A maqam of the Sikah family that begins with Jins Mustaar on Sikah (E half-flat), then activates Jins Nahawand on Nawa (G), with the possibility of Rast appearing in the upper region.

Mustaar is a maqam of the Sikah family. It begins with Jins Mustaar on Sikah (E half-flat), then activates Nahawand on Nawa (G), so its identity is shaped by the difference between its first jins and ordinary Sikah.

Mustaar is a maqam of the Sikah family, but it is not Sikah itself. Its main peculiarity is that it begins with Jins Mustaar on the tonic, and this jins differs from Jins Sikah in that the second degree is raised so that it functions as a melodic pull toward Nahawand in the following region. Its sayr is best understood as a move from Jins Mustaar at the tonic to Nahawand on Nawa (G), with the possibility of expanding toward Rast above before returning to the tonic.

• Sikah (E half-flat): the tonic and final gravitational center of the maqam
• Nawa (G): an important secondary resting point, because it is the place of the Nahawand jins that distinguishes Mustaar
• Kardan (upper C): an upper resting point where Rast may appear in the higher region

• The difference from Sikah is determined by the raising of the second degree inside the first jins
• That raised degree functions as a leading pull toward the tonic of Nahawand on the third degree
• Mustaar should not be reduced to Sikah plus Nahawand only; it has its own special route in which Nahawand is activated from within the first jins itself
• If this difference disappears, the performance turns into ordinary Sikah or sounds like an incomplete passing modulation

• Stabilize the identity of Sikah (E half-flat) at the tonic
• Show the difference between Jins Sikah and Jins Mustaar through the raised second
• Activate Nahawand on Nawa (G) as the next distinguishing jins
• Expand toward Rast above when needed
• Return to the tonic while confirming the special Sikah-family identity of the maqam

• Basic Sikah highlights a different middle structure, whereas Mustaar is defined by activating Nahawand on the third degree through Jins Mustaar below
• Huzam usually works through bringing out Hijaz in the middle and upper region, whereas Mustaar works through Nahawand; this is a direct structural and auditory difference
• Iraq also belongs to the Sikah family, but it resolves on Iraq (B half-flat) rather than Sikah (E half-flat), whereas Mustaar remains Sikah-tonic
• The practical debate today is not large over its belonging to Sikah, but over the degree of its contemporary independent use
• Modern writing describes it as an archaic or older maqam, and notes that Jins Mustaar remains more active in contemporary practice than Mustaar as a fully independent maqam