Egyptian Sufi chanter Amer El-Touni passes away at 57

Ahram Online , Monday 3 Feb 2025

Prolific chanter Amer El-Touni, founder of the Sufi chanting group Egyptian Mawlawiyah, died Sunday in Cairo at the age of 57.

Amer El-Touni

 

For decades, El-Touni’s name has been synonymous with the mystic Islamic tradition of Sufism and the preservation of Egyptian folkloric heritage.

The chanter was born in Minya governorate in 1967 and dedicated his life to pursuing mystic and folkloric knowledge.

He held a PhD in Philosophy in Art Criticism from the Academy of Arts in Cairo.

El-Touni also served as the director of the Department of Folkloric Documentation in the National Centre for Theatre, Music, and Folk Art for two decades. 

In the mid-2010s, he became the creative director of Beit El Sehemy Creative Centre.

Moreover, he established the Sufi chanting group Egyptian Mawlawiyah in 1994.

The group is linked to 800-year-old traditions initiated by the Sufi mystic poet Jalal El-Din Rumi. After that, the Mawlawiyah Sufi dance became a global folkloric tradition.

El-Touni examined the musical influences of Muwashahat, supplications, and praise inherited from the greatest Sufi sheikhs between the Ottoman conquest and the 1952 revolution.

During the Ottoman Empire’s reign over Egypt, locals adopted the Mawlawiyah, which became a part of Egypt’s cultural heritage. 

He also explored the ceremonial forms of various Sufi orders in Egypt, such as the Mirghaniyya, Shadhiliyya, Rifaiyya, and Bayumiyya, which incorporate diverse religious musical traditions.

Through his research, articles, and books, El-Touni significantly contributed to the understanding and performance of the Mawlawiyah tradition.

He also collected and documented many Egyptian folkloric songs and helped revive the Egyptian Mawlawiyah heritage by performing it on global stages. 

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