In the past few days i have seen some tweets on twitter saying that there is too much shirk in Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan qawwalies. So i thought that i should write this.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan once said in his interview that whatever he sings, he sings for Allah and His Prophet(s.a.w).
We as listeners can not say what intention Khan sahab had while singing his qawalies, while according to him its all based for Ishq e Haqeeqi (love of God).
If you listen to qawwalies with a mind that they are just for Ishq e Haqeeqi, you won't find any shirk in them. You just have to be mature enough to understand his qawwalies. His qawwalies are not about worldly love.
Secondly, a single verse of poetry can be interpreted or explained in various ways. for example.
this shair in *zulfon ne teri, le liay eemaan hazaron*
(parh jati hy jab ek nazar ap k rukh par,
parh leti hy meri ankhen quran hazaaron)
some will say this is also shirk, but it merely depends on the way of your understanding. to my understanding it means that "when you see your beloved's face you praise Allah Almighty that He made it so beautiful, without any defect."
Similarly in *yeh jo halka halka surror hy*
(na namaz ati hy mujhko na wuzu ata hy,
sajda kar leta hun jab samne tu ata hy)
according to my understanding in above verses, the poet refers that "he is so involved in the love of God that he offers sajda to God whenever He comes in his mind, irrespective of the place and scenario.."
and in *tum ek gorakh dhanda ho* the poet himself answers everything in the middle,
(aqal me jo ghirr gaya wo la inteha kyun kar huwa?
jo samjjh mein aa gaya phir wo Khuda kyun kar huwa?)
And in the end of qawali with "Allah Hu Allah Hu, La Shareek aa la Hu"
in *tumhe dil lagi bhool jani paregi*
(rukh se naqaab utha, k bari dair ho gayi mahol ko tilawat e Quran kiay huay)
same as the first mentioned verses.. "when you see your beloved's face you praise Allah Almighty that He made it so beautiful, without any defect."
if you people have read the book, Forty rules of love, the 21st rule of love says:
"when a true lover of God goes into a tavern, the tavern becomes his chamber of prayer, but when a wine bibber goes into the same chamber, it becomes his tavern. In everything we do, it is our hearts that makes the difference not the outer appearance. Sufis do not judge other people on how they look or who they are. when a sufi stares at someone, he keeps both eyes closed instead opens a third eye - the eye that sees the inner realm."
so it doesn't matter where a person is, whether in a mosque or a but-khana, if his hearts answers to one true God, Allah Almighty. as Allama Iqbal said in his Ghazal
:
(ashiq k lie yaksaan, kaaba ho k but-khana,
yeh jalwat e jananaan, wo khalwat e jananaan!)
and please do listen to (behadd ramzan dasda mera dholan mahi) a kalam written by baba BulleyShah, that will answer your questions.
"assi vekh k surat dilbarr di besurat nu pehchan gaye"
i hope ap log bhi pehchan jaen gy!!
so in my personal opinion it depends on the listener or the person himself what he understood. If person's heart is pure and only love one true God, he/she will find nothing but love of God in nusrat's qawalies.
