Music & Sufi-Whirling in Palestine

My relationship with music and Sufi Whirling in Palestine is a fundamental part of my life. Growing up I used to hang around my Mom's friends as they play music. I would memories the songs so I could join them in song. I learned to play different instruments too. From piano to the recorder, to guitar to Qanoun and even triangle. But never long enough to master an instrument.

​

But I loved to sing and used to record songs on a small tape recorder and playback to myself. My confidence started to grow as I joined every choir in town. And in 2001 the second Palestinian Intifada broke out. My focus switched from singing to chanting political songs at protests and rallies.

​

After a neck injury I sustained to my neck at the village of Nabi Saleh, and the six-hour surgery that followed, the moment I opened my eyes I removed the tape on my mouth to make sure I still had my voice. Since then I started singing all the time. I transformed my chants into songs that expressed my soul's heartbeat.

​

I wrote my first song, Tatjallah فلتتجلى, about the search for the love of God within all the folds of pain. I combined my music with my Sufi practice of whirling to fully express my heart through song and dance. Along with my dear friend, Shadi Zaqtan, the famous musician, who directed our band on a tour in Belgium, where I recorded Tatajallah at Frontiera Studios in Ghent.

​

Now I am working on my first album, stitching together alternative Sufi rhymes with some jazz. I perform at popular venues in Palestine and will keep you all posted on my gigs as they come up.

​

EMAIL TO BOOK ASHIRA

FOR UPCOMING GIS, FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS