Islamic music

At least one scholar (Jacob M. Landau) observed that Islamic music "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" in its creation.

Despite the flourishing of music during and since the Islamic Golden Age in the Abbasid Caliphate, the question of whether creating and indulging in music and associated arts is permissible in Islam has remained a subject of debate in Islamic scholarship, with some asserting that the prohibition may not apply to some specific forms of the art. Islamic music is also credited with influencing more modern musical styles in the Western world; French musicologist Rodolphe François, for example, in his assessment of the Abbasid era in Islamic history, credits the Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir (Arabic: كِتٰبَ ٱلمُوْسِيقَىٰ ٱلكَبِيرُ; lit. 'The Great Book of Music') by al-Farabi as one such treatise attesting to this influence.

Secular and folk musical styles

Classical Islamic music

According to Landau, "a fusion of musical styles" was able to develop between "pre-Islamic Arabian music" and the music of the Persians, the Byzantines, the Egyptians, Mesopotamia, the Turks, and the 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."

West Asia

• Arabic music (Iraqi, Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese, Omani, Palestinian, Qatari, Saudi Arabian, Syrian, Emirati, Yemeni)
• Caucasian music (Azerbaijani, Circassian, etc.)
• Iranian music (Persian, etc.)
• Kurdish music
• Turkish music (incl. Turkish Cypriot)

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.

North Africa

The Berber- and Arabic-speaking countries of Central and Western North Africa, such as Morocco, Mauritania, 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 Morocco and Algeria. In addition, West African influences can be heard in Gnawa music.

• Algerian music
• Berber music (Algeria and Morocco)
• Egyptian music
• Libyan music
• Moroccan music
  • Sahrawi music (Western Sahara)
• Tunisian music

Horn of Africa

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).

West Africa

Islam is the largest and oldest organized religion in this region, although indigenous Sahelian and Saharan styles and genres are more prominent than those influenced by Middle-Eastern theory.^{[Clarification needed]}

West African musical genres are more varied, and tend to incorporate both native and Berber influences, rather than those of Arab origin. A long history of court griot music based on historical accounts and praise-singing exists in the region. Wind and string instruments, such as the Kora harp, xalam lute, or Tambin flute (similar to the ney) are generally preferred to percussion, although percussion instruments such as the talking drum and djembe are also widely played among Muslim populations.

Central Asia

Many of the countries in Central Asia such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have been heavily influenced by Turkic and Persian culture. Bowed instruments are common, as is bardic singing.

• Music of Central Asia

South Asia

The music of the Muslim countries of South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan) as well as countries with sizeable Muslim minorities (India, Nepal and Sri Lanka) merged Middle Eastern genres with indigenous classical musical modes, and is generally distinct in style and orchestration. Yet due to the strong links encountered between the Middle-East, Central Asia, and South Asia, it is closer to Middle-Eastern styles than those of the periphery of the Islamic world, which tend to be purely indigenous.

• Music of Afghanistan
• Music of Bangladesh
• Music of Maldives
• Music of Pakistan

Southeast Asia

Muslim-majority Indonesia has been significantly less influenced by Middle Eastern traditions than South Asia. As a result, many local musical styles predate the coming of Islam, although exceptions include Malay Zapin and Joget, and the Indonesian Gambus (derived from Qanbus), all of which show strong Middle Eastern influence.

There are also local music genres in Muslim-majority regions in Southeast Asia that are influenced by Arabic traditions, such as the tagonian of the Sundanese people and glipang of the people of Probolinggo.

The music of South East Asia's Muslim-majority regions is more closely related to the musical genres of South East and East Asia. Gong chime ensembles such as Gamelan and Kulintang existed in the region before the arrival of Islam, and musical theory and method owe more to Chinese influence, as well as Hindu–Buddhist principles, than to Arabic musical philosophy. Variations of one of two main scales prevail in the region among different ensembles: slendro and pelog (both of which originated in Java).

In Java, use of the gamelan for Islamic devotional music was encouraged by the Muslim saint Sunan Kalijogo.