Various Artists

Ten years in the making, The Music of Islam series recorded in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and Qatar represents the most comprehensive sound documentation available to Westerners today, of a world religion dating back to 1/622. Although governed by strict rules for fourteen centuries, contact with other cultures has radically affected Islamic music throughout history. As the world enters the XV/21st century the timing of this collection serves an even larger purpose, documenting the traditions that have survived and will continue to survive for centuries to come. Today, one fifth of the world's population, over one billion people, are Muslims, occupying a large territory stretching from the Atlantic shore of north and west Africa, through west, central, and south Asia to island southeast Asia, and attracting an increasing following in India, western Europe, north America, east Asia, and southern Africa. This is a global presence which cannot be ignored.

With 17 CDs in 15 volumes, The Music of Islam boxed set artistically presents nearly 20 hours of diversely rich Islamic music recorded throughout the Islamic Belt with over 800 pages of synoptic scholastic text written by leading scholars and ethnomusicologists from around the world. Creating a class of its own, and perhaps setting a new standard, The Music of Islam is an unequalled sound document destined to live beyond our time and, regrettably, most likely surpass the very existence of some of the people and cultures featured.