Rizwan-Muassam Quwwali

The living legacy of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

When legendary qawwali maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, popularly known as “Shahenshah-eQawwali”, died in 1997, his family’s six-century musical tradition did not end. The legacy of qawwali, a form of devotional music popular in South Asia, was passed to his nephews, Rizwan and Muazzam, exceptional singers who carry on the Sufi tradition of musical devotion and exaltation.

Performing together since the 1990s, their incredible shows at festivals around the world, including WOMAD, have seen them develop a devoted worldwide following. The brothers perform songs that use hypnotic vocal repetition to induce a state of ecstasy. Backed by traditional instruments gharana, harmonium and tabla, the brothers’ rich voices soar, pushed onwards by pulsing music and rhythmic handclaps.

Rizwan and Muazzam are the torchbearers of the Qawwali tradition. In the 20th anniversary year since Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s passing, the brothers’ are keeping their Uncle’s legacy very much alive – and their imaginative reinterpretation of classic Sufi texts is a rare and transcendent experience that you will not want to miss.