'Hadrah' a heritage being preserved
Saturday, September 1, 2007
HADRAH, a traditional heritage passed down by our ancestors has been successfully preserved by the new generation, according to the Brunei-Muara district officer.
Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof Bakar, in his speech at the Mosque's Youth Hadrah Competition held yesterday said, through his observation the role of hadrah has undergone changes.
"In the past, hadrah was only performed during weddings, but now it is performed in open events, to greet honoured guests and more significantly to signal the arrival of His Majesty in various events."
The district officer also expressed hope that this type of competition will motivate and bring up the spirit of hadrah enthusiast to develop the heritage further for the benefit of future generations.
A hadrah player himself, Dato Hj Mohd Yusof cited the various benefits of playing the hadrah such as it being a good vocal practice and the players might gained merits from Allah the Almighty as hadrah usually contains rhythmic invocations of Allah (swt), using one or more of His Names and repeated testimony of faith. Even so, he mentioned that the traditional essence of hadrah should never change urging the new generations to preserve the religious theme of the art of hadrah.
"I have heard hadrah being performed in the malay language with commercial lyrics, this deviates from the essence of traditional hadrah," he said.
Dato Hj Mohd Yusof was also quick to praise the efforts of Mukim Serasa Consultative Council for organising thecompetition.
He said this should be an example to other Mukim and Village Councils, especially the bid to get youth to involve more in community activities.He went on to say thatthe Brunei-Muara District office will support any associations that need help in organising programmes that would benefit the community, especially the youths.
Commenting on the young generation's role in preserving the hadrah, the chairman of the Mukim Serasa Consultative Council, Pg Hj Ibrahim Pg Hj said that Brunei youths nowadays have done well in preserving the heritage and have even enhanced it. "Back then, competition involved only beating of drums and chanting. But now performances are choreographed to make it more attractive and interesting."
He said that hadrah could be further promoted in Brunei if there is a national association of hadrah set up.
"We have a national team for silat and gasing (top spinning), but not for hadrah. We cannot just rely on mukim and schools to promote the activity, it has to be done at a national level," he said.
Pg Hj Ibrahim said that a national association will ensure more hadrah activities and competitions not just at a national level but also at international.
The Brunei Times
Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yusof Bakar, in his speech at the Mosque's Youth Hadrah Competition held yesterday said, through his observation the role of hadrah has undergone changes.
"In the past, hadrah was only performed during weddings, but now it is performed in open events, to greet honoured guests and more significantly to signal the arrival of His Majesty in various events."
The district officer also expressed hope that this type of competition will motivate and bring up the spirit of hadrah enthusiast to develop the heritage further for the benefit of future generations.
A hadrah player himself, Dato Hj Mohd Yusof cited the various benefits of playing the hadrah such as it being a good vocal practice and the players might gained merits from Allah the Almighty as hadrah usually contains rhythmic invocations of Allah (swt), using one or more of His Names and repeated testimony of faith. Even so, he mentioned that the traditional essence of hadrah should never change urging the new generations to preserve the religious theme of the art of hadrah.
"I have heard hadrah being performed in the malay language with commercial lyrics, this deviates from the essence of traditional hadrah," he said.
Dato Hj Mohd Yusof was also quick to praise the efforts of Mukim Serasa Consultative Council for organising thecompetition.
He said this should be an example to other Mukim and Village Councils, especially the bid to get youth to involve more in community activities.He went on to say thatthe Brunei-Muara District office will support any associations that need help in organising programmes that would benefit the community, especially the youths.
Commenting on the young generation's role in preserving the hadrah, the chairman of the Mukim Serasa Consultative Council, Pg Hj Ibrahim Pg Hj said that Brunei youths nowadays have done well in preserving the heritage and have even enhanced it. "Back then, competition involved only beating of drums and chanting. But now performances are choreographed to make it more attractive and interesting."
He said that hadrah could be further promoted in Brunei if there is a national association of hadrah set up.
"We have a national team for silat and gasing (top spinning), but not for hadrah. We cannot just rely on mukim and schools to promote the activity, it has to be done at a national level," he said.
Pg Hj Ibrahim said that a national association will ensure more hadrah activities and competitions not just at a national level but also at international.
The Brunei Times
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