17. The Musical Lives of Texts: Rhythms and Communal Relationships among the Nizamis and Some of Their Neighbours in South and West Asia

Wolf’s study of drumming during Muharram in Delhi, Karachi, and Trinidad is dense with insights on the relationship between texts, meanings, and rhythm. Through close analysis of drum patterns associated with specific Islamic texts, Wolf reveals the layers of meaning that are intelligible to listeners to varying degrees depending on their proximity to South Asia, their experience with drumming, their engagement with textual traditions. Starting with an introduction to the meanings of the Karbala story, he elucidates the varied, subtle, and sometimes abstracted relationship between drumming patterns and texts in Muharram celebrations and the meanings of these for community and intercommunal relationships.