Women, the Recited Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia

Women the Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Contemporary Indonesia takes readers to the heart of religious musical praxis in Indonesia, home to the largest Muslim population in the world. Anne K. Rasmussen explores a rich public soundscape, where women recite the divine texts of the Qur'an and where an extraordianry diversity of Arab-influenced Islamic musical styles and genres, also performed by women, flourishes. Based on ethnographic research beginning at the end of Suharto's "New Order" and continuing into the era of "Reformation," the book considers the powerful role of music in the expression of reliogious nationalism.

"Rasmuseen has written a classic study of the world of Islamic soundscapes, performances, and forms of musical piety in that most complex of societies, Indonesia. With great sensitivity; an alert musical response to players, reciters, and audiences; and a keen practitioner's ear and eye for subtlety as well as for the complexities of `noise', she changes common assumptions about Muslim music and, not least, genger in changing Islamic ritual cultures." Michael Gilsenan, author of Lords of the Lebanese Marches: Violence and Narrative in an Arab Society More

Anne K. Rosmuseen is Associate Professor of Music at the College of William and Mary.