IstimĀ': The Sound Way & Listening for God

The universe began with a movement of sound, as the Divine Creative Command Kun (Be!) reverberated with tarab (musical ecstasy) through all the levels of existence, beginning with the Divine Throne all the way to the heart of humanity. In this book, we explore the history of sound and music as a sacred journey to God in Islamic spirituality, starting with the initial revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad, which emerged through sound, until the present day and tumultuous response of various Muslims to the onslaught of religious extremism. In the second chapter, Metaphysics, we explore the height of cosmic soundscape in the writings of the Andalusian Muslim mystic Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabi (d. 1240) and other saints. Then, in the third chapter, Reflections, the author shares his own meditations on the sacrality of sound based on his decades-long work as a musician and educator in the Muslim community.