In a month of putting aside the regular, there's a place for "Ramadan Silence". Shaykh Taner Ansari provides a clear, smiling explication of Ramadan, the lunar month which celebrates Mohammed's receiving the Koran. I especially appreciated the education that, beyond stereotyped mortifications – no eating no drinking no sex – the focus on God which is the heart of Ramadan observances means abjuring foul language, back-biting, and gossip.

Instead, as Shaykh Ansari describes, the social aspect of Ramadan is central. "What are you cooking?" becomes a question freighted with intensity, and the invitation to share meals broadens the celebration.

During thirty days of Ramadan the thirty parts of the Koran are recited. Shaykh Ansari offers the insight that the Arabic chants are "more than what you are reading... like kabbalah, all these letters and sounds and vibrations, they attract the angels and the blessings."

Bedded by Suleyman Erguner's ney flute and capped with a wonderfully illuminating poem, "Ramadan Silence", by the 13th Century mystic Rumi, Russ Jennings has produced an antidote to anti-Islamic gossip. Let these vibrations fly – we need both angels and blessings.