Stillness
Zikr Huu
Nine pieces, female voices, minimal instrumentation and a meditative approach in which space and repetition are central.
Monotheistic Sacred Music Universe
Neo-Sacred Zikr
A contemporary sacred music universe developed by Berk KÖKSAL in which zikr can be expressed through classical chorus, ambient meditation, progressive rock, rap, jazz, symphonic metal and other musical languages while remaining centered on the remembrance and glorification of the ONE GOD.
I
What is Neo-Sacred Zikr?
Neo-Sacred Zikr is not defined by one tempo, one instrument, one vocal style or one genre. It is an upper musical concept that allows different forms of contemporary music to serve the same spiritual center: remembrance of GOD.
In Köksal's understanding, a Neo-Sacred Zikr work may use symphonic orchestra, sacred choir, rock guitars, jazz harmony, rap rhythm, children's voices, ambient sound, piano, ney, organ or technologies that have not yet become part of the catalogue. The musical language is free; the center remains monotheistic.
The purpose is therefore larger than producing songs inside a fixed style. The aim is to create a musical space in which the ONE GOD can be remembered and glorified through the sound world of the modern age.
II · Origin of the Name
The music came first. The name came later.
Köksal's first zikr singles and early albums were created before the phrase Neo-Sacred Zikr had been formalized. The name emerged later, around the period of Classical Chorus and the development of his website.
By then, the catalogue already contained symphonic, meditative, rock and choral approaches. Köksal wanted a single upper structure that could bring all of these works together without forcing them into one conventional genre. Neo-Sacred Zikr became that structure.
Genres are tools. The spiritual center is the identity.
III · Core Principles
Music as remembrance, reflection and glorification.
To glorify the ONE GOD
To keep remembrance centered on GOD alone
To express zikr through the sounds of the modern age
To make the beautiful names and attributes of GOD heard through music
To treat genres as tools rather than destinations
To allow the listener to become a participant in remembrance
IV · The First Door
Zikir (La ilahe illa Allah)
The foundational work of the journey was Zikir (La ilahe illa Allah), released on YouTube on 31 August 2024. Köksal describes its production as a difficult process involving tempo, recording, software and other technical problems.
When he felt close to abandoning the piece, he says he prayed for help to complete music whose purpose was to glorify GOD. He later came to regard the completion of this recording as the point at which the larger sacred music journey was opened to him.
The work also established an important direction: traditional forms could inspire the musical memory, but the new compositions would be built around Köksal's monotheistic understanding of remembering GOD alone.
V · Early Works
The vocabulary expands
Before the album universe fully formed, a sequence of singles explored repentance, praise, divine names, collective zikr and different vocal approaches. In one recording, Arya Belinda Köksal's childhood voice was preserved after she spontaneously joined her father during zikr at home.
Zikir (La ilahe illa Allah)
Zikir (Allah Allah La ilahe illa Allah)
Tövbe Ettim, Estağfurullah Ya Gaffar
Allahu Lena – Tanrı Bizimle
Tanrıya Övgüler – All Praising Be to GOD
Subhanallah
Allahu Ekber
Ya Baki Entel Baki
Rabbi Eûzu Bike
Allahu Allah
VI · The Universe
From near-silence to symphonic metal.
The catalogue intentionally moves between extremes. Some projects reduce the arrangement almost to human voice and atmosphere; others use full orchestra, choir, distorted guitars and progressive structures. The contrast is part of the concept rather than a contradiction.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Symphonic Metal / Progressive Metal / Neoclassical Metal
ZIKR SYMPHONIC METAL
A 19-movement concept album centered almost entirely on HÛ, with occasional Hay / Al-Hayy. Breath, female voice, sacred choir, symphonic orchestra, pipe organ, brass and progressive neoclassical metal become one continuous act of remembrance.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Spiritual Jazz / Modal Jazz / Sacred Music
ZIKR JAZZ
A 19-track sacred jazz journey shaped by extended harmony, modal color, warm acoustic instrumentation and a calmer, more intimate form of remembrance.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Sacred Choral Music / Spiritual Ambient
Zikr-i Batın
A 19-track inward journey centered on remembrance, divine names and inner reflection, ending with an experimental Huruf al-Muqatta'at composition.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Spiritual Rap / Sacred Hip-Hop
ZIKR RAP
A 19-track project that redirects the rhythmic language of rap toward remembrance and praise of GOD, beginning with Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Children's Choir / Sacred Music / Spiritual Contemporary
Neo-Sacred Zikr: One God One Love
A 19-track children's choir project created from the idea that monotheist children should also have a contemporary musical language through which they can remember and glorify GOD.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Sacred Choral Music / Classical / Neoclassical
Neo-Sacred Zikr: Classical Chorus
A 19-track classical and choral project shaped by large sacred choir textures, Köksal's lifelong relationship with Mozart and the dramatic language of Requiem and Kyrie-like writing.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Sacred Rock / Progressive Rock / Neoclassical
ZIKR ROCK
A 19-track return to Köksal's rock and lead-guitar roots. The album begins with Huu and grows progressively more rhythmic, distorted and energetic toward its final Subhanallah.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Ambient Spiritual Music / Sacred Meditation
Zikr Nur
A 19-track atmospheric work built around female voices, rain ambience, distant thunder, piano, ney and gentle rhythm — a musical image of divine light falling like rain.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Spiritual Ambient / Sacred Meditation
Zikr Huu
A nine-piece minimalist album using female voices, repetition and near-silence to create a peaceful and meditative form of remembrance.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Symphonic Sacred Music / Progressive Rock / Neoclassical Metal
Zikr Symphony
The first large-scale concept album of the universe: 19 principal works, with the nineteenth work containing a further 19-part medley, creating a two-level reference to the QUR'AN's 19-based system as understood by Köksal.
Neo-Sacred Zikr / Spiritual Music / Contemporary Devotional Music
Tanrı'nın Hediyesi
The first album-format release of the journey, built around Tövbe Ettim, Estağfurullah Ya Gaffar in three complementary forms: vocal, instrumental and piano/choir-centered.
VII · First Major Concept Album
Zikr Symphony
The idea of a “zikr symphony” had existed in Köksal's imagination long before the album was completed. He wanted to hear monotheistic zikr inside a contemporary large-scale sound: choir, orchestra, bass, drums, metal guitars, organ and modern production.
The project was planned around 19 principal works. During production, roughly fifty musical sketches were created. The final architecture kept 19 main pieces and transformed the nineteenth work into a further 19-part medley so that additional musical ideas could remain part of the album.
For Köksal, this made the album's connection with the number 19 structural rather than decorative. He regards Zikr Symphony as the first truly large Neo-Sacred Zikr concept album, even though the umbrella name itself was formalized later.
Nature
Zikr Nur
Rain, distant thunder, piano, ney, gentle rhythm and female voices create the image of divine light falling like rain.
Energy
ZIKR ROCK
Rock and neoclassical guitar return to the foreground as the album grows progressively more distorted and energetic across its 19 tracks.
VIII · 2026 Concept Milestone
ZIKR SYMPHONIC METAL
ZIKR SYMPHONIC METAL takes the universe into a stricter concept form. Its 19 movements are centered almost entirely on one sacred utterance: HÛ. Selected passages also use Hay / Al-Hayy.
A fragile female voice and breath can expand into sacred choir, strings, brass, timpani, pipe organ, bass, drums, distorted guitar and neoclassical solos. Metal is used as a language of power and majesty rather than anger.
One utterance. Nineteen movements. The sound changes; the center remains.
IX · Journey
Neo-Sacred Zikr Timeline
2024
Zikir (La ilahe illa Allah) and the first zikr singles
Tanrı'nın Hediyesi
2025
Zikr Symphony
2026
Zikr Huu
Zikr Nur
ZIKR ROCK
Neo-Sacred Zikr: Classical Chorus
Neo-Sacred Zikr: One God One Love
ZIKR RAP
Zikr-i Batın
ZIKR JAZZ
ZIKR SYMPHONIC METAL
X · A Living Definition
Neo-Sacred Zikr is intended to be a field that other monotheist musicians can continue.
Köksal does not see the term only as the name of his own discography. His hope is that it can become a lasting musical definition — a space in which future artists can develop new sounds while keeping remembrance of the ONE GOD at the center.
QURAN: THE FINAL TESTAMENT
[87:1] Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High.
Quran: The Final Testament ↗