Samāʿ, audition, is listening to music and poetry as a means to God. Its legitimacy was debated; its defenders, such as al-Ghazālī, held that it stirs what is already in the heart. The Mevlevī whirling ceremony and the qawwālī of the Chishtīs are among its forms.
Samāʿ
Listening: Sufi gatherings of music, poetry and sometimes movement, to awaken ecstasy and remembrance.
Also: Sama, audition