By Kudsi Erguner, Translated by Annette Courtenay Mayers.Saqi Books, London, UK. 2005. pp.142, illus. Includes CD. $26.95
ISBN : 0863565476 Reviewed by Rob Harle (Australia)harle@robharle.com
Rob Harle |
Kudsi was born in 1952. He refers to this as his first apocalypse. A decade or so prior to this, the Turkish government, in an effort to become more Westernised banned all traditional music! Sufism was also banned and the Sufi brotherhoods were forced to go underground and meet in secret. Journeys of a Sufi Musician is the fascinating story of Kudsi’s upbringing in Turkey, his travels abroad, his relationship with the strict tradition of Muslim values and his desire to keep alive many of these values which no longer exist, especially in many Western cultures.
There are those who accuse Kudsi of betraying his traditional roots and values because of his occasional connection with modern Western show-biz. To this he replies, “…if one wishes for these traditions to be lasting, one must learn to share them; to relate to other values coming from different cultures” (p. 105). Because he believes so strongly in his heritage and practices it from the heart, he has no fear of losing it or corrupting it.
The recent and current global terrorist
attacks have brought the Islamic religion of Muslims to the attention of
millions of people who prior to this were simply ignorant regarding Islam. Now
these same people are both ignorant and frightened of Muslims. If for no other
reason this book is important because it will help Westerners understand and
appreciate that Islam shares the same pro-human, pro-life values as
Christianity. And that these terrorist activities are the work of fanatical, fundamentalists
not mainstream traditional Muslims. The terrorists’ bombs kill Christians,
Muslims and atheists equally and indiscriminately.
Journeys of a Sufi Musician is an easy, pleasurable read and will appeal to those interested in
all sorts of music (especially World Music), musicianship and of course Sufism.
The book has a small number of archival photographs of Sufis and dervishes,
some include the author with various dignitaries such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
It comes with a music CD which contains some very rare tracks of traditional
Sufi and ney music. I feel the
book will also appeal to all those readers who like a well told story, steeped
in factual history with a gentle personal touch.
This review was first published in Leonardo ReviewsFebruary 2006