Allah Hoo (Allah hu) is a traditional Sufi chant (
dhikr
''Dhikr'' ( ar, ذِكْر}, , also spelled ''Zikr'', ''Thikr'', ''Zekr'', or ''Zikar'', literally meaning "remembrance, reminder" or "mention") is a form of Islamic meditation in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remem ...
) consisting of the word for
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
(, ') run together three times, followed by Truth (
haqq
Haqq ( ar, ''ḥaqq'') is the Arabic word for truth. In Islamic contexts, it is also interpreted as right and reality. Al-Haqq, 'the truth, is one of the names of God in the Qur'an. It is often used to refer to God as the Ultimate Reality in Is ...
): ''Allāhu Allāhu Allāhu Haqq'', itself repeated three times over. According to Sufi tradition, this formula was introduced by
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
as he initiated the Naqshbandi tradition (Kabbani 2003 p. 87). Other Dhikrs consist of simple ''Allāhu Allāhu'' run together 400 or 600 times.
"Allah Hoo" is also a popular title for
qawwali
Qawwali (Punjabi language, Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nastaʿlīq, Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali language, Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali alphabet, Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Isl ...
s.
Etymology
The "Hoo" is due to the nominative suffix ( i`rab) ''-u'' ( ḍamma) being pronounced before initial vowel, as the word ''Allahu'' is run together several times: ''Allahu Allahu Allahu'' is rendered as /al:a:hual:a:hual:a:h/ (compare the phrase ''
Allahu Akbar
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", a ...
'' where the ''-u'' is also audible). In traditional Sufi chant, the length of the ''-u'' is exaggerated. As a
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
, the chant is interpreted as meaning "God is".
Haqq
Haqq ( ar, ''ḥaqq'') is the Arabic word for truth. In Islamic contexts, it is also interpreted as right and reality. Al-Haqq, 'the truth, is one of the names of God in the Qur'an. It is often used to refer to God as the Ultimate Reality in Is ...
is the Arabic for "truth", so that the full dhikr translates to "God is. God is. God is Truth."the naat starts of like this Allahu diya paiyan pukaran aqa aye ayan bharan
Qawwali
Qawwalis titled "Allah Hoo" have been performed by many different qawwals. Although these songs have the same title, many of them are totally different songs. For example, the "Allah Hoo" that appears on the
Sabri Brothers
The Sabri Brothers ( Punjabi, ) were a musical band from Pakistan who were performers of Sufi qawwali music and were closely connected to the Chishti Order. They are considered as one of the greatest Sufi qawwali singers of all times. The Sabr ...
1998 CD ''Qawwali: Sufi Music from Pakistan'' is totally different from the song that became one of
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...
's signature qawwalis, and this in turn is totally different from Qawwal Bahauddin's version on the 1991 Shalimar compilation video titled "
Tajdar-e-Haram
"Tajdar-e-Haram" () is a qawwali performed by the Pakistani musical group, Sabri Brothers and written by Mirza Muhammad Hakim, a 16th century Mughal prince and brother to Emperor Akbar.
1982 version
In 1982, Sabri Brothers recorded this ...
, vol. 2" (although all three songs do have some lyrics in common). Versions of the song have also been sung by many other qawwals and Sufi singers, including Hans Raj Hans,
Master Salim
Master Saleem also known as Saleem Shahzada is an Indian singer who is known for his work as a devotional singer and also as a playback singer in Bollywood films, like '' Heyy Babyy'' (2007), '' Dostana'' and '' Love Aaj Kal'' (2009). He has al ...
,
Faiz Ali Faiz
Faiz Ali Faiz (Urdu: فیض علی فیض; born in 1962 in Sharaqpur, Pakistan) is a well-known Pakistani qawwali singer.
Faiz was born into a family of seven generations of qawwals. He studied classical music with ''Ustad Ghulam Shabir Khan'' a ...
, and the
Nooran Sisters
The Nooran Sisters are Sultana Nooran (born 14 June 1992) and Jyoti Nooran (born 24 February 1994) who are a devotional Sufi singing duo from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. Born to a family of Sufi musicians, they perform Sham Chaurasia gharana cl ...
. Versions of the song have been translated into other languages. An English version is sung by
Sami Yusuf
Sami Yusuf (born 21 July 1980) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He gained international attention with the release of his debut album, ''Al-Muʽallim'', in 2003. As of 2020, he has released eight studio alb ...
on the album ''
Al-Muʽallim Al-Mu'allim (The teacher) ''was first studio debut album by british singer- songwriter Sami Yusuf
Sami Yusuf (born 21 July 1980) is a British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He gained international attention with the r ...
'' (2003), while a Malay version is sung by a popular Malaysian Nasheed group
Raihan
Raihan (derived from the Arabic word ''Rayḥān'' ( ar,
رَيـحَـان), "Fragrance of Heaven") is a Malaysian nasheed group originally composed of five members that became popular in Malaysia with the release of their debut album ''Pu ...
.
It is also a song by Sufi rock musician
Salman Ahmad
Salman Ahmad ( ur, , born 12 December 1963) is a Pakistani born-American musician, rock guitarist, physician, activist, occasional actor and professor at the City University of New York.
He earned nationwide popularity in 1998 for his un ...
, formerly of Junoon, the Pakistani rock band.
In 1st season of ''
Coke Studio (Pakistan)
''Coke Studio'' ( ur, ) is a Pakistani television programme and international music franchise which features studio-recorded music performances by established and emerging artists. It is the longest-running annual television music show in Paki ...
'', "Allah Hu" was sung by
Ali Zafar
Ali Zafar ( pa, ; born 18 May 1980) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, model, actor, producer, screenwriter and painter. Zafar started out on Pakistani television before becoming a popular musician. He later also established a career in Bol ...
Nooran Sisters
The Nooran Sisters are Sultana Nooran (born 14 June 1992) and Jyoti Nooran (born 24 February 1994) who are a devotional Sufi singing duo from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. Born to a family of Sufi musicians, they perform Sham Chaurasia gharana cl ...
composed by Hitesh Sonik in 2012.
"Allah Hu" in its basic naat form was penned by the late Maulana Syed Hasan Imdad of Pakistan.
See also
*
Hu (Sufism) Hu or Huwa (Arabic: هُوَ meaning “He”) is a name for God in Sufism. Literally, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic for the English third person and is used in Sufism to avoid attribution of a gender to Allah.
Usage
In Sufism ''Hu'' or ''Huwa'' ...
References
{{reflist
*Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, ''Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition'' (2003)
* Josef Kuckertz, ''Was ist indische Musik?'', ''
Archiv für Musikwissenschaft
The ''Archiv für Musikwissenschaft'' is a quarterly German-English-speaking trade magazine devoted to music history and historical musicology, which publishes articles by well-known academics and young scholars.
It was founded in 1918 as the s ...
'' (1996), p. 99.
*Charles Wolverton, '' 'Ballyhoo' '', American Speech (1935), 289-291.