Bosnian Muslim Musicians

A new research interest of mine, may God make it possible for me! I’m very impressed by these musicians, although I can’t understand the language. I just find the songs very beautiful and unique. Some of them I don’t have much information for, but I’ve linked their performances I found on YouTube. By the way, does anyone know how to insert other letters on wordpress? Such as the ones with diacritical marks? I copied and pasted a few in, but it seems that there should be an easier way.

Hor Hazreti Hamza: My absolute favorite so far! They perform modern kaside and ilahije, as well as Sevdalinka, a Bosnian folk tradition. They began singing together at a young age, seeking shelter in the Hazreti Hamza Mosque in Sarajevo, during the war in Bosnia. They have performed throughout North America and Europe, and have released three albums. Here is their website; the English page is not currently up, but should be up soon. They tell some of their story in this video from CNN. Check out some of their videos:

“Ja Ilahi” live performance

“Ja Ilahi” music video

“Jecajem Te Zovem”

“Hazreti Hamza”

“Tebi Resule”

“Leptir” (with Latif Močević)

Hfz. Aziz Alili: Unfortunately I cannot find any biographical information for him in English at this point; will update when I do. He is a hafidh of the Qur’an (meaning he has memorized it), and a reciter. He also sings a number of religious songs, some of which appear on Yusuf Islam’s/Cat Stevens’ I Have No Cannons that Roar. Anyways, here are some videos:

“Dosta mi je Allah moj” Samaha has a translation up for this, as well as Hamza of rock group MacBeth performing the song.

“Sallallahu ala Taha”

“Šehidi”

U dergjahu mog srca”

Reciting Surat ar-Rahman

Ilahije “Ej ici”

Hfz Burhan Šaban: I don’t know too much about him either. For those of you that read Bosniak, here is his official website. You can actually listen to many of his songs from there. Much of his material is pretty much like pop music. Here are some of his videos:

“Kišna Dova”

“Siđi sa brda svijetlosti

“Dušo draga Halalolsun”

“Zvijezde tiho sedždu čine”

“Ja sam vjetar zaljubljeni”

“Ismihan”

Hor Kewser: Kewser is an organization focused on educating women and children. Hor Kewser (hor means choir) has produced a CD and DVD and also tours within and outside Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH). You can read all about them on the English section of their website; their organization sounds very interesting, and they sponsor a lot of cultural and spiritual events. Here are some of their videos.

“San”

Ja Rahmanu”

Bajram Dodje” (with Hor Hazreti Hamza)

“Mladjak i Palma” (with HHH and Serif Delic)

Hfz. Mensur Malkić: I don’t know anything about him. If you do, please let me know!

“Hannane”

“Ej, Allahu pogledaj me”

Šerif Delić: BosnaMuslimMedia says they’re the “Akademski hor Fakulteta islamskih nauka u Sarajevu,” which I think means the Academic choir of the Islamic learning college in Sarajevo. That’s all I know. Here are some videos:

“Hu Kumrija”

“Ja sam prije i poslije”

“Ovo moj je mejdan”

Voli da bi bio voljen” (cute pigeon in here dancing along, haha!)

“Zikrullah” (with Hor Bedem)

“Ej medino u dolini”

“Veysel Karani” (I’ve heard this song in Turkish; I wonder what it’s origin is?)

“Gel gor beni” (with Hor Bedem)

Hor Bahram: Another academic choir, I think.

“begove medrese u Tuzli 4″

Fuad Abdullah Seferagić:

“Geldim Sana” (I like this one a lot. I wish I could find a translation)

“Mahsuz Selam”

“Kasida Majci”

“Mlad mjeseče”

“Mesdžid-ul-Aksa”

Arša se ezan čuje

“Moj Resule”

Hor Nešidu-l-huda: (percussion only)

“Ta’le al bedru alejna”

Daj da vidim Bejtullah”

“Od aška si bolestan”

Hor Bedem:

“La ilaha illallah” (partially in English)

“Ben bu meclislerde”

Safija Malkić:

“Bejtullahov crn ogrtač”

Hor Rejjan:

Ramazanska večer

Hfz. Senad Podojak:

“Kraj Kabe sam ja stajao”

“Kudusse”

Hor el-Ihlas: Here is their site. All of their YouTube clips are really short, so I’m wondering if they’re parts of a play? You can find them all here.

Hor Ibn Arebi:

“Ide mjesec Ramazan”

Latif Mocevic:

“Dah Ljubavi”

Misc: Check out the Bosna Muslim Media blog; they always have something good up.

Samaha has an ilahije by Mensura Bajraktarević.

Abdur-Rahman has a nasheed about Ramadan by some Naqshbandis. Does anyone know who these guys are?

Article about Yusuf Islam and the making of I Have No Cannons that Roar.

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