Lutfi Othman

United Kingdom (residence), Singapore (citizenship) °1984
en

Lutfi Othman is a Singaporean artist and researcher in Sound and Music who is currently based in London. As a researcher, his interest in sound lies in the role that it plays in religion and spirituality, in shaping the parameters of religious piety and belief. His creative work as an experimental musician draws inspiration from this research, where he is interested in the parallels between improvisation and religion through a loop-based improvisation method.

Lutfi recently completed his Bachelor in Sound Arts & Design at the London College of Communication, and has previously attained a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Monash University, Victoria. He is currently reading for a Masters (Music) Ethnomusicology at King’s College, London.

research

research expositions

  • The Relationality of the Adhaan: A Reading of the Islamic Call to Prayer Through Adriana Cavarero’s Philosophy of Vocal Expression (2017) author(s): Lutfi Othman published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
    The Call to Prayer, the Adhaan, is one of the most instantly recognizable Islamic sounds that we might hear in our soundscape today. For Muslims, the Adhaan is a specific call to notify the Islamic community that the time for prayer has arrived. For those who are not trained to respond to it religiously, the experience of listening to the Adhaan can trigger the formation of different interpretations, sometimes in hostile ways, from its original intent. This paper looks at the Adhaan from the perspective of sound and suggests that the voice of the Mu’adhin, who calls for prayer, carries with it the possibility to be perceived in manifold ways. Through the sound of the human voice and its pervasive nature, the Adhaan carries its original message, fusing it with new meanings, and announces it in a way unique to the voice. Guided by philosopher Ariana Cavarero’s conception of the voice and referencing situations in The United States of America where the Adhaan was at the center of controversy, this paper approaches the Adhaan with a focus on the sound of the voice and the relations that it fosters both intentionally and unintentionally.
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