A different side of Islam

With all of the negative portrayals of Islam in the media, it’s refreshing to read this article about the Sufi brotherhoods in Senegal. The most powerful brotherhood, the Mourides, was founded by Cheikh Amadou Bamba, who is often praised in songs. This is the side of Islam Youssou N’dour portrayed in his album “Egypt” and the article gives a good background into the meaning of that music.

As far as you can get from the extremists the media focuses on, Sufism has produced ecstatic music & poetry, such as Rumi’s poems, the whirling dervishes, and Qawwali music as made famous by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

(Via Global Voices Online; original item here)