In Taliban times, musical performances and instruments were officially forbidden. Over the past two years, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, an expatriate musician and musicologist, has been leading an initiative to rebuild formal music education in Afghanistan. Martin Gerner met him in Kabul
As opposed to medieval Europe, the arts in Muslim Spain, were free. Now the album "Siwan" celebrates the music and the spirit of Al Andalus, demonstrating that Islamic civilization is one of the cornerstones of Western culture, as writes Richard Marcus
Since the controversial presidential election last June, Iranian musicians of all genres have created a multi-layered song repertoire. Their songs are an attempt to come to terms with the bloody suppression of the opposition and demands for political freedom in Iran. By Jan Engelhardt
Back in the seventies, when the first experiments bringing Western and Eastern music together in jazz were taking place, musicians trusted in the power of the sounds themselves. Since 9/11, such experiments have taken their orientation from religious, literary and philosophical texts, as Alessandro Topa found out when he listened to three new releases on the ECM label
Ever since the 1960s, Morocco has been a magnet for musicians from around the world, experimenting with music that crosses all kinds of boundaries. The Gnawa Festival in Essaouira is very much part of this tradition. Andreas Kirchgäßner took a look around this year's event
Daniel Barenboim is on tour with his Israeli-Arab orchestra in times of war. He regards it as an "independent republic" – and he has a message to pass on that is otherwise all but drowned out by the noise of the battlefield. By Sonja Zekri
Ruba Saqr sings her self-composed folk songs as authentically as her vocal improvisations inspired by Islamic mysticism. She is one of Jordan's most promising musical talents. Martina Sabra met her in Amman
Honour killings, terrorist acts, the war in Iraq … in his song texts, the successful Muslim rapper Ammar114 criticises the injustice done both by and to Muslims. Nimet Seker spoke to him about his lyrics
The Idan Raichel Project is a musical collective that incorporates the sounds and influences of the many cultures and traditions that make up the fabric of Israeli society – Ethiopian, Yemenite, Arab, Latin American, Eastern and Western European, just to name a few. Marianna Evenstein spent an afternoon with Idan Raichel and some of his musicians in Berlin, where they recently performed
Yasmin Levy believes that it is possible for Jews and Arabs to live a normal peaceful life together, even in Jerusalem. Stefan Franzen spoke to the 32-year-old singer, who sees herself as an ambassador for a multicultural metropolis
In the USA, where an increasing number of African-American musicians are converting to Islam, a Muslim hip hop scene is emerging. The proponents of this style of music consider themselves to be intermediaries between Islam and pop culture. Jonathan Fischer reports
In Turkey today, traditional Islamic music is giving way to the rock sound of "Yesil Pop". But along with the normal rock beat and guitar rifts, comes not a message of sex and drugs, but rather praising God. Dorian Jones reports
Following her widely acclaimed featured performance on Gilad Atzmon's "Exile", the British-Palestinian singer Reem Kelani has released her own debut album, establishing herself as important artist in the Palestinian musical tradition. By Lewis Gropp
Yusuf Islam, the man who was once Cat Stevens, talks about his first pop album for almost three decades, about metamorphosis and about happiness. Interview by Guido Mingels
The German-Persian singer Cymin Samawatie is the leader of the band Cyminology. With the quartet she has set texts of the Persian mystic Hāfiz and the scholar and poet Omar Khayyám, among others, to music. A portrait by Lewis Gropp
brownbook magazine is a middle eastern magazine dedicated to create awareness for the growing talent that is available in the region whether they are artists, galleries, photographers or even talented individuals who add value to the region and beyond. More...
In this authors@google lecture, Salman Rushdie talks about his latest novel, "The Enchantress of Florence", which brings together the Italian cradle of the Renaissance with the enlightened Mughal Empire of Akbar the Great. More...
Known as an expert on Islam and Islamic art, in his book Titus Burckhardt presents in-depth analyses of seminal examples of Islamic architecture, from Spain and Morocco to Persia and India. Click here to have a look at an extensive excerpt...
Fadhil Al-Azzawi's novel The Last of the Angels, set in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk during the 1950s, was recently published in English. Read the excerpt chapter "Hameed Nylon" on Words Without Borders...
