Naat ( bn, নাত;

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

and ur, ) is

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

in praise of the Islamic prophet,

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...

. The practice is popular in South Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan and India), commonly in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

. People who recite Naat are known as ''Naat Khawan'' or ''sanaa-khuaan''. Exclusive "Praise to Allah" and Allah alone is called Hamd, not to be confused with 'Na'at'. In Arab countries, lyrics and praises said for

are called Madih nabawi.

History

It is difficult to trace the history of Naat khawani since no authenticated record of when it was initiated can be found. One early author, Hassan, was known as ''Shair-e Darbaar-e Risalat''. Even before accepting Islam he was a poet, but after embracing Islam he gave a new turn to his poetry and started writing Na'ats in honor of Muhammad. He was famous for his poetry that defended Muhammad in response to rival poets who attacked him and his religion. Therefore, Hassan is known as the first ''sana-khawaan'' (naat reciter) of that time. After that many a poet followed this trend and totally dedicated themselves towards writing of naats. Tala al Badru Alayna, is a traditional Islamic poem known as nasheed recited to Muhammad during his completion of migration to Medina in 622 CE, is believed to be one of the earliest naats.

Language

Commonly the term ''naʽat shareef'' (exalted poetry) is reserved for poetry in the praise of Muhammad. In Arabic, na'at is usually called ''

madih Madih nabawi ( ar, مديح نبوي, pl. Madā'ih nabawiyah), one of the principal religious genres of Arabic music, is a song form dedicated to expressing praises, love and devotion for the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his family. The genre date ...

'' (praise) or '' nasheed'' (poetry), although the latter can describe any type of religious poetry.

Urdu Na'at Anthologies

*''Hadaiqe Bakshish'' by Ahmad Raza Khan *''Wasail e Bakhsish'' by

Muhammad Ilyas Qadri Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri ( ur, ), known as ''Attar'' (), is a Sufi Islamic preacher, Muslim scholar and founding leader of Dawat-e-Islami. He is based in Karachi, Pakistan. Qadri is the author of Faizan-e-Sunnat. Family background H ...

*''Farsh Par Arsh'', 2009 () by Abūlḥāmid Muḥammad *''Tajalliyāt'', by Syed Waheed Ashraf First Ed.(1996), Second Ed.(2018) , Maktaba Jamia Ltd, Shamshad Market, Aligarh 202002, India *''Urdū zabān men̲ naʻt goʼī kā fann aur tajallīyāt'', 2001 () by Syed Waheed Ashraf * ''safeena e bakhshish'' by Akhtar Raza Khan (Azhari Miya)

Notable Na'at Khawans

Urdu Na'at poets

* Ahmed Raza Khan * Mustafa Raza Khan *

Mushtaq Qadri Muhammad Mushtaq Qadri Attari ( ur, محمد مشتاق قادری عطاری) was a Pakistani religious Preacher and Poet ( na'at khawan).

* Syed Waheed Ashraf *

Amir Khusro Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian s ...

* Muzaffar Warsi * Akhtar Raza Khan *

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

* Behzad Lucknavi

Urdu Na'at Reciters

* Sabihuddin Rehmani *

Junaid Jamshed Junaid Jamshed Khan ( ur, ; 3 September 1964 – 7 December 2016) was a Pakistani singer-songwriter, television personality, fashion designer, actor, and preacher. After graduating with a degree in engineering from the University of Engineer ...

* Abrar ul Haq *

Syed Fasihuddin Soharwardy Syed Fasihuddin Soharwardy ( ur, ; born 15 June 1957) is a leading nasheed Khawan or Naat Khawan from Pakistan. Most of his work is in the Urdu language. However, he has performed nasheeds (Naats) in multiple languages including Punjabi, Per ...

Siddiq Ismail Siddiq Ismail (born 10 February 1954 in Karachi, Pakistan) is a Hamd and Na`at reciter and has made appearances for over 50 years on Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan. Career Siddiq Ismail belongs to the Memon community. His parents migra ...

Khursheed Ahmad Alhaj Khursheed Ahmad or Khurshid Ahmad ( ur, ) (1 January 1956 – 30 August 2007) was a Naat Khawan from Pakistan. He started to recite Naats when he was only a few years old, and by the time of his death he had recited thousands of Naats. ...

* Abdul Rauf Rufi *

Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi ( ur, ) is a Pakistani Qari and '' na'at khawan'',Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi o"HAMARI WEB" websiteRetrieved 16 March 2022 a performer of poetry in praise of the Prophet Muhammad. Qasmi recites in both in Urdu and Arabic lan ...

Bekal Utsahi Muhammad Shafi Ali Khan (1 June 1928 – 3 December 2016), popularly known as Bekal Utsahi, was an Indian poet, writer and politician. He was a congressman close to Indira Gandhi and a Member of Parliament in the Upper House Rajya sabha. He rece ...

Ajmal Sultanpuri Ajmal Sultanpuri (1923 – 29 January 2020) was an Indian poet in Urdu language. He was a native of Harakhpur in Sultanpur District, Uttar Pradesh. In 1967, He was beaten by few village men because he was trying to protest against social disc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naat Cultural depictions of Muhammad Islamic worship Islamic poetry Islamic culture Urdu-language poetry Sufism Islamic music Pakistani music Bengali poetry Bengali music Bangladeshi music Devotional literature Islamic terminology Islam in South Asia