ISLAM AND THE PERFORMING ARTS
Islam constitutes one of the most important cultural influences on traditional Malay performing arts. Art forms associated with Islamic cultures in other countries have been imported directly into the Malay Peninsula, or through third countries. Others have been developed or shaped as a result of Middle Eastern or Islamic influences.
The impact of Islamic influences on Malay traditional music has been much stronger than on theatre or dance. The Ghazal vocal and instrumental style of Johor, for instance, has Middle Eastern as well as Indo-Pakistani elements, although performance techniques have changed. The spiked fiddle (rebab) appears in many variations in the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. In Malaysia it is best manifested in Mak Yong dance, in which it serves as the lead instrument.
Islamic elements are to be found in many other ways in traditional Malay performing arts, such as the singing of songs in Arabic-Persian styles, seen in religious or quasi-religious genres, including qasidah and berzanji, and in the many forms of zikir (religious chanting). The original form of zikir continues in Malaysia, but at the same time it has been transformed beyond recognition. The kind of transformation from religious to secular activity that has taken place in the case of zikir is paralleled in Borea.
The impact of Islam is also seen in theatre opening and closing ceremonies. Incantations in these ceremonies contain selections from the Qur'an as well as Islamic supplications (doa); in certain instances influences from indigenous and Hindu or Buddhist elements have altered the character of these incantations, turning them into mantera (Sanskrit mantra).
One other Islamic or Middle Eastern feature that is prominent in traditional Malay theatre is the choice of stories. Such stories are found essentially in the repertoire of Bangsawan rather than in the older genres. Bangsawan borrowed much else from the Middle and Near Eastern traditions, including costumes, dance movements and language features. Eventually some of these Middle Eastern and Indo-Muslim features were to find their way into Malay films.
While Islamic, Middle Eastern and Indo-Muslim influences have been vital in shaping traditional Malay performing arts over the centuries, recent decades have seen a reversal of attitude towards these art forms due to strengthening of Islamic values. On the positive side, however, Islam has begun to reshape some of the traditional genres, evident in the revival of non-controversial art forms such as the Kelantanese Tarik Selampit and the development of new forms of shadow play, incorporating Islamic elements.
