31 min
Music · Fanna-Fi-Allah
Ya Mustafa, live
An early live recording of Fanna-Fi-Allah performing the qawwali Ya Mustafa.
Overview
What does sufism point to?
Sufism is the mystical current within Islam, oriented toward the purification and remembrance of the heart. It is expressed through poetry, music, ethical formation and companionship within a lineage, or tariqa.
Practices such as dhikr (remembrance) and sama (sacred listening) are shared across many orders, though language, ritual and emphasis vary considerably between them.
The beloved is not found by searching, but by the heart that has stopped looking elsewhere.A central teaching within Sufism
Teachers
Voices within this path.
Compare background, approach and format before choosing a teacher to follow.
Interfaith scholarship
Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Spiritual head of the Inayatiyya Sufi order and founder of the Suluk Academy, combining scholarly training with universal Sufi teaching.
View profile →EA
Open Path
Elias Amidon
Pir of the Sufi Way and founder of the Open Path, teaching nondual awareness within the Inayati Sufi lineage.
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Zikr
Shabda Kahn
Pir of Sufi Ruhaniat International, teaching Sufi zikr and the Dances of Universal Peace in the lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan.
View profile →CS
Rifa'i Order
Cemalnur Sargut
Leader of the Rifa'i Sufi order in Turkey and scholar of Ken'an Rifa'i, teaching classical Islamic philosophy and Sufi thought.
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Ba'Alawi Tradition
Habib Umar bin Hafiz
Yemeni Islamic scholar and Sufi teacher in the Ba'Alawi tradition, founder of the Dar al-Mustafa seminary in Tarim.
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Shadhili Order
Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
Damascus-born traditional Islamic scholar and Shadhili Sufi master, founder of Sacred Knowledge.
View profile →Artists
Musicians and singers.
Devotional music and chant from within this path, alongside its teachers.
Opening the Voice
Paulina Magus
Vocalist and teacher trained in Indian classical music, who helps people open their own voice through it, and who also sings devotional qawwali in the traditional style.
View profile →RQ
Qawwali, Carried Forward
Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali
Qawwali group led by Rizwan and Muazzam Mujahid Ali Khan, nephews of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who were teenagers when he died in 1997 and stepped into the space he left.
View profile →WB
Qawwali from Hyderabad
Warsi Brothers
Indian qawwali group from Hyderabad, the brothers Nazeer and Naseer Ahmed Khan Warsi, who sing with a party of eight accompanists.
View profile →In memoriamNF
Shahenshah-e-Qawwali
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Pakistani qawwali singer (1948–1997), called Shahenshah-e-Qawwali, the king of kings of qawwali, and credited with carrying this Sufi devotional music to listeners around the world.
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Oud, Voice and Sufi Jazz
Dhafer Youssef
Tunisian oud player, singer and composer who carries the vocal world of the muezzin's call into jazz, improvising wordlessly across a register that reaches far above the instrument.
View profile →IA
Flute and Ambient Soundscapes
Iftekharul Anam
Flutist, composer and producer working between Sufi, folk, classical, ambient and electronic music, on themes of spiritual consciousness.
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Sindhi Sufi Kalam
Sanam Marvi
Pakistani folk and Sufi singer from Sindh who sings the kalams of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Bulleh Shah and Sachal Sarmast in Sindhi, Punjabi and Balochi.
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Ney Master of the Mevlevi Tradition
Kudsi Erguner
Turkish ney master who plays the Mevlevi sema music that accompanies the ceremony of the whirling dervishes.
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Qawwali in the Nusrat Lineage
Fanna-Fi-Allah
Traditional qawwali ensemble in the lineage of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who perform at Sufi shrines as well as on concert stages.
View profile →IS
The First All-Women Qawwali Group
Ilahi Sufi Qawwali
The world's first all-women traditional qawwali group, singing in the same lineage as Fanna-Fi-Allah.
View profile →KT
The Sema Ceremony of Konya
Konya Turkish Sufi Music Ensemble
Official Mevlevi ensemble from Konya, founded in 1991, which performs the music of the sema ceremony in the city where Rumi is buried.
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The Queen of Sufi Music
Abida Parveen
Pakistani singer and composer of Sufi music, widely called the Queen of Sufi music, who has carried the poetry of the Sufi saints from the shrines of Sindh to concert halls worldwide.
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Qawwali of the Delhi Gharana
Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad Qawwal
Pakistani qawwal brothers of the Qawwal Bacchon ka Gharana of Delhi, a lineage of devotional singers reaching back centuries, widely heard through Coke Studio.
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Sufi Songs from the Shrines
Sain Zahoor
Punjabi Sufi singer from Pakistan who spent most of his life singing at Sufi shrines, accompanying himself on the ektara, and made his first recording only in 2006.
View profile →Upcoming events
Upcoming events in sufism.
Retreats, dialogues and online gatherings connected to this path.
02AUG
Sunday Meditation
Online · Monthly online meditation
See event pageMonthly online meditation
02SEP
Sunday Meditation
Online · Monthly online meditation
See event pageMonthly online meditation
02SEP
Chai, Love and Prayer
Online · Monthly online gathering
See event pageMonthly online gathering
03SEP
Alchemical Transformation - The Six Yogas of Naropa
Online · Weekly online class
See event pageWeekly online class
Talks & videos
Selected talks.
Talks and conversations from teachers within this path.
18 min
Music · Fanna-Fi-Allah
Mast Mast
Fanna-Fi-Allah's well-known rendition of the qawwali Mast Mast.
21 min
Music · Fanna-Fi-Allah
Allah Hoo, live in Berlin
Fanna-Fi-Allah performing the qawwali hymn Allah Hoo live in Berlin.
13 min
Music · Fanna-Fi-Allah
Massive Qawwali Naubat: Mast Mast, London 2025
Fanna-Fi-Allah performing an extended qawwali naubat of Mast Mast, live in London.
Listen
Recordings from sufism.
Voices from this path and the schools within it, playing from the platforms the teachers publish on.
Fanna-Fi-AllahSufism
A Apple Podcasts
Mast Mast
A studio recording of Mast Mast from Fanna-Fi-Allah's 2015 album Tawhid.
Listen on Apple PodcastsFanna-Fi-AllahSufism
A Apple Podcasts
Allah Hoo
A studio recording of the qawwali Allah Hoo from Fanna-Fi-Allah's 2014 album Mehfil-e-Sama, Vol. 3.
Listen on Apple PodcastsFanna-Fi-AllahSufism
A Apple Podcasts
Jive Laal Qalandar (Live)
A live recording of Fanna-Fi-Allah performing the qawwali Jive Laal Qalandar.
Listen on Apple PodcastsFanna-Fi-AllahSufism
A Apple Podcasts
Shahbaz Qalandar
A studio recording of the qawwali Shahbaz Qalandar from Fanna-Fi-Allah's 2008 album Mehfil-e-Sama, Vol. 1.
Listen on Apple PodcastsReading Room
Source texts
The source texts beneath this path, free to read.
The Masnavi
Translated by E. H. Whinfield · 1898
“The Qur’an in Persian” — Whinfield's readable free abridgement of Rumi's great Sufi poem.
Selected Poems from the Divani Shamsi Tabriz
Translated by Reynold A. Nicholson · 1898
Rumi's ecstatic verses to his teacher Shams, rendered by the great scholar of Sufi poetry.
Discernment
Clarity should include the human context.
Devotional language of surrender and love is central to this tradition, but should never be used to justify the abuse of spiritual authority.
Ask about contextIs a statement philosophical, meditative, relational or practical?
Notice powerHow are authority, money, intimacy and complaints handled?
Include embodimentDoes the teaching make room for emotion, the body and nervous-system limits?
Keep agencyA useful teacher supports clear choice rather than demanding surrender of judgement.