Pakistani rockers who reach out to religion

Somewhere in a modern Pakistani city, the camera rolls as a young, bearded man cloaked in white robes is seen kneeling on the floor with eyes clenched, rocking rhythmically to and fro as his mouth forms words we cannot hear.

Then the scene abruptly shifts to a different room, a different man, but the action is almost identical: a prone figure caught in the intense sway of some powerful force.

As it turns out, one man is occupied by prayer, the other by rock music. Although they share a common religion and cultural heritage, there’s a widening chasm between them, one that’s explored with sensitivity and clarity tonight on PBS’ “Wide Angle” (9 p.m. on KCET).

The documentary, “Junoon: The Rock Star and the Mullahs,” takes viewers into the world of Salman Ahmad, whose prowess as a singer and blues-based guitarist has earned him thousands of fans among moderate Muslims, while making him a target for fundamentalists who see him as a dangerous purveyor of Western influences.

Ironically, Ahmad shares the latter’s mistrust of the United States, whose military incursions into the Middle East have played into the hands of clerics who have long warned of a U.S.-led campaign again Islam.

Ahmad travels the country meeting with these holy men, or mullahs, in an attempt to convince them that the music they are intent on banning possesses no inherent evil. But even with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf prominent among his fans, it’s an increasingly perilous mission.