Music is haram, goes the old adage. This issue of Critical Muslim begs to differ, as Jeremy Henzell-Thomas urges the ummah to move forward from its anxieties that music is a licentious influence. Celebrating the rich tradition of musical arts throughout the Muslim world, we are invited to private audiences with performers from Bollywood to Central Asia and are offered an insight into the life of a Muslim punk in 1970s Britain. Putting the Muslim into classical music and the Islam into heavy metal, every genre is brought in from the theological cold.

Critical Muslim is a quarterly magazine of ideas and issues showcasing ground breaking thinking on Islam and what it means to be a Muslim in a rapidly changing, interconnected world.