (each of which expresses a different emotion) and can last for hours.[1] It is directed by thesheikh of the tariqa or one of his representatives; monitoring the intensity, depth and duration of the phases of the haḍra, the sheikh aims to draw the circle into deep awareness of God and away from the participants own individuatedness.
The dhikr ceremonies may have a ritually determined length or may last as long as the Sheikh deems hismurids require. The haḍra section consists of theostinato-like repetition of the name of God over which the soloist performs a richly ornamented song. In many haḍras, this repetition proceeds from the chest and has the effect of a percussion instrument, with the participants bending forward while exhaling and stand straight while inhaling so that both the movement and sound contribute to the overall rhythm. The climax is usually reached through cries of "Allah! Allah!" or "hu hu" (which is either the pronoun "he" or the last vowel on the word "Allah" depending on the method) while the participants are moving up and down. Universally, the haḍra is almost always followed by Quranic recital in thetarteel style – which according toal-Junayd al-Baghdadi, was a prophetic instruction received through a dream.
