Music and the Islam factor

Islamic influence upon Islamicate music is multidimensional and complex...

Source: pre-Islamic Arabian features that remained at core of Islamic culture
- Centrality of Arabic language and verbal arts, especially poetry
- Linguistic form: the qasida (monorhyme, monometer)
- Genres of love (nasib), praise (madih), description, satire (hija')
- Courtesan tradition: the qayna

Expansion: powered by Islamic ideology, and weakness of prevailing powers at the time (Sassanian and Byzantine)
Inward flow towards center: assimilation, cultural fusion via openness to learning and multiculturalism (especially Persian arts and sciences)
- Accumulation of financial capital
  - Opulent courts (Madina, Damascus, Baghdad, Cordoba, Granada...)
  - Development of leisure class
  - Patronage of music and singing
  - Professional class of musicians
- Accumulation of intellectual/artistic capital
  - Bayt al-Hikma
  - Music theory as philosophy
  - Development of musical arts
Outward flow from center: cultural diffusion, as Islam provides political/cultural/linguistic/religious "lingua franca"
Fragmentation of Islamic empire in 10th c, corresponding fission in Islamicate forms, which nevertheless remained linked

Core and periphery model
- Core features: recurrence of organic musical style, linguistic and tonal (maqam phenomenon)
- Periphery features: recurrence of musical traits, mainly timbral (vocal qualities, instrumental resources)

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