Haḍra

Haḍra (Arabic: حضرة‎) is a collective supererogatory ritual performed by Sufi orders. It is often held on Thursday evenings after the night prayer, on Fridays after jumu'ah prayer or on Sunday evenings, and can also celebrated on special Islamic festivals and at rites of passage. It may be held at home, in a mosque, in a Sufi hospice or elsewhere. The term in Arabic literally means "presence". The hadra features various forms of dhikr (remembrance), including sermons, collective study, recitation of Qur'an and other texts (especially devotional texts particular to the Sufi order (tariqa) in question, called hizb and wird), religious poetic chanting, centering on praise and supplication to God, religious exhortations, praise of the Prophet and requests for intercession (inshad dini or madih - the latter term referring literally to "praise") and rhythmic invocations of God using one or more divine names, especially Allah, Hayy, Qayyum or simply Hu ("He"), as well as the testimony of faith and tawhid, la ilaha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah).