Islamic Embedment

Does the career of Cat Stevens exemplify the trajectories of Muslim performing artists? Their grappling with the relationship between art and Islam reflect orientations to the (dis)embedment of Islam in culture. Drawing upon (in)formalizing behavioral regimes (Elias and Wouters), the encountered phase of intensified formalization involves the emancipation from destabilized environments by means of stricter manners. While the accommodationism thesis of Roy suggests an internationally dominant position of disembedment, the situation seems reversed among British and North-American Muslim artists.