Music

What is “music of the Islamic world”? Indeed, what is “the Islamic world”? The “world” metaphor implies coherence, at least relative to other “worlds,” and for a particular observer. Musing freely about the “Islamic world,” one might arrive at any one of the following four definitions:

1 The socio-cultural world of Islamic religious practice and discourse, over time and space. Though diverse, significant internal linkages lend coherence; this world is viewed – from within and without – as “Islamic.”