Wiktionary
n. 1 (context music uncountable English) A style of Muslim devotional music, especially among the Sufis, accompanied by drums and harmonium. 2 (context music countable English) A song in this style.
Wikipedia
Qawwali ( Nastaʿlīq: ; Hindi:क़व्वाली; Bangla: কাওয়ালি) is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia: in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan; in Hyderabad, Delhi and other parts of India, especially North India; as well as Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and many parts of Bangladesh. It is part of a musical tradition that stretches back for more than 700 years.
Originally performed mainly at Sufi shrines or dargahs throughout South Asia, it has also gained mainstream popularity. Qawwali music received international exposure through the work of the late Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, largely due to several releases on the Real World label, followed by live appearances at WOMAD festivals. Other famous Qawwali singers include Pakistan's Sabri Brothers, Bahauddin Qutbuddin and Aziz Mian.
Usage examples of "qawwali".
If there was anything he knew that came close, it might have been the Qawwali stuff, the Sufi devotional music he had listened to for a while as a matter of rebellion when all his musical friends had suddenly discovered African music and were raving to him about King Sunny Ade and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
She was unfamiliar with the red spittle from the betel chewing that was expectorated everywhere around them, and not even the Hindi film songs and the Qawwali on the jukebox in the Olympia had prepared her for the assault of noise along Falkland Road.