Egyptian female religious chanters break gender barrier
A group of young women who love the art of religious chanting decided to break into the field of chanting, which has been dominated by men since its inception, and unleash their creativity.
Of all the kinds of art around her, it was the religious chanting that charmed Neama Fathy and attracted her to practice it as her profession.
As a child, her mother took her to the Moulid Hussein Ibn Ali and Sayeda Zeinab — religious festivals to celebrate the birthdays of Sayeda Zeinab and Hussein, grandchildren of the Prophet Muhammad — where Fathy attended many religious chanting rituals and got mesmerized by them.
“My mother took me to learn maqamat [melodies used in Arab music] at the hands of professors of religious chanting at the Cairo Opera House — that was the beginning. Then when I turned 17, I started chanting,” Fathy told Al-Monitor.
She said, “My mother encouraged me, and although I studied agriculture, I did not stop religious chanting. It is a hobby that I refined and mastered through training and learning."
