Where Islam meets rock 'n' roll: Salman Ahmad introduced the world to Sufi rock and now to the culture behind the music.(PROFILE)

CLAD IN JEANS AND A T-SHIRT, Salman Ahmad stands center stage, intently strumming his guitar to a hall full of mostly young South Asian Americans in Seattle. The guest tabla player strains to Keep up. The audience rocks to legendary poets Bulleh Shah's and Iqbal's words skillfully woven into melodies--the same ones that made Ahmad's band, Junoon,

into South Asia's biggest rock band.

This has been the scene at many stages around the United States, where Salman Ahmad has been performing solo for the past few years.

Tall, with a goatee and a ponytail, Ahmad is best known as a rock star. At 26, he founded Junoon in Pakistan in 1990 and has been the driving force behind the band.

With lyrics heavily influenced by Sufi poetry and infused with hard rock, Junoon (meaning "passion" in Urdu) introduced the world to a new genre of music: Sufi rock. In the process, they brought a whole new generation of South Asians back to the works of celebrated Punjabi and Urdu poets from the subcontinent such as Shah, Iqbal and Shah Husain. The band went on to become an international success, selling over 20 million albums and packing performance halls around the world.

But just as he's known for his music, Ahmad is also known for speaking out regularly on political issues in the United States and Pakistan.

Ahmad spent his teens in the United States after his family relocated due to his father's job with the Kuwait Airways. They settled in New York, where Ahmad developed his interest in rock music.