Singin’ Sufis?

Muslim Nasheed Singer Sami Yusuf

Whenever I have conversations with other Muslims about the different schools of Islamic thought lately, people seem to refer to Sufis as ‘the Muslims who want to be Muslim without following all the rules’. Ok, clearly its not fair to group all Sufis as lax Muslim. However there is a definate trend of people who are attracted to Sufi Islam because of its modern reputation of being the  unconventional path to Islamic enlightenment. Case in point, Muslim Nasheed singers. A friend pointed out to me that most Nasheed singers today are Sufi because the laws regarding Nasheed singing in Sunni Islam are quite rigid. This point was illustrated by Yvonne Ridley’s now famous letter posting on Sami Yusuf. In an open letter, Sami Yusuf responded to Yvonne’s concerns of the integrity of modern Nasheeds by sighting his views on music as a Sufi, which do not conflict with his style or choice of musical instruments.