How have Muslims listened, recited, remembered and made meaning through sound across history and around the world?

How have Muslims listened, recited, remembered and made meaning through sound across history and around the world? Moving beyond the question of whether music is permissible, this panel explores the rich sonic dimensions of Muslim life, from Qur'anic recitation and devotional practice to Sufi traditions, historical debates on sound technologies, and diverse musical cultures across the Islamic world. Bringing together leading scholars of ethnomusicology, Islamic studies and Ottoman history, the discussion will examine how sound has shaped religious experience, communal identity and aesthetic expression in different Muslim societies. Through perspectives spanning Syria and the Levant, Southeast Asia and the Turkic-speaking world, the panel invites audiences to think beyond narrow categories of "music" and consider the broader aural landscapes through which Muslims have encountered the sacred, negotiated tradition and responded to social and technological change.

Please note that doors will close shortly before the advertised time so we request that you arrive 15 minutes before the start time.

About the speakers

The panel features Dr Lutfi Othman (Cambridge University Library), whose work explores Sufi sound and devotional practice in Singapore and southeast Asia; Dr Dunya Habash (St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge), whose research examines sonic practices among displaced Syrians in Türkiye; and Dr Razia Sultanova (Cambridge Muslim College), whose research focuses on Islam and the musical traditions of the Turkic-speaking world.

About The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts

The Cambridge Festival of Islamic Arts runs from 19 to 29 November 2026, bringing performances, exhibitions, lectures, and workshops to Cambridge's historic colleges, museums, and cultural spaces. Open to everyone, the festival celebrates the beauty and diversity of Islamic arts, and, fifty years on from the landmark 1976 World of Islam Festival, carries that spirit into our own time. Find out more at cfia.co.uk (http://cfia.co.uk).

Description supplied by the event organiser.