Tahir Qawwal

Tahir Qawwal has been journeying into music and mysticism from a very young age. At fifteen, he left his home for the Himalayas to spend the rest of his teens living as a lonely dervish, practicing the yogic path and searching for enlightenment through the purity of sound and pitch.

Upon returning to civilisation, he immersed himself in the sacred Sufi teachings of the past millennium and began his rigorous formal training in vocals and harmonium within Indian Classical music (Hindustani) and Qawwali. Tahir's journey has taken him on an epic musical adventure that sees him traverse dynamic landscapes with soaring melodies, ecstatic rhythms; transporting listeners across time and space with ancient songs composed centuries ago.

In 2001, Tahir and Aminah Chishti formed the first Western-born Qawwali ensemble Fanna-fi Allah, devoted to sharing the wisdom of the Sufi masters internationally. Since then, they have performed over 1500 concerts at festivals and gatherings worldwide, in countries like the USA, UK, France, Spain, India, Australia, Indonesia, China, Russia, Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan. Aminah Chishti became the first woman in history to be granted permission to perform at the highly revered Sufi shrines, where Qawwali is traditionally only performed by men.

Through his Qawwali conservation non-profit Tabaruq Arts, Tahir has released an 8-episode feature documentary series called “Qawwali - Music of the Mystics”. A passionate and fiery art form, Qawwali music weaves ancient poetry and intense rhythm with complex melodies to invoke an atmosphere of reverence and devotional ecstasy, catharsis and transformation.

Tahir has published over 20 albums on his record label Tabaruq Records, of his projects Fanna-fi Allah, Sufi Soul and Ilahi Sufi Qawwali. Besides his worldwide touring, he is currently focusing on filmmaking as a means to share the message of this music in ever widening circles.