Islam and Musical Expression. Music produced by Muslims varies greatly from one country to another, and even more from region to region. The music of each Muslim cultural zone probably takes some of its traditional inspiration from the music that prevailed in that geographical area before Islam was introduced there. Since Islam began in the Arabic and Persian-speaking Middle East and has flourished there the longest, however, it is likely that the music of the early Middle Eastern Muslims, Arabs and Iranians especially, has tended to influence all subsequent Muslim musical development even outside of its own cultural area. Because Islam does not, on the whole, use music in any of its forms of worship, and especially not in the obligatory prayers, this transfer of central Muslim cultural influence to other Muslim cultures has been less pronounced in music than in other areas of cultural...