This document summarizes three papers that analyze noha, a type of non-liturgical chant in Shi'a communities, using different methodological approaches in ethnomusicology. The first paper by Kamran Aghaie explores how symbols and rituals surrounding the Battle of Karbala have evolved in modern Iran. The second paper by Thomas Reckord analyzes characteristics of religious chant genres in Iran, including context, terminology, rhythm and mode. The third paper by Regula Qureshi examines Shi'a mourning rituals of Moharram in India. The document argues that a holistic understanding of noha requires considering all these different perspectives.

1. An intersectionality essay on noha culture in Shi’a communities
Bardia Hafizi
hafizi19@itu.edu.tr
Abstract
In this paper, I offer a review of three papers that deal with noha in Shi’a communities
from different perspectives, using different approaches in ethnomusicology. In
culmination, the three papers make use of a wide range of methodologies from historical
ethnomusicology to modernist studies and psychology, as well as others. I claim that a
holistic understanding of noha is only possible by taking into account all these different
perspectives and approaches.
Introduction
In cultural studies it is common to divide music into secular and religious categories. Going
further, one can also divide religious music liturgic and non-liturgic types. Liturgic music
specifically pertains to official rituals and ceremonies, mostly on the themes of devotion and
adoration to a spiritual entity. Non-liturgic music, however, has a more popular character and
contains a wider array of themes and venues.
In the case of Islamic cultures, liturgic chants are those elements of the prayer ritual (salāt)
which can be perceived to have musical quality. The most well-known example of this type is the
official call to prayer (azān). Non-liturgic chant, however, is performed in a variety of events such
as celebrations, communal gatherings and commemorations. Certain Sufi practices can be labeled
under this category. Interestingly, none of these types are perceived as music by the indigenous
discourse. It can be said that Islamic ideology has always had a bittersweet relationship with music,
and in extreme cases, all secular music performances are considered harām and a sin. An overview
of secular and religious music hierarchy can be seen in the following table (Neubauer, 2001):
The Noha: definitions

2. According to said definitions, noha is a non-liturgic chant which is mostly found is Shi’a cultures.
However, its exact definition can vary according to the milieu of study, ranging between:
1. Any chant in Shi’a non-liturgic discourse.
2. Any metric chant in Shi’a non-liturgic rituals, often with rhythmic accompaniment by the
audience.
3. A constituent part of the rawdha.
4. Any popular music type with themes of grief and mourning for important religious or national
heroes.
Amīd Persian dictionary defines noha as that which is sung as lamentation in mourning ceremonies
(noun), or as the act of crying and wailing for the dead (verb). The Islamic encyclopedia states that
in the mourning culture for Imam Huseyn, noha is a specific type of prosaic poetry (marthiye),
performed collectively, in order to induce grief and regret (Nohe, 2019). Both of these point to the
first definition of noha presented here. Indigenous discourse, historical documents and actual
cultural practices can account for the additional definitions.

3. Approaches
In considering the different approaches and inter-disciplines in studying noha, the
ethnomusicological model presented by Tim Rice can be of assistance. Rice presents his model as
complementary to that of Allen Merriam’s, saying that any symbolic system is historically
constructed, socially maintained and individually experienced (Rice, 1987). Merriam’s model also
offers three analytical stages for the study of music: conceptualization, human behavior, and the
sound itself (Merriam, 1964). By applying a combination of these models to the study of noha, a set
of research questions with embedded methodologies can be derived:
1. Origins of the term ‘noha’ in historical documents
2. Noha in oral histories and traditions
3. Individual perceptions of noha
4. Noha symbolism in social history
5. Noha as musical event
6. Noha as social performance
7. Traditional versus modern noha performance
8. General aesthetics of noha
9. Individual preferences and trends in listening to noha
These topics are a tangle of historical ethnomusicology, anthropology, modernist studies,
musicology and psychology among other disciplines. Any complete and thorough understanding of
nauha culture can perhaps only be achieved by capturing all these approaches in a single frame. In
the following sections, three sample studies pertaining to noha will be introduced.
Shi’i symbols and rituals in modern Iran
In his 2004 publication, Kamran Aghaie explores the evolution of moharram ritual symbols
in Iran throughout the modernization age from the mid nineteenth century to the close of the

4. twentieth century. He studies how selected aspects of popular culture, politics, and society have
either changed or resisted change in this period. His intend is to ascribe or attribute greater agency
to groups and individuals outside the circles of government and power in Iran.
He states that the symbols derived from interpretations of the seventh century battle of
Karbala have historically been used by Shi’as to articulate a wide range of political, ethical, and
cultural values and are one of the primary means for expressing social and political ideals on a
broad societal level. These symbols and rituals have proven to be substantially independent of the
control of the state. Aghaie uses manifestations of Karbala symbols and rituals in an attempt to
expand the focus of analysis beyond the state and the ruling elites. Four thematic foci are analyzed
in his book: (1) changing patterns of state patronage of Karbala rituals, (2) religious oppositional
discourse, (3) expression and reinforcement of a wide variety of social relationships and identities,
and (4) an emerging discourse on gender in Iranian society.
Although the term ‘noha’ does not explicitly come up in this study, the events and venues
described are exactly the ones where noha is performed. Furthermore, the symbols and symbolic
behaviors studied are all relevant elements of noha culture. This can clearly be seen in this excerpt
(Aghaie, 2004):
“Female characters have always served an important function in Karbala narratives.
However, in narratives like Rowzat al-shohada the female characters have often been
used as plot devices or as reflections of male characters rather than taking on the aspects
of fully independent characters in their own right. As a discourse on gender developed
during the 1950s and 1960s, Islamic ideals of womanhood were more explicitly
articulated and placed in opposition to Western ideals. In more recent narratives, female
characters have been presented as more self-aware than in earlier representations.
Writers used these symbols to place gender issues at the center of political discourse. In
the case of female characters, the modern era marks the first period in which female-

5. gendered symbols were used as part of an anti-Western discourse focusing specifically
upon gender roles.”
Clearly Aghaie is considering cultural products as social performances, and studying the evolution
of symbols and behaviors surrounding them can enlighten us as to the social and historical context
in which these music types were practiced.
Chant in popular Iranian Shiite
In his 1987 doctoral dissertation, Thomas Reckord studied the characteristics of three
unmetered genres of religious chant as practiced in Iran. His work is based on an examination of
context, terminology, rhythm, and mode of chant. He attempts to strike a balance between an
analysis of music exclusively concerned with sound per se, and an analysis overly concerned with
generalized cultural information. To put it in Rice and Merriam’s terms, Reckord is studying the
sound alongside its social maintenance.
Reckord’s perspective is that an analysis of religious chant provides a means of penetrating
the core of the Iranian musical experience, since it embodies the characteristic techniques and spirit
of that experience. Moreover, he believed that these genres represent a synthesis of musical, textual,
and contextual elements. Therefore isolating any of these elements without understanding its
intrinsic relationship to the whole cultural phenomenon misrepresents the fluidity, complexity,
depth, and beauty of the reality itself.
As was the case with Aghaie’s work, Reckord does not explicitly mention the term “noha”
in his work (other than in the description under a performance picture). However, the events and
rituals he describes are exactly those where noha is performed. Perhaps in an effort to keep the
terminology consistent, he refrained from using such an all-encompassing and loosely defined term.
Aside from musical analysis, Reckord presents a detailed description of some of the events
he observed, the sociopolitical behaviors surrounding them, economical issues and performance

6. venues among other topics. As evident from his interview structure, he pays attention to how these
cultures are individually experienced and performed. He also has the marks of a music event study,
but in my opinion his analysis is not organized and thorough enough for a full picture. The
following excerpt can better clarify his perspective (Reckord, 1987):
“… in order to gain an effective overview of the results of this study, the primary
importance of the function of these genres must be remembered. They resist standard
approaches of musical and textual analysis since they have not been developed as a total
artistic experience in themselves. Mode, melody, and structure are processes that are
intuitive for most performers and have not coalesced into rigid parameters. This
intuitive orientation of performers is complicated by the learned orientation of those
exposed to the detailed musical theory and system of the radif of classical Iranian music
(the dastgah system). Performers of various skill levels and exposures to both traditions
irregularly bring to their performances a mixture of assorted elements from those
traditions. This is a major contributing factor to the underlying ambiguity and variation
of artistic sensibilities displayed in these genres.”
The Shi’a majlis in India
In a 1981 paper, Regula Qureshi writes about the Shi’a rituals of moharram as performed in
India and Pakistan. She states that a majlis, as a musical event, consists of five principal forms. One
of these forms is noha. Furthermore, she mentions that majlis chant is conceived of not as music,
but as recitation or chant in which musical features are subordinated to a religious text and function.
This discourse conforms to our earlier discussion on the legitimacy of music in Islamic ideology.
Qureshi studies this culture as a musical event, identifying the participants, the language in
use, the relevant religious features, and the social context of the performance. Moreover, she
provides a significantly detailed musical analysis of all five chant forms, which allows us to make
an empirical distinction between them. She also compares the melodic scales used in chants with
Indian Raga music, which paints a more clear picture of the cultural and historical context for majlis
performance. She also briefly goes over the historical perspectives of majlis ritual and the

7. possibility of cultural transmission around the time of Timurid dynasty in Iran. The following
excerpt can be enlightening (Qureshi, 1981):
“Shi'a Islam in India is essentially of Persian origin. Throughout the rule of various
Shi'a dynasties —in South India (mainly Bijapur and Golconda, 16th to 17th centuries)
and Awadh (18th to 19 centuries)— as well as during Mughal rule from Delhi (16th to
18th centuries), the cultural links with Iran continued, especially through visits and
immigration of Persians into India (Hollister 1953:ch. 7, 8; Nizami 1967:434f).
Accordingly, any musical expression of Persian Shi'ism should be examined as a
potential predecessor of Shi'a chant in India.”
Discussions
All three works mentioned here study the same cultural object, but in different settings.
Their work can be best characterized by the nature of their data, and the consequent analysis
approaches they take. Reckord is dealing with his own fieldwork in Iran between the years 1974
and 1977. His data include performance recordings, ethnographic descriptions and interviews both
with audience and performers from different cities. Aghaie on the other hand combines historical
documents and ethnographic descriptions with oral history transcriptions. His data spans the
decades between mid-nineteenth and late twentieth century, roughly the period of modernization in
Iran. Qureshi meanwhile is performing the same fieldwork as Reckord, but in Indian Shi’a
communities between 1968 and 1969. The main difference in their methodologies is perhaps
Qureshi’s attempt at participation-observation, while Reckord mostly takes an objective stance.
All three works are more-or-less studying the same ritual that contains noha, but Qureshi is
the only one who explicitly talks about this term. In their approaches, both Qureshi and Reckord
perform musicological analysis. However, Reckord provides a more detailed ethnographic
description, while Qureshi spends more time explaining the different elements that constitute such
an event. It could be said that the former is more grounded in ethnographic work, while the latter

8. leans more towards music event analysis. Aghaie on the other hand, as can be inferred from his
data, is mostly using anthropological methods and cultural modernism approaches. His work mainly
treats the study-object as a social performance.
Conclusion
There are a number of ways these studies can be combined. Reckord and Aghaie’s work can
form the basis of a full study of noha, with its different elements, as it was evolving from 19th
century to contemporary performances. Reckord and Qureshi’s work can also be compared in a
wider range by looking at cultural transmission and acculturation processes through a religious
medium. On the other hand, Qureshi and Aghaie’s works can also be compared to roughly study
how different sociopolitical conditions can affect ritual performances. However, if we consider the
different possible approaches mentioned earlier in this paper based on Rice and Merriam’s model,
there can be many scenarios where these three studies can be combined under one research.
To conclude, non-liturgic chant can be said to constitute an important part of Shi’a musical
experience. Studying the symbolic meanings embedded in behaviors and the vocabularies used can
shed light on how Shi’i identity is formed in different eras. The emotional reception of these genres,
mainly formed around themes of grief and intending to induce crying, can describe the
psychological mindset of the participants. Similarly, Musicological analysis can describe the
aesthetics of musical performance and experience in these cultures. Lastly, comparative studies
between different Shi’a societies can highlight cultural similarities and differences and trace one
medium of cultural transmission.
Bibliography

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