By Najmi Zawawi
GOMBAK, 16 April 2015: Marhaban, derived from an Arabic word, carries a meaning of welcoming others in a ceremony or an event. In a traditional Islamic culture the term marhaban refers to a form of Islamic entertainment that is associated with the praises to our beloved prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
This tradition has been uplifted by the traditional Islamic culture as a form of communication that contains many kinds of information, such as history of prophet, social issues, and the blessings behind the birth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Yet, this tradition is currently being forgotten due to the emergence of the new kinds of media and entertainment.
Marhaban is a kind of Islamic tradition which involved the use of Quranic recitation style or tarannum, such as bayyati, hijjaz, nahwan, siqah, jiharkah, rast, and others. This Islamic entertainment is being proved by the Islamic scholars, as they agreed upon one of the prophet stories about the Islamic entertainment. As the people in Medina greeted the Prophet with the use of “kompang” and chanting thola’al badru ‘alaina, minsani yatil wada’ as a welcoming remarks and appreciation to Prophet for migrating to Medina.
This tradition is being upheld for some period of time in Islamic history until today. Marhaban involves a number of people in a session. Usually it involves five or more people in a group. They recite some lines from and Arabic poems that contain the stories of the birth of Prophet and his attitudes to people. Some examples of the poems are, ashroqol badru A’laina, fahktafat minhul buduru, mislahunis kama raaina, khattuya wajhah sururi, meaning, there has come the moon, it shines, brightens the earth, you are the best example, your face calm our heart.
The Arabic poems are all about praising the Prophet’s attributes and attitudes as lessons for the people.
As this tradition has been uplifted by the Muslims from the past, the contents are almost the same, not much changes had happened except for some additional melody and its rhythm. Recently, there were efforts made to uplift this tradition to the next level, as for example, the recent Festival Marhaban V, organised by College V in Universiti Putra Malaysia where a number of universities participated in this competition including IIUM.
It gave this type of entertainment a new face when all the participants showed their talent in improving marhaban in a new approach, by using various rhythms and melody that suit the people at this time.
The forgotten Islamic entertainment, Marhaban Marhaban, derived from an Arabic word, carries a meaning of welcoming others in a ceremony or an event. In a traditional Islamic culture the term marhaban refers to a form of Islamic entertainment that is related with the praises to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). ***