Hadra (Sufism)

The hadra (Arabic: حضرة, romanized: ḥaḍra) is a collective supererogatory ritual performed by Sufi orders. It is often held on Thursday evenings after the night prayer (Isha), on Fridays after Friday prayer (jumu'a) 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. The underlying term in Arabic literally means "Divine Presence" and the human experience of it is known as "Hudur". The hadra features various forms of dhikr (remembrance), including sermons, collective study, recitation of Qur'an and other texts (especially devotional texts particular to the Sufi order (tariqa) in question, called hizb and wird), religious poetic chanting, centering on praise and supplication to God, religious exhortations, praise of the Prophet and requests for intercession (inshad dini or madih – the latter term referring literally to "praise") and rhythmic invocations of God using one or more divine names, especially Allah, Hayy, Qayyum or simply Hu ("He"), as well as the testimony of faith and tawhid, 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 the daf (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 as Indonesia and Malaysia. The Hadra is a feature of the Khalwati, Shadhili, Qadiri and Rifa'i orders throughout Turkey and the Balkans. For those who perform it, the haḍra marks the climax of the Sufi's gathering regardless of any teaching or formal structure – it often follows a formal teaching session as a way of internalizing the lessons....