All-women’s Islamic choir smashes gender taboos in Egypt

The words of the Islamic hymns being rehearsed in a small studio just outside Cairo are well known among Egyptian Muslims, but they have never sounded so different. Here, they are being sung by women.

Songs in praise of God and Islam’s Prophet Mohammad are a common religious custom in Egypt and the Middle East, but they are almost always performed by men and boys.

The members of Al Hur, Egypt’s first all-female Muslim recitation choir, are determined to change that – challenging deep-rooted taboos about women singing in public or reciting from the Quran in the socially conservative country.

“Having women in the Muslim religious chanting field not only breaks social stereotypes about female chanters. It also gives a new, distinctive style to an art that has long been dominated by only men,” said Al Hur founder Nema Fathi, 26.

Sitting on chairs in the wood-panelled studio during a recent rehearsal, seven young women and girls scanned the lyrics on their mobile phones before closing their eyes and belting out the hymns, accompanied by a piano and drums.

Widespread attacks’

Fathi practices a religious musical form known as “inshad”, or chanting, in which religious sayings and praise for God and the Prophet Mohammed are sung.

While the practice has both secular and religious uses in the Middle East, nasheeds are almost always sung by men, while women who perform music or sing publicly are often viewed as promiscuous.

That makes female performers even more taboo, and Fathi said she faced repeated criticism since she launched Al Hur in 2017 after connecting with other women and girls who wanted to follow their passion for the musical form.

“Since the choir’s founding, we’ve faced widespread attacks by some leading Muslim chanting figures who discouraged us from taking this step,” she said.

“Some told us that the voice of a woman is dishonourable. ‘How can girls sing religious songs?’ they said. But we challenged ourselves to make this band a success,” Fathi added.

SOURCE: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/8/24/all-womens-islamic-choir-smashes-gender-taboos-in-egypt