Islamic music

Islamic music may refer to religious music, as performed in Islamic public services or private devotions, or more generally to musical traditions of the Muslim world. The heartland of Islam is the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Balkans, and West Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia. Due to Islam being a multi-ethnic religion, the musical expression of its adherents is vastly diverse. Indigenous traditions of various part have influenced the musical styles popular among Muslims today. The word "music" in Arabic, the language of Islam, (mūsīqā موسيقى) is defined more narrowly than in English or some other languages, and "its concept" was at least originally "reserved for secular art music; separate names and concepts belonged to folk songs and to religious chants".

At least one scholar (Jacob M. Landau) makes the generalization about Islamic music that it "is characterized by a highly subtle organization of melody and rhythm", that "the vocal component predominates over the instrumental", and that the individual musician "is permitted, and indeed encouraged, to improvise".

Historically, the question of whether music is permitted in Islamic jurisprudence is disputed. Regardless, Islamic art and music flourished during the Islamic Golden Age. Islamic music is also credited with influencing European and Western music; for example, French musicologist Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger in his assessment of the Abbasid Caliphate in Islamic history credits Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi's Kitabu l'musiqi al-kabir ("The Great Book of Music") with this influence.

According to scholar Jacob M. Landau, "a fusion of musical styles" was able to develop between "pre-Islamic Arabian music" and the music of Persians, Byzantines, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Turks, Moors, because of "strong affinities between Arabic music and the music of the nations occupied by the expanding Arabic peoples". The core area where this "new art" of classical Islamic music succeeded stretched "from the Nile valley to Persia". However, many parts of the Muslim world did not adopt the "new art" of classical Islamic music, or adopted it but also kept native music forms which were "alien" to classical Islamic music. In general, the farther from the area between the Nile and Persia one travels, "the less one finds undiluted Islamic music."

All of these regions were connected by trade long before the Islamic conquests of the 7th century, and it is likely that musical styles travelled the same routes as trade goods. However, lacking recordings, we can only speculate as to the pre-Islamic music of these areas. Islam must have had a great influence on music, as it united vast areas under the first caliphs, and facilitated trade between distant lands. Certainly, the Sufis, brotherhoods of Muslim mystics, spread their music far and wide.

Khaliji music has roots going back more than 1,000 years, to the Islamic period, under the Umayyads and Abbasids.

The Berber and Arabic speaking countries of Central and Western North Africa, such as Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia, share some musical traditions with Egypt and the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East. Popular modern styles of music such as Raï and Chaabi originated in Berber countries. In addition, West African influences can be heard in the popular music of Gnawa.

Most Somali music is based on the pentatonic scale. That is, the songs only use five pitches per octave in contrast to a heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the major scale. At first listen, Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby regions such as Ethiopia, Sudan or Eritrea, but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between lyricists (midho), songwriters (lahan), and singers ('odka or "voice"). Instruments prominently featured in Somali music include the kaban (oud).