Women and Religious Music
Anne Rasmussen's Women, the Recited Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia Courtesy: University of California Press Through reading Anne Rasmussen's Women, the Recited Qur'an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia I was really fascinated by the differences in Qur’an recitation cross-culturally. Learning about the significance of Indigenous Indonesian styles of music and Arabic poetry traditions was certainly eye-opening. The way that the Qur’an is used and honored by Muslim people are vast, complex, intimate yet public. A very damaging misconception about Islam is that women are not allowed to participate in activities or express themselves in any way. While it is unfortunately true that many Muslim women are subject to abuse and control, this absolutely does not automatically apply to all Islamic communities. The Indonesian Islamic songs sung by women that we listened to in class, particularly Al-Quran, were inspiring, emotive and empoweri...