Bahdja Rahal and the Arabo-Andalou music.

Beihdja Rahal was born in July 1962 in Algiers into a family where Arab-Andalusian music was customary. Instilled with this art from a very early age, Beihdja Rahal pursued an education in music with the great masters of the classical Arab-Andalusian tradition, including Abderrezak Fakhardji, Mohamed Khaznadji and Zoubir Karkachi.

“As a Muslim woman and as a musician who chose a career in a male-dominated field, I would like to give my opinion on the status of women in the Andalusian-Maghrebian musical tradition even if this would seem out of place in a musical album”

The status of a Muslim woman in the Islamic world
To talk about the status of women artists in the Andalusian-Maghrebian musical tradition requires that one talks about the status of Muslim women in Muslim countries.
Historically Muslim women haven't experienced the marginal role that has been theirs for centuries. Indeed, Muslim women held very important public roles in Muslim societies, notably Khadidja, the first wife of prophet Mohamed (Peace Be Upon Him) and Aicha, his subsequent wife after Khadidja's death. A number of distinguished women also marked their time in religious studies and literature, amongst them Aicha of Jerusalem (a pedagogue), Fatima (daughter of Jamal Eddine Eddimachqui who graduated in teaching), Fatima of Samarcand (author of a number of treaties in jurisprudence and Koranic science), Fatima Qamirizan (who, in the 10 th century, was the director of two great institutes), Bent Essaigh (professor of medicine at the Mansouriah Institute in Egypt) and Chehda Deinouria (one of the greatest authors of the 20 th century who published a number of books in theology and law).

In the literary salons
In music and literature, there were even more female artists who were widely admired. In Arabia , literature salons have been commonplace since the 9th century and elsewhere under the patronage of women artists such as Soukeina.
From these salons emerged the greatest women poets of the time and were the true center of cultural enlightenment from which emanated the finest social, literary and artistic talents. Granada was the perfect example of a literary city. Educated women were experts in the Arabic language and some were well known for their talents in calligraphy, poetry, music and songs. Unfortunately, at the same time, the marginalization of women had started and its impact has since been devastating in all Muslim countries

Noubas ‘forbidden'
What characterizes the situation of women in Arab-Andalusian music is precisely their absence.
Indeed there have been almost no women participating in the noble tradition of singing noubas . If women were limited to singing derivatives of Arab-Andalusian music such as m'sam'î *, it is not because of a lack of competence but rather because Algerian society didn't provide these women with the necessary access to developing this traditional Andalusian-Maghrebian art

What characterizes the situation of women in Arab-Andalusian music is precisely their absence.

An example is M'aalma Yamna (1859 – 1933)
She was trained in musical art as well as in Arabic language. Gifted to play every variety of cord instruments, she perfected her knowledge through Cheikh M'nemeche and Mohamed Sfindja. She was the only female musician who was able to accomplish the level of the very talented masters Beneffahi, Mouzino… She perfected her art by working with these masters and sometimes even by challenging them. Her notoriety and her success caused some very envious reactions from her contemporaries.

Undisputed competence
In the 60's, Algeria 's independence and the new system of universal education for all allowed women to play a more visible role in society. Some were able to affirm their artistic talents.
Although women can now sing these highly sophisticated musical styles, Algerian society remains in demand of women artists. One can notice this when singing inqilabate songs for example.
In the 21 st century, this opening for women can only encourage and evolve their development; a number of associations are hard at work in helping emerging female talents. But female artists can succeed only if they have strong will power and if they live in an environment that encourages them to explore their talents.
It is important to realize that a society that deprives itself of half of its talent (the talent of its female population) is doomed to fail. It is about time this was reversed.

M'âalma Yamna

“Today I am amongst those women who chose to take over this musical tradition in its most demanding and elaborate form, and who are lucky enough to have made it their professional career.
My artistic approach favors a rigorously classical interpretation of the nouba based on the teachings of the School of Algiers, the can'a (a genre of Algeria's classical music heritage that mixes nouba and inqilabate ), a light style, highly ornamented, that makes one dream and that takes one to the mystical state of beatitude.
By choosing to sing in public, I take on the challenge that women could be as good as men in performing this traditional music, a music that we all know to be one of the monuments of Arab-Muslim civilization, which in turn is part of the world's universal civilization heritage.”

Click here for Beihdja RAHAL Official website.

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