ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses monajat in the sung poetry of eastern Khorasan and its prominent role in narratives performed by bakhshi of northern Khorasan. Khorasan is an important area for monajat because of its history and geography and the way these have influenced the musical culture in which monajat are sung, in several musical forms. Monajat is a personal devotional prayer, may be whispered, spoken or sung. Historians of music in each major region of the Islamic world are necessarily concerned with the intersecting histories of specific performance genres, including that of monajat, which is found throughout the Islamic world. Monajat are performed on different religious occasions, primarily during Ramadan, from the minarets of mosques or roofs of houses by both professional and amateur singers. Many Khorasani singers have performed monajat at dawn in the month of Ramadan to remind believers to begin their fast.
