Naat
A Naat is a poetry that specifically praises the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Commonly it is also called as Naat-E-Sharif. In Urdu language Naat is usually referred to as praise or poetry to the Prophet Muhammad. It is a religious poetry usually written in Urdu, Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Sindhi language.
Many of the famous scholars in the earlier days of Islam wrote Naat. People who recite Naat are known as Naat Khuaan or Sanaa Khuaan. Islamic poetry is rich in the praise of Prophet Muhammad. Rarely has there been any Muslim poet who has not written about Prophet Muhhamad in his poetry. This is mainly inspired from the Islamic Hadith that each act of veneration will result in ten blessings of God on the person who venerates in praise of Muhammad.
There are no records of when Naat was initiated in the history. On a more regularized basis, Prophet Muhammad’s companion Hasan ibne Thabit started this work by writing poems in praise of prophet. He was also known asshair e darbaar e risalat. Even before accepting Islam he was a poet, but after embracing Islam he gave a new turn to his poetry and started writing Naat’s in honor of Prophet Muhammad.
He was famous for his poetry that defended Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S) in response to rival poets that attacked him and his religion. Therefore Hassan is known as the first Sana khawaan or the Naat recite of that time. After that many poets followed this trend and totally dedicated themselves to writing Naat’s.
Naat usually is not accompanied by musical instruments. However some scholars have allowed the use of the small drums while reciting it. Usually poetry that is accompanied by musical instruments is called Ghinaa. This has a huge contribution to the Urdu poetry. Naat describes all the great works of Prophet and all his living.