I argue that shifting assumptions about “authentic Islam” have catalyzed the scandalization of mystical music in Pakistan. The emergence of…
Sonic controversy: “Hinduistic music” in Pakistan
music
What are oaths good for?
As American statesmen and a US Supreme Court Justice in the ’90s were figuring out what to do with their…
Creating new Sufi publics at an old Sufi shrine
[M]odern Sufis have recognized the importance of music and the arts as a recruitment tool for forming a new Sufi…
Agnostic front of the aging boomer
Remember when it rained frogs? Unless you were in Egypt during the second plague, the way you would likely remember…
The lady is unvanquished
Taylor hears Peggy Lee sing “Is That All There Is?” and hears disappointment, ennui, the champagne of life gone flat.…
How much a spirit cost
I first connected with the work of Josef Sorett when he published this strong-voiced call to make hip hop a serious subject…
America’s music
On December 4, 1987 both chambers of the 100th United States Congress passed a “resolution expressing the sense of Congress…
Spirit in the Dark—An introduction
Josef Sorett (Columbia University) introduces a critical exchange centered on his new book, Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of…
Madonna’s “Isaac”/Madonna’s Akeda—A lesson for scholars, old and young
In 2009, and again in 2010, I taught a class on the Akeda (“Binding of Isaac”) in the arts and…
How to make someone famous for the wrong reason
Shahin Najafi never set out to be a rapper, much less “Salman Rushdie of Rap,” but in early 2012, global…