The Awakening of Islamic Pop Music

Awakening – an Islamic media company formed in London – has created the soundtrack to many Muslim lives during the last two decades and has produced superstars like Sami Yusuf and Maher Zain, among a host of other artists. As the company celebrates its first 20 years in the industry, the book examines Awakening’s rise to global success and their pop music inspired by Islam. Providing the first thorough description of the history and development of new Islamic popular music genres, in particular pop-nashid and Islamic pop, this book argues that Awakening is best understood in relation to the ethical turn in Islamic thinking. In analysing the turn to ethics, the book explores how the Islamic pop industry is, in effect, altering the very formulations of Islamic thought. Closely examining the ethical masculinity of the Awakening artists, alongside their personas in songs, on stage and via social media, the book analyses how popular culture and the creative arts challenge and help change Islamic (re)thinking. The author has been on tour with Awakening artists, analysed the media output by the company and interviewed artists, the Awakening founders, video directors and other key people in the business.