Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali are reigniting a centuries-old musical tradition

In the 28 years since the death of qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the centuries-old Sufi devotional music tradition has transformed. With his towering vocal power and melodic agility, Khan was responsible for bringing the art form to the world. Performing on international stages such as the UK’s Womad festival and collaborating with a genre-spanning range of artists including Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, he became the art form’s first global star. 

Following Khan’s death in 1997 at the age of 48, his legacy lives on in a number of popular and boundary-straddling performers. Pakistani singer Faiz Ali Faiz’s Qawwali Flamenco group combines Sufi poetry with intricate guitar work, while British singer Abi Sampa’s Orchestral Qawwali Project blends western orchestral arrangements with Indian classical dance and traditional qawwali repertoire. Meanwhile, a younger generation of singers including 22-year-old Pakistani vocalist Chahat Mahmood Ali are breaking through and aiming to establish their own future family lineages.   

Yet, for Khan’s nephews, Rizwan and Muazzam Ali Khan, their uncle’s passing has had a stifling effect on the tradition. “No one has been able to make new qawwali recordings in the classical tradition, since audiences only want to hear Nusrat’s repertoire,” Muazzam says during a call from his home in Faisalabad, Pakistan. 

Read the interview in Hyphen.

[This piece was published on 03/04/25]