The debaa or deba is a mixture of traditional dance, music and song practiced on the island of Mayotte [1] where it is reserved exclusively for women [2]
Debaa can have religious [3] significance, be practiced as a distraction, or be akin to a competition between several groups of women from different villages.
The debaa is a recent tradition drawn from Sufism, a form of spirituality developed in Basra through contact with Shiism by the successors of Abdou-l-Wâhid ibnou Zayd, a disciple of Al-Hassan al-Basrî, himself being a tali'i of Persian origin, that is to say an individual who has known at least one sahâbi, a companion of the prophet of Islam, the religion which is the majority religion in Islam in Mayotte. It should nevertheless be noted that the specificities of Sufism are not based on the sacred texts (the Koran and the corpus of the Hadith) unanimously recognized as authentic, and that if the asceticism of Al-Hassan al-Basrî inspired Sufism, no nothing has been reported to confirm that he was the instigator. [4]
The debaa developed in Mayotte in the years 1920-1930 under the influence of a foundi (Madrasa school teacher). Linked to the Sufi brotherhood Rifa'iyya, it was first reserved for men and of a purely religious nature, before opening up to women, then being reserved for them.
The debaa is identical to the practices of Sufism with regard to chanting and music, which consists of a few simple percussions, the only notable difference being the dance.
Sufism, also known as Tasawwuf, is a mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic purification, spirituality, ritualism, asceticism, and esotericism. It has been variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam", the "main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization" of mystical practice in Islam, and "the interiorization and intensification of Islamic faith and practice".
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Religious music is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Religious songs have been described as a source of strength, as well as a means of easing pain, improving one's mood, and assisting in the discovery of meaning in one's suffering. While style and genre vary broadly across traditions, religious groups still share a variety of musical practices and techniques.
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (tariqah), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish (derviş) as well as in Amazigh (Aderwish), corresponding to the Arabic term faqīr. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego (nafs) to reach God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. Their most popular practice is Sama, which is associated with the 13th-century mystic Rumi. In folklore and with adherents of Sufism, dervishes are often credited with the ability to perform miracles and ascribed supernatural powers. Historically, the term Dervish has also been used more loosely, as the designation of various Islamic political movements or military entities.
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Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam in which Muslims seek divine love and truth through direct personal experience of God. This mystic tradition within Islam developed in several stages of growth, emerging first in the form of early asceticism, based on the teachings of Hasan al-Basri, before entering the second stage of more classical mysticism of divine love, as promoted by al-Ghazali and Attar of Nishapur, and finally emerging in the institutionalized form of today's network of fraternal Sufi orders, based on Sufis such as Rumi and Yunus Emre. At its core, however, Sufism remains an individual mystic experience, and a Sufi can be characterized as one who seeks the annihilation of the ego in God.
The 'Isawiyya is a religious Islamic mystical brotherhood founded in Meknes, Morocco, by Sheikh al-Kamil Mohamed al-Hadi ben Issa (1465–1526), best known as the Shaykh Al-Kamil, or "Perfect Sufi Master". The terms Aissawiyya (`Isawiyya) and Aissawa (`Isawa), derive from the name of the founder, and respectively designate the brotherhood and its disciples.
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Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Hasan Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as Hasan of Basra for short, or as Hasan al-Basri, was an ancient Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge. Born in Medina in 642, Hasan belonged to the second generation of Muslims, all of whom would subsequently be referred to as the tābiʿūn in Sunni Islamic piety. He became one of "the most celebrated" of the tābiʿūn, enjoying an "acclaimed scholarly career and an even more remarkable posthumous legacy in Islamic scholarship."
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Michel Boivin is a French historian and anthropologist who specializes in South Asia. Trained in contemporary history, Islamic studies and ethnology, he is currently Emeritus Director of Research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique and a member of the CESAH, former CEIAS at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS). He had taught at the Université de Savoie Mont Blanc, at Sciences Po Lyon, as well as at The Catholic University of Lyon. He has co-directed three seminars at the EHESS: "History and Anthropology of the Muslim Societies of South Asia", "Authority and Politics in the Sufism of South and Central Asia", and "Material Culture and devotion among the Shia societies". In addition, he contributed to the organization of two CEIAS research groups: "Vernacular Cultures and New Muslim Elites", with Julien Levesque, and "Gujarati and Sindhi Studies: Societies, Languages and Cultures", with Pierre Lachaier.
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