Legal ruling on listening to music and singing

Courtesy: Music made me do it  - By: Dr. Gohar Mushtaq

http://www.iiph.com.sa/iiph-The_Music_Made_Me_Do_It-p208.html Its a Must buy. Excellent and highly recommended book

(Excerpt)

Role of music in suicide among young people

In the modem age, music has played a major role in the increasing trend of suicide among young people. Allah (SWT) tells us:

~ ... And never despair of the mercy of Allah ... ~ (Qur'an 12: 87)

Similarly, in soorat az-Zumar (the Groups), Allah (SWT) says:

9 Ankenberg and Weldon, The Facts on Rock Music.

... Despair not of the mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins ... ~ (Qur'an 39: 53)

The Arabic name for Satan is Iblees, which means 'the one who despairs,' and one of the greatest tricks of Iblees is to cause people to despair of the mercy of Allah (SWT). Part of the modern condition is creating despair. For example, one of the ways to manifest despair is by watching television. The news on television portrays a 'doom and gloom' image of the world where everything is hell-bound. This is a Satanic ideology, an extreme state of despair that Satan loves to foster, where people kill themselves due to extreme despair and loss of faith. One should never despair. It is an evil state to enter upon, but this same despondent message is given to the youth in music, with a much more powerful tone. Just like drugs can depress people so much that some of them commit suicide, music can have similar consequences.

Music can be a powerful depressant, and it can nurture a suicidal mood in its listeners. Anyone listening to songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss definitely feels the depressing effects upon them. As pointed out by psychologist Aaron Beck and associates, hopelessness is considered the most important contributing factor, and a key psychological state, among people who commit suicide.i"

10 A.T. Beck, R.A. Steer, M. Kovacs and B. Garrison, "Hopelessness and

Eventual Suicide," American Journal of Psychiatry 142 (1985): 559-563.

Those people who consider music to be a harmless form of entertainment do not actually understand the power of music.

They do not realize what is being massaged into their psyches along with music. When a person listens to music, old memories are triggered, whether the music is sad or joyous. People can remember the words of songs more easily than prose. Hence, music can evoke feelings of melancholy, which may cause unbearable depression to the point that the listener commits suicide.

For example, a large proportion of country and western music, along with the blues, has always been associated with depressing lyrics and tales of woe, which in turn make the listener feel miserable. In a study published in 1992, researchers Steven Stack and Jim Gundlach assessed the link between country music and metropolitan suicide rates. The results of their multiple regression analysis of forty-nine major U.S. cities showed that the greater the amount of airtime devoted to country music, the greater the rate of suicide among white Americans. Based on the findings of their study, Stack and Gundlach hypothesized that country music nurtures in its listeners:

a suicidal mood through its concerns with problems common in the suicidal population, such as marital discord, alcohol abuse, and alienation from work. 11

Country music and songs often convey the idea of fatalism or hopelessness. They reflect despair and the futility and hypocrisy of the illusion of modern life. For example, a feeling of pessimism and bitterness permeates many country songs about farmers. The

11 Steven Stack and Jim Gundlach, "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide," Social Forces 71, no. 1 (1992): 211-218.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, when singing about a man whose farm had been auctioned off, chanted the following lines:

Worked this place all my life, Broke my heart, took my wife.

Now I got nothing to shoW.12

Similarly, many country songs repeatedly depict the lonesome and often abusive features of life among the lower socioeconomic classes.i ' They describe the banality or dullness of life. For example, Alfred Reed's song "How Can a Man Stand Such Things and Live?" suggests a connection between suicide and impoverishment, and Billy Hill's 1989 hit song "There's Too Much Month at the End of the Money" echoes the feelings of despair associated with problems of financial strain. 14

Another common theme in the country music genre that can foster suicidal feelings is the issue of marital strife and dissolution. In one study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family in 1990, researcher Steven Stack reported the results of a content analysis of 1,400 hit country songs. It was found that about 75 of those songs had the bitter experiences of love as at least one of their themes. IS In all these cases, the depressing themes conveyed in country music might be nurturing the suicidal mood in the listeners.

12 Stack and Gundlach, 'The Effect of Country Music on Suicide."

13 Schaefer, "Slow Country Music and Drinking."

14 Stack and Gundlach, "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide."

15 Steven Stack, "New Micro Level Data on the Impact of Divorce on Suicide, 1959-1980: A Test of Two Theories," Journal of Marriage and the Family 52 (1990): 119-127.

When it comes to rock music, it in fact not only depresses listeners but also encourages them to commit suicide by giving them the message that "suicide is the only solution" and that it is the only way out of the depths of hopelessness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is currently the third leading cause of death among Americans aged 10 to 24. Each year, about 4,400 youths kill themselves, and many more attempt to do SO.16 The following are just a few examples of nationally publicized cases of suicides under the influence of music:

On December 23, 1985, 18-year-old Raymond Belknap and 20-year-old James Vance climbed out of a bedroom window and went to a nearby playground after listening to pop singer Judas Priest's song entitled "Beyond the Realms of Death." Once there, Belknap placed a shotgun under his chin, pulled the trigger and died immediately. Vance then took his turn in the same manner, but the gun slipped forward and disfigured his face; he died three

years later as a result of his wounds. On the day of the shootings, the two had played music all day long. While listening to Judas Priest's album, they started chanting "Just do it, just do it," became violent and ended up committing (or attempting to commit) suicide.17

The families of the victims brought legal action against Judas Priest. The bereaved parents claimed that a subliminal message, "Do it," was present in the song, which portrayed a hopeless view on life, and that it drove the two boys to commit suicide. The

               

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16 "Suicide Prevention", Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last modified October 15, 2009,

http://www .cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/youth_suicide.html.

17 Pamela Marsden Capps, "Rock on Trial: Subliminal Message Liability," Columbia Business Law Review 27 (1991).

music and its suggestive lyrics, combined with the continuous beat and rhythms, encouraged and mesmerized the victims into believing that the answer to life was death. (Belknap v. Judas Priest, Nev. Dist. Ct., August 24, 1990i8

In October 1984, 19-year-old John McCollum committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after listening to Ozzy Osbourne's song "Suicide Solutions." This song includes the lyrics:

The reaper's traveling at full throttle It's catching you but you don't see The reaper is you and the reaper is me ...

Suicide is the only way out ... Get the gun and try it Shoot, shoot, shoot.

McCollum was still wearing the headphones when his body was found. As reported by Chuck Philips in his Los Angeles Times article on October 04, 1990, entitled "Just Weeks After Judas Priest Case, Ozzy Osbourne Faces Similar Suits Over Subliminal Messages," the boy's guardian sued Osbourne and his record company. The subliminal messages allegedly present in Ozzy Osbourne's song were blamed for the suicide shooting of McCollum.

There is additional anecdotal evidence to support the connection between rock music and suicide. In February 1986, 18-year-old Philip Morton, of the city of Delafield, Wisconsin, hanged himself from a closet door. At the time of his suicide, he was listening to rock band Pink Floyd's album The Wall, which includes such songs as "Goodbye Cruel World" and "Waiting for the Worms." Those songs were playing continuously in the background. 19

Steve Boucher, 16 years old, killed himself by putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. His parents protested that the cause of their son's suicide was his obsession with ACIDC's song "Shoot to Thrill." In fact, Steve was sitting under his favourite ACIDC poster when he pulled the trigger and killed himself. 20

Michael Waller was another teenager who committed suicide in 1991. His parents filed a lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution" song.

In all of the cases described above involving lawsuits by parents, the legal actions against the singers, musicians and record producers were dismissed by the courts because, unfortunately, music is constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment of the United States constitution.i' Just because the artists and producers in question were not held legally responsible, however, does not mean that they bear no blame for the incidents. Social scientific evidence presented in this book clearly suggests that adolescents often give more credence to the

opinions of musical performers about life than to what their parents say. They often try to emulate the clothing and attitudes of their favourite singers.

19 Terry Watkins, "It's Only Rock 'n ' Roll. .. But It Kills," accessed on November 1, 2010, http://www.avI611.org/rockm.html.

20 Ibid.

21 Mike Quinlan, J.D. and Jim Persels, J.D., "It's Not My Fault, the Devil Made Me Do It: Attempting to Impose Tort Liability on Publishers, Producers, and Artists for Injuries Allegedly 'Inspired' by Media Speech," Southern Illinois Law Journal 18, no. 417 (Winter 1994).

In each of the cases described above, would the youths have even thought of committing these crimes if it were not for the songs suggesting it to them? Their families knew about their fascination with certain kinds of songs and were aware that they were listening to them dozens of times, over and over again. The lyrics of those songs very likely influenced them to make their fatal decisions. These are just a few examples out of the countless

incidents of violence perpetrated under the influence of music.

Role of music in subliminal seduction

Subliminal messages refer to communications directed to the subconscious mind; they are hidden suggestions that are perceived only by the subconscious. This is achieved by projecting the messages so quickly or faintly that they are received by the listener at a level below that of conscious awarcness.F

They can be audio subliminal messages (hidden behind music) or visual subliminal messages (airbrushed into a picture and flashed on a screen so quickly that we do not consciously see them).

Owing to its seductive power, music plays a superb role in disseminating both audio and visual subliminal messages to the minds of people. For example, words are uttered so quickly in a song that we do not consciously remember them, or words in a song are masked by musical tones or rhythms so that we do not consciously hear them. To understand subliminal seduction, we have to understand how our minds work. Our conscious mind has the capacity to

22 Capps, "Rock on Trial: Subliminal Message Liability."

distinguish between right and wrong. The moral sense of right and wrong has been revealed to us as mentioned in the Qur' an:

~And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness) (Qur'an 91: 8)

On the other hand, our subconscious mind does nothing with the information presented to it except to store it. When wrong values are passed to the brain in the form of subliminal messages, they bypass our conscious mind, which is capable of judging right from wrong. They are stored directly into our subconscious memory, and, hence, destroy the sense of morality.

The use of subliminal messages was first brought to the attention of the public in 1957, when James Vicary asserted that his company, Subliminal Projection Co., had developed a device that would flash a message on a movie screen every five seconds for just the smallest fraction of a second. A movie theatre in New Jersey used the device for six weeks, flashing the messages 'Drink Coca-Cola' and 'Hungry? Eat Popcorn.' On the days when the

subliminal messages were shown, popcorn sales increased by 58, and sales of Coke increased by 18. In general, there was public outrage at the invention because people considered it an attempt to manipulate the mind.23

There have been various incidents where the use of subliminal messages has been found in the media. For example, in the Christmas shopping season of 1973, several parents complained to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal

23 Ibid.

Communications Commission (FCC) that the subliminal message 'Get it' was used in a national TV commercial for a children's game. As a result, Premium Corporation of America, the maker of the game, voluntarily stopped running the commercial, "claiming the subliminal's presence was due to a misguided employee.v "

Subliminal messages are used in music just as they are used in television, movies and other modes of communication. In fact, in music, they have an added advantage in that the mesmerizing influence of music very efficiently masks and transmits the subliminal messages contained in it.

One of the problems with subliminal messages is that sometimes they are so quick, so vague and so subtle that it is difficult to monitor them.25 By their nature, subliminal messages are extremely similar to the whispers of Satan, which he instills into the hearts of human beings in a very subtle way, and which are very effective on humans. The Qur'an says, regarding the whispers of Satan:

~[Satan] who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind.s

~Then Satan whispered to him; he said: 0 Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and possession that will not deterioratevs (Qur'an 20: 120)

24 Ibid.

25 Ibid.

The effectiveness of subliminal messages has been shown experimentally in various studies published in different scientific journals. As cited above, in James Vicary's movie theatre experiment, there was a significant increase in the sales of popcorn and Coke when subliminal messages were shown.

Likewise, in January 1958, Seattle radio station KOL broadcast subconscious messages along with other recordings; the messages included "How about a cup of coffee?" and "Someone is at the door." The results of that experiment revealed that several listeners either made or thought about coffee, and some went to the door or checked around for people at the door. Similarly, KY A in San Francisco used subliminal messages during their program to tell their listeners to write to the station. In six days, the station received about eighty-seven response letters.r"

One method employed by the music industry to create subliminals involves the placing of a short word or phrase under a drumbeat; this involves a conscious decision and action when recording the songs. For example, in the first suicide case mentioned in the previous section (Belknap v. Judas Priest), it was found that the words "Do it" were deliberately placed in the song as a subliminal message. Pamela Marsden Capps notes that:

The court found that the words, "Do It," were a combination of the singer's exhalation on one track and a Leslie guitar on another track. There was, however, testimony indicating that the message was intentional including: the regularity of the words, "Do It," in relationship to the drum beats where the words are located, the presence of a 'punch-in sound' where the record button was pressed previous to a number of

"

26 Ibid.

appearances of the words, "Do It," and computer analysis showing that the singer's breath occurred milliseconds after each "Do It" on the record.r"

In the case in which McCollum committed suicide after listening to Osbourne's "Suicide Solution," subliminal lyrics

were also involved: The Institute for Bio-Acoustics Research, Inc. (IBAR) was hired to evaluate "Suicide Solution." Not surprisingly, they found subliminal lyrics that weren't included in the copyright 'lead sheet.' The subliminal lyrics are sung at one and one-half

times the normal rate of speech and are not grasped by the first time listener. However, they claim the subliminal lyrics "are audible enough that their meaning and true intent becomes clear after being listened to over and over again." What are some of the hidden subliminal lyrics? "Why try, why try? GET THE GUN AND TRY IT! SHOOT...SHOOT. .. SHOOT,"

followed by a hideous laughter! 28

The purpose of this discussion is to inform the readers that music and singing are not simply harmless forms of

entertainment. Whether in the East or West, musicians and singers who are the apostles of Satan - intentionally or unintentionally - introduce subliminal lyrics into songs. Those subliminal messages embedded in music - about promiscuity, drugs and revolting against elders and religious traditions _ ultimately affect the behaviour of their listeners and can destroy the moral fabric of the society within a few decades.

27 Ibid.

28 Watkins, "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll ... But It Kills."

Role of music in the depiction of women as sex objects

It has been shown in the previous sections of this book that sex is the most common theme of music. One feature that is common in youth-oriented music relating to courtship and sexual relationships is the depiction of women as sex objects. Such songs feature sex-driven males competing with one another for females who are viewed merely as sexual objects or conquests, and whose only value lies in their physical appearance.f" This depiction of

men as sexually insatiable and women as sexual objects is especially widespread in music videos.I" In emerging adults, the frequent viewing of such content is strongly linked to the endorsement of women as sexual objects. This was shown by media researcher L. Monique Ward (a psychologist at the University of Michigan) in a study published in the 2002 issue of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence"

Repeated exposure to such depictions may also result in internalization of these gender roles that show sexually degrading behaviour as central to both males and females. This suggests that portrayal of women as sex objects could affect the sexual behaviour of emerging adolescent girls and boys, and a detailed

29 L. Monique Ward, "Talking About Sex: Common Themes about Sexuality in Prime-time Television Programs Children and Adolescents View Most," Journal of Youth and Adolescence 24 (1995): 595-615. Also see J. Gow,

"Reconsidering Gender Roles on MTV: Depictions in the Most Popular Music Videos of the Early 1990s," Communication Reports 9 (1995): 151-161.

30 S.A. Seidman, "An Investigation of Sex-role Stereotyping in Music Videos," Journal Broadcast Electron 36 (1992): 209-216.

31 Ward, "Talking About Sex: Common Themes about Sexuality in Prime-time Television Programs Children and Adolescents View Most."

scientific study published in the August 2006 issue of the medical journal Pediatrics confirms this contention.V

Steven Martino, PhD, a researcher at Rand Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and his associate scientists conducted a national longitudinal telephone survey of 1,461 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years. Participants were first interviewed at baseline in 2001, when they were 12 to 17 years old, and most were virgins at that time. The subjects of the study were asked how frequently they listened to any of more than a dozen musical artists who were the most popular among the youth then. Follow- up interviews were conducted one and three years later, in 2002 and 2004, to see whether their choice of music had influenced their subsequent behaviour.

The study found that teenagers who listened to a lot of music with degrading sexual messages (depicting women as sex objects) were almost twice as likely to become involved in sexual activities within the following two years, as compared to the teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music. In its August 7, 2006 article "Study: Sexy Lyrics Lead to Sex Sooner," the Associated Press quoted Dr. Martino as saying:

Exposure to lots of sexually degrading music 'gives them a specific message about sex.' Boys learn they should be

relentless in pursuit of women and girls learn to view themselves as sex objects.

Commenting on the influence of music content on adolescent sexual behaviour, Dr. Martino writes:

32 Steven C. Martino et al., "Exposure to Degrading Versus Nondegrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior Among Youth," Pediatrics 118, no. 2 (August 2006): 430-44l.

Musicians who incorporate this type of sexual imagery in their songs are not simply modeling an interest in healthy sexual behaviour for their listeners; they are communicating something specific about what are appropriate sexual roles for men and women. These lyrics are likely to promote acceptance of women as sexual objects and men as pursuers of sexual conquest. 33

Another interesting finding reported by Dr. Martino was the observation that the time spent listening to music in general and changes in sexual behaviour were directly proportional. In other words, the more time teenagers spent listening to any kind of music, the earlier they started their sexual activities. This was true regardless of the sexual content of music. One likely explanation for this phenomenon, according to Dr. Martino, is that when teens

listen to popular music, no matter what its content is, it results in heightened physiologic arousal and sexual behaviour among such teens 'through a process of excitation transfer..34

Dr. David Walsh, a psychologist who heads the National Institute of Media and the Family, told the Associated Press on August 7, 2006 that the results of Dr. Martino's study on the teenagers make sense because "the brain's impulse-control center undergoes 'major construction' during the teen years at the same time that an interest in sex starts to blossom." With the addition of sexually arousing lyrics, Dr. Walsh continued, "it's not that surprising that a kid with a heavier diet of that... would be at greater risk of sexual behaviour."

33 Martino et al., "Exposure to Degrading Versus Nondegrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior among Youth."

34 Ibid.

Natasha Ramsey is a teen-editor for Sexetc.org, a web site produced at Rutgers University that provides sex education for teens. In an interview reported by the Associated Press, Natasha mentioned that the reason she and other teens listen to sexually explicit songs is because they like the beat. She further added:

I won't really realize that the person is talking about having sex or raping a girl. Even so, the message is being beaten into the teens' heads. We don't even really realize how much .... Teens will try to deny it, they'll say 'No, it's not the music,' but it IS the music. That has one of the biggest impacts on our lives.35

If we look at any song that has sex and romance as its theme, we will notice that the emphasis is always on the physical appearance of a woman, thus portraying her as a sexual commodity. Never do we find such songs praising the intelligence of woman or her spiritual status. Based on the above-mentioned research, women lose sight of the value of chastity and modesty under the influence of music and songs, because they are brainwashed to believe that they are sex objects and that men compete with each other to win them. While such behaviour may be appropriate for animals, human beings must act like human beings. Women must remember that they are not sex objects in the way that they are portrayed in the music. Modesty (lJaya ') is the most valuable asset for both women and men. It is so important that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) regarded it as a salient feature of Islamic faith:

Abu Hurayrah (~) narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said: «Faith has seventy-something or sixty-something branches. The highest of them is testifying that there is none worthy of worship other than Allah, while the lowest of them is removing something harmful from the road, and haya' is a branch of faith. » (recorded by Ibn Abi Shaybah; al-Albani graded it sound with a good chain of narration)

'Imran bin Husayn said that the Prophet (m) said: «Haya' does not bring anything except good.» (Muslim)

Narrated Abdullah ibn 'Umar (~): «The Prophet (PBUH) passed by a man who was admonishing his brother regarding haya' and was saying: You are very shy, and I am afraid that might harm you. Hearing that, Allah's Apostle (~) said: Leave him, for haya' is (a part) of faith.» (Bukhari)

The meaning of haya' encompasses modesty, bashfulness, shyness, moral conscience and self-respect. Its root word in the Arabic language is haydt, which means 'life' or 'existence.' It means that the life of any nation lies in its moral conscience and modesty. When shamelessness and immodesty prevail in a nation, it will result in the death of the nation. Haya' is part of the natural inclination instilled by Allah (SWT) in human beings.

Muslim women and men also must not forget their lofty status as the children of Prophet Adam (;,~). Both women and men are recipients of a soul created by Allah. He has invested both genders with inherent dignity and has made men and women the trustees of Allah on earth, as mentioned in the Qur'an in various places:

qAnd We [Allah] have certainly honoured the children of Adam ... ~ (Qur'an 17: 70)

Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful.s (Qur'an 32: 9)

Your Lord said to the angels: Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority ... ~ (Qur'an 2: 30)

Islam elevated the status of both women and men to the highest status that any civilization can imagine, as is also evident in some of the following hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): «A man came to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asking: 0 Messenger of Allah, who among people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said: Then who is next? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man further asked: Then who is next? Only then did the Prophet say: Your father.» (Muslim)

«Whoever supports two daughters until they mature, he and I will come on the Day of judgment like this (and he pointed with his two fingers held together).» (Muslim)

«Seeking knowledge is mandatory for every Muslim [male and female].» (recorded by Ibn Majah and graded as sound by al- Albani)

Marriage of music and television -

darkness upon darkness

Among the senses given to human beings by Allah (SWT), the senses of hearing and seeing are the strongest. In the Qur' an,

Allah (SWT) reminds us:

QSay: It is He [Allah] Who has produced you, and made for you hearing and vision and heart; little are you grateful.s (Qur'an 67: 23)

Music and singing affect the emotions of human beings in two different ways. Music-induced emotions can be conveyed by the tone of voice of the singer (plus the sounds of the musical instruments), and they can also be conveyed by nonverbal expressions such as laughing, crying, attractive gestures (of the female singer especially), or dancing. The effects of music- induced emotions are much greater when the visual dimension is combined with the audio dimension. In music videos, there are dramatic visual effects that mesmerize their viewers owing to their combined audio-visual power. Listen, for example, to Dr. Brown and Dr. Hendee, who are considered authorities in the area of clinical medicine:

There is a concern that the marriage between television and music is powerful and synergistic. Multisensory input

reinforces any message, specifically by enhancing learning and recall36

36 Brown and Hendee, "Adolescents and their Music: Insights into the Health of Adolescents."

Many researchers have emphasized the detrimental effects of the combination of music and television. In a laboratory study published in the journal Youth Society in 1986, regarding the effects of music television (MTV) , researchers Greeson and Williams found that when selected music videos were watched by seventh and tenth graders for just one hour, their concepts about premarital sex changed. These students were then more likely to

approve of premarital sex as compared with a control group of adolescents.f" Music videos were clearly able to transform the viewpoint and moral sense of their viewers.

In the same vein, a behavioural study reported by Rehman and Reilly found that when participants were shown violent music videos, they became desensitized to any kind of violence committed in the real world immediately after viewing the videos." It is clear that many of the messages, both in the lyrics and in the visualization of those lyrics, are sexual in nature. For example, in Paul McCartney's song entitled "We Got Married," the lyrics go: "Going fast, coming soon, we made love in the afternoon." Aerosmith' s song "Love in an Elevator" includes the

lyrics: "Lovin' it up as I'm going down." As the new medium of music videos has been introduced into the society, social scientists have started to study their effects, and they have found that music videos can have a profound

impact upon their viewers. Recently, there has been growing concern about the pernicious effects of rock music and music

37 L.E. Greeson and R.A. Williams, "Social Implications of Music Videos for Youth: an Analysis of the Contents and Effects of MTV," Youth and Society 18 (1986): 177-189.

38 S. Rehman and S. Reilly, "Music Videos: a New Dimension of Televised Violence," Pennsylvania Speech Communication Annual 41 (1985): 61-64.

videos on adolescents, because both contribute to a breakdown of morality and to the high teenage pregnancy rate in the United States.39

In one study, researcher Thomas N. Robinson, of the Stanford University Center for Research in Disease Prevention (in Palo Alto, California), and his associates examined the associations among media, music exposure and self-reported alcohol use. They collected baseline and eighteen-month follow-up data on media usage (which included watching television, videos and music videos, among others) and lifetime and thirty-day alcohol use from a sample of 1,533 students who were ninth-graders in six public schools in San Jose, California. They found that for each one-hour increase in watching music videos, there was a 31 increased risk of the young person beginning to drink alcohol within the next eighteen months. The authors of the study noted:

"Increased television and music video viewing are risk factors for the onset of alcohol use in adolescents. ,,40

In a similar study performed by Rubin and his colleagues, it was revealed that the meanings of a song from the music video version were more potent and had a greater effect upon the viewers than the audio version alone of the same song.41 Hence, the visual counterpart to the music could be even more damaging when the audio and video dimensions were combined. The effect 39 Tipper Gore, Raising PG Kids in an X-rated Society (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987).

40 Thomas N. Robinson, Helen L. Chen and Joel D. Killen, "Television and Music Video Exposure and Risk of Adolescent Alcohol Use," Pediatrics 102, no. 5 (1998): e54-e59.

41 R.B. Rubin, A.M. Rubin and E.M. Perse, "Media Use and Meaning of Music Video," Journalism Quarterly 63 (1986): 353-359 .

of audio-visual versions of music on the viewers is more powerful and synergistic.

People carrying music on their heads - a prophecy in hadith

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: «Soon there will be people from my Ummah who will drink wine, calling it by other than its real name. There will be instruments of music and singing on their heads, and they will listen to female singers. Allah (SWT) will cleave the earth under them and turn others into apes and swine.» (recorded by Ibn Majah and graded as sound by al-Albani)

Hence, one of the signs of the end of times is that people will carry musical instruments 'on their heads.' Today when we watch people walking with headphones on their heads playing the music, we see this nearly 1400-year-old prophecy come true. Commenting on the recent invention of musical instruments for the head, medical researchers Elizabeth F. Brown, MD and William R. Hendee, PhD observed that during the early era of rock music, radios were large and hard to carry around, but for today's youth, "music is particularly ubiquitous" because:

Music became portable with the advent of transistor radios. Recent innovations in miniaturization and the development of light high-quality headphones have made it possible for teenagers to envelop themselves constantly in rock music.42

42 Brown, "Adolescents and their Music: Insights into the Health of Adolescents. "

It is not surprising, although it is regrettable, that our modem industrialized society has generated an entertainment industry so ubiquitous that people today can amuse themselves anywhere on the planet. While walking, running, working, or even sleeping, they can listen to or watch videos of their favourite tunes, with the

help of miniature music players such as iPods, cell phones or PDAs.43 In fact, some of the garment companies sell their customers a 'personal stereo,' which consists of a jacket with a built-in radio and speakers conveniently attached right inside the hood.44

Allan Bloom contends that a huge number of the youths in their teens and early twenties are addicted to music today. When these young people are at school or in family gatherings, their minds are still daydreaming and yearning to go back to their world of music. In fact, in this age when music is everywhere - in the home and outside the home, on the road and in the library, in the car and in the shopping malls - nothing prevents them from being connected with their music.45

Lamenting the condition of the new generation, which is so preoccupied with the music on its head, Professor Bloom continues:

But as long as they have the Walkman on, they cannot hear what the great tradition has to say. And, after its prolonged use, when they take it off, they find they are deaf.46

43 Personal Digital Assistants, also known as 'handheld computers' or 'palmtops.' [Editor]

44 Ron Chepesiuk, "Decibel Hell: The Effects of Living in a Noisy World," Environmental Health Perspectives 113, no. 1 (January 2005): A35-A41.

45 Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind.

46 Ibid.

Before the advent of Islam, the method of worship of pagan Arabs of Makkah involved clapping and singing while they were circumambulating the Kaaba (the House of Allah), as mentioned in the Qur'an:

“And their prayer at the House was not except whistling and handclapping ... “ (Qur'an 8: 35)

Today, with the prevalence of music, the wheel of'jahiliyah has come full circle, bringing us face to face with the same ancient paganism. Music is present even in the House of Allah, indicating the pathetic and somnambulant (sleepwalking) state of some of the Muslims. These days, some Muslims are so obsessed with modem technology that they are talking on their cell phones while performing tawd] (the circumambulation of the Kaaba that is one

of the rites of the pilgrimage to Makkah). As Adnan Malik noted in his January 17, 2005 Associated Press report, their cell phones are ringing, and some have ringtones set to the musical lyrics of famous pop music singers such as Michael Jackson. Similarly, some people set their cell phone ringers to music and do not feel any shame when their cell phones ring with the music while they are in congregational prayers in the mosques, hence disturbing the concentration of Muslims standing next to them in prayer. This is the result of the obsession of some Muslims with music. May Allah (SWT) protect us from such an obsession with music. Ameen.

Positions of the Companions, the Four Imams and other Islamic Scholars

8 t is important to mention here the opinions of the various Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as well as the tabi 'oon, regarding the position of music in Islam. Imam Qurtubi, in his tafseer AI-Jam'il-AJ:tkam ul-Qur' an, and Imam Aloosi, in his tafseer Rooh al-Ma 'ani, mention that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) unanimously agreed that music and singing are prohibited, but they allowed particular exceptions

specified by the authentic Sunnah. This includes the four Rightly- guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them); the jurists among the Companions, such as Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn Mas 'ood and Jabir ibn Abdullah; and the general body of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all).

Position of the Companions of the Prophet (m) Abdullah ibn Mas'ood (.)

Ibn Mas’ood (RA), the distinguished Companion of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), said: "Singing fosters hypocrisy in the heart." 1

Abdullah ibn 'Abbas (.)

"The duff is prohibited, and the musical instruments are prohibited.':"

'Uthman ibn 'Affan (.)

"Ever since I took the pledge on the hand of the Prophet Muhammad (m), I have not played music, told a lie, or touched my private parts with my right hand.t' '

'Umar ibn al-Khattab (.)

Once 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (.) passed by a group of pilgrims. He saw a man singing, and the rest of them were

listening to his song. 'Umar ('i..,sb") said to them: "May Allah make you deaf, may Allah make you deaf." (Ithaf as-Sddatul Muttaqeen )4

'A'ishah as-Siddeegah, the Mother of the Believers (~) Once 'A'ishah (~"2)' the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (m), went to the house of her brother, whose daughters were sick.

When she got there, she saw a singer with long hair who was

1 Ibn al-Qayyim, Ighdthat ul-Lahfdn min Mas/i'id ash-Shawano

2 Ibn al-Qayyim, Igluithat ul-Lahfiin min Masd'id ash-Shaytdn.

3 Suhrawardi, 'Awdrif al-Ma 'drif.

4 Mufti-Mohammad Shafee, Islam and Music, cd. Mohammad 'Abdul-Mu'izz

(Karachi: Maktaba Darul Uloom, 2002), 14.

trying to amuse the sick girls by shaking his head as he sang. Upon seeing him, 'A'ishah (~) immediately ordered: "Oh! This is Satan! Get him out. Get him out."s

Qasim ibn Muhammad

Qasim ibn Muhammad was a nephew and student of 'A'ishah (~), the Mother of the Believers. He also was one of the well- known 'seven jurists of Madinah.' Once when a man asked him about music and singing, Qasim replied: "I dislike it and forbid people from singing." The man further asked: "Is it haram?"

Imam Qasim said to him: "Listen, my nephew! When Allah is going to separate right from wrong on the Day of Judgment, where is He going to put music and singing?"?

When the commandments of the Qur' an, the hadiths of the beloved Messenger (m), and the understanding of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with all of them) are all taken together, it is quite clear that Islam has called for a prohibition on using and listening to musical instruments. To clarify the point further, the position of the four great Imams and other Islamic scholars will be presented in the following pages.

5 Bayhaqi, Sunan al-Kubrd, ed. Muhammad 'Abdul-Qadir Ata (Beirut: Dar al- Kutub al-'Ilmiyah, 1423 AH/ 2003 CE). See the chapter on: Testimony, Section 64: The person who sings and makes it his/her profession. Hadith # 21010, 10:378.           j

6 Harith ibn Asad al-Muhasibi, Risalah al-Mustarshideen (Halb, Maktab al- Matboo'at al-Islamia, 1383 AH).

Position of the four Imams and other Islamic scholars

Among the Islamic scholars, all four imams including Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on them) agree that listening to music is haram in Islam.

Imam Abu Haneefah Imam Abu Haneefah (80-148 AH) forbids 'listening to all musical instruments, all types of tambourines, hand drums, and even the striking of sticks.' 7

Imam Shafi'i

Imam Shafi'i (150-204 AH) said about music and singing:

"Verily, song is loathsome; it resembles the false and vain thing. The one who partakes of it frequently is an incompetent fool whose testimony is to be rejected."

In addition, it has been clarified by many of his closest students that Imam Shafiis position on the issue of music is that of prohibition.

Imam Malik

As for Imam Malik (93-179 AH), it is generally understood that he found it to be haram, except for certain forms of innocent singing (without instruments and without mixed gatherings), which he allowed. Imam Ibn Taymiyah mentioned that when

7 Aloosi, Roon al-Ma 'ani.

8 Imam Muhammad ibn Idrees Shafl 'i, Kitdb al- Umm (Egypt: Maktaba al-

Kulliyiit al-Azhar, 1381 AH), 8:311.

Is-haq ibn Moosa asked Imam Malik about the view of people of Madinah regarding singing, Imam Malik replied: "Here, in fact, that is done only by the sinful ones.?"

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164-241 AH) forbade all but those forms of music that have been mentioned as exceptions in the Sunnah. Imam Ibn al-Jawzi writes in his book Talbees Iblees that when Imam Ahmad was asked by Abdullah, his own son and student, about his position on music, the Imam replied: "Singing sprouts hypocrisy in the heart; it does not please me." 10

               

Dahhak

"Music and singing results in the loss of wealth, anger of Allah and destruction of the heart." 11

Imam Ibn Taymiyah

The great revivalist and Islamic scholar Imam Ibn Taymiyah states in his Majmoo' al-Fatdwa:

The madh-hab (school of juristic thought) of the four imams is that all instruments of musical entertainment are haram. It is authentically related in Saheeh. al-Bukhari and other compilations that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) foretold that some of his Ummah would seek to make lawful: fornication, the wearing of silk, the drinking of wine, and musical instruments (ma 'azif); and that such people would be turned into apes and swine. The term ma 'azij means musical

9 Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah,Jalah Waj'd wa Samd' (Lahore: AI-Hilal Book Agency, 1365 AH).

10 Ibn al-Jawzi, Talbees Iblees.

II Ibid.

entertainment, as has been mentioned by the scholars of the Arabic language. It is the plural of mi 'zafah, the instrument upon which one makes musical sounds. None of the disciples of these imams has mentioned the existence of any dissension from the consensus on the prohibition of all instruments of musical entertainment. 12

Ibn 'Abdul-Barr

Ibn 'Abdul-Barr said:

Among the types of earnings which are haram (forbidden) by scholarly consensus are riba (interest), the fee of a prostitute, bribes, payments for wailing over the dead and singing, payments to fortune-tellers and astrologers, payments for playing flutes (musical instruments), and all kinds of gambling. 13

Hasan al-Basri

Abu Bakr al-Khallal mentioned that it is reported that Hasan al-Basri, the great teacher of the purification of hearts, said:

Duffs have absolutely no relation to the affairs of Muslims, and the students of Abdullah (ibn Mas 'ood) used to tear them 14 apart.

It must be noted, however, that according to the works of the Muslim jurists, it is permissible to play the duff on certain occasions of joy such as weddings, since that is not designed

12 Shaykh ul-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, Majmoo: al-Fat/iwa (Riyadh: Mat'ba ar- Riyadh, 1381 AH), 11:576.

13 Ibn 'Abdul-Barr, al-Kiifi, quoted in Shafee, Islam and Music.

14 Muhammad Nasir ad-Dcen Al-Albani, Tahreem Aldt at-Tarab (The Prohibition of Musical Instruments) (Egypt: Maktaba Ad-Daleel, 1996).

solely for entertainment and pleasure but instead for announcements and such.

Harith ibn Asad al-Muhasibi

One of the imams of Islamic spirituality, Harith ibn Asad al- Muhasibi, explicitly stated his position on singing: "Music and singing are prohibited for us just like the meat of a dead animal is prohibited.t'<'

Junaid ai-Baghdadi

Another great authority on tasawwuf (Islamic spirituality), Shaykh Junaid al-Baghdadi, said: "If you notice that a student of spirituality is asking for permission to listening to samd' (religious songs), then this means that he still has spiritual defects in him.'.16

AI-Fudayl ibn Iyad

This statement of the great Islamic scholar of the science of purification of hearts, al-Fudayl ibn Iyad, can be considered no less than an axiom and a golden rule of thumb: "Ghina' is a prelude to zina." 17

Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali

Imam al-Ghazali, after a long discussion about the permissibility of religious singing in his book IlJya' 'Uloom-

ud-Deen (Revival of the Islamic Sciences), clarifies that listening to music and singing that are accompanied by women, the use of musical instruments, or lustful poetry is completely prohibited in 15 Al-Muhasibi, Risiilali al-Mustarshideen.

16 Suhrawardi, 'Awdrif al-Ma'drl].

17 Ibid.

Islamic teachings.i''

Imam an-Nawawi

Imam an-Nawawi, the great hadith scholar whose two collections of hadith, Riydd as-Sdliheen and Forty Hadiths, have gained widespread acceptance in the Muslim Ummah, said the following about music:

It is unlawful to use musical instruments - such as those which drinkers are known for, like the mandolin, lute,

cymbals, and flute - or to listen to them. It is permissible to play the tambourine [duff] at weddings, circumcisions, and other times, even if it has bells on its sides. Beating the kuba, a long drum with a narrow middle, is unlawful.l''

Ibn Qudamah

Ibn Qudamah gave the following verdict about listening to music:

Musical instruments are of three types, which are haram, These are the strings and all kinds of flutes, and the lute, drum and stringed instruments and so on. Whoever persists in listening to them, his testimony should be rejected.i"

18 Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, Il;ya' 'Uloom ud-Deen (Karachi: Darul Isha 'at Publishers, 1978).

19 Muhammad ash-Shirbini aI-Khatib and Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi, Mughni al-Muhtaj, quoted in Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Reliance of the Traveller (Maryland: Amana Publications, 1994), 775.

20 Muwaffaq ad-Deen Ibn Qudamah, Al-Mughni. (Egypt: Dar aI-Minar, 1367 AH), 9:173.

Shaykh Shahab ud-Deen Suhrawardi

Renowned Islamic scholar Shaykh Shahab ud-Deen Suhrawardi is the founder of the Suhrawardi school of

spirituality. He authored a book entitled 'Awdrif al-Ma'drif, which can be regarded as the magnum opus, or masterpiece, on the subject of the science of purification of the hearts. He devoted two chapters of the book to singing; in the first chapter, he discussed the permissibility of religious singing, and in the second chapter, the prohibition of other types of singing. Throughout the entire discussion, he did not deviate in the slightest from the stand of the Prophet's Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and the mainstream Islamic scholars: that religious singing is permissible only under limited conditions. He writes in the second chapter:

When people indulge in sama' (listening to religious singing), they waste a lot of time. The taste in their prayers is reduced. Those people become addicted to going to the gatherings of sama'. In order to seek pleasure from the singers, they arrange for these get-togethers more and more frequently, even though it is not a hidden matter that Sufi scholars consider such kind of gatherings as impermissible and rejected."

Abu Ali ar-Rudhbari

Another scholar of the science of purification of the heart, Shaykh Abu Ali ar-Rudhbari, was once asked about a man who sought pleasure with musical instruments and claimed that "such an act is halal (permissible) for me because I have reached such a (spiritual) station that differen~conditions do not affect me."

21 Suhrawardi, 'Awdri] al-Ma'drif.

Shaykh Abu Ali retorted: "Yes, that person has reached a station. But where? In the hellfire!,,22

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi Faroogi

Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi Farooqi (also known as Mujaddid Alf Thdni, or 'reviver of the second millenimum') was largely responsible for the reassertion and revival of Islam in India in the second millennium AH against the Moghul emperor Akbar and his anti-Islamic government. He wrote:

Religious music, singing and dancing in reality belong to amusement and vain play .... There are so many Qur'anic

verses, hadiths and narrations of scholars of Islamic jurisprudence about prohibition of music and singing that it is

hard to count them. In spite of that, if someone tries to bring an abrogated hadith or unreliable narration to prove the permissibility of music, then his claim will be rejected because no Islamic jurist in any period in Islamic history has given a fatwa in favour of music and singing or dancing.... Some immature Sufis of our times, by using the actions of their teachers as a pretext, have made religious music and singing as their religion and consider it as a form of worship. The Qur' an tells us about such people:

~Who took their religion as distraction and arnusement.s (Qur'an 7: 51)

... All praise is due to Allah, and it is of His blessings that our spiritual teachers did not suffer from this disease and kept followers like us away from such matters.t''

22 Ibn Hajar Al-Haythami Al-Makki, Kaff ar-Ra'fi, quoted in Shafee, Islam and Music.

23 Shaykh Ahmad Farooqi Sirhindi, Maktubdt Mujaddid Alf Thdni (Collected=

Shaykh I Abdul-Aziz ibn Bilz

Shaykh 'Abdul-Aziz ibn Baz, who was the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and an authority on Islamic sciences, issued the following verdict about music and singing:

Listening to music and singing is haram, and it is an evil practice. It hardens the hearts and prevents people from

remembrance of Allah and establishing the prayers.i"

Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Nuh Ha Mim Keller is a contemporary scholar. Formerly a Catholic, he became Muslim in 1977 at al-Azhar in Cairo and later studied the traditional Islamic sciences of Hadith, Shafi'i and I:IanafiJiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), legal methodology and tenets of faith in Syria and in Jordan, where he has lived since 1980. He has the following to say about music:

Some people claim that recorded music is not actually music because it comes from recording, and it does not come from a musician. This is an unreliable position, because the amount of revenue generated by the recorded music in the U.S. in the year 2002 was around 12 billion U.S. dollars, and the amount for live musicians was 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. So obviously they are not buying it because it is not music. There are six Saheeli (authentic) hadiths that expressly forbid musical instruments. Hence, ifthere is fear of Allah ttaqwd) and faith (eemdn) in the

heart, the ruling is clear, i.e., the primary basis for musical           

=Letters), trans. Syed Zawwar Hussain Shah (Karachi: Idara Mujaddadia, n.d.), Book 1, Letter 266.

24 Abu Sad, Playing and Listening to Music and Singing: In Light of Qur'an and Sunnab (in Urdu) (Karachi: Dar-ut-Taqwa, 2003).

instruments is that they are forbidden (J;aram). It is clear from the hadiths, and the hadiths are authentic in their chains of transmitters. There is no doubt that the Prophet (PBUH) said it, and he said it for our benefit.... What is music? If you look at the nature of music, it is pure, unadulterated expression of the musician's self (naJs). So why let it into your nafs ... ?

People who think it is permissible to listen to records and jazz concerts are blind, and the jurists (juqaha) who give out legal verdicts (fatawa) making music permissible are blind, because part of fatwa consists in 'purification of the self' (tazkiyatun- naJs). Allah tells us in the Qur'an what the Islamic Law (Sharia) is doing in our lives:

~He has succeeded who purifies it [his own self]~ (Qur'an 91: 9)

This is the fatwa interest. It is not to let people do anything they want. The interest of fatwa is often lost sight of in our times by the jurists (muftis) who often do not have any clue about it and do not know about tazkiyatun-nafs - what will be the effect of music on the soul of the person that you are giving the fatwa to, what will happen to his religion (de en) when you give him this fatwa. This is an interest that the person giving the fatwa must be conscious of it and he must be observing. And how many people giving legal verdicts (fatwas) are not jurists (muftis) in our times, even if they memorized all the books of all the schools of thought (madh-habs) and they are Imam of al-Azhar or whoever else. If they gave the fatwa that music is OK, then they do not understand the effect of music on human psyche (nafs)25

25 Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, "Is Listening to the Recorded Music Permissible?" ,

http://www.sunnipath.comlResources/Questions/QA00004456.aspx. Permission=

Muhammad Taqi Usmani (former Justice)

Renowned Islamic scholar and former Judge of the Islamic Sharia Court of Pakistan, Muhammad Taqi Usmani, writes:

At the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and during the time of his Companions, non-Muslim people of the world were fond of musical and other entertainments. It was quite possible to create such entertainments in order to convey the message of Islam to them, but the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (~) did not try to amuse people by dramas, music and plays; instead, they conquered the hearts of people by presenting their exemplary character to them ... Today, if we are not willing to change our non-Islamic habits and customs for the sake of Islamic preaching, and we want to propagate the message of Islam by merely making dramas, musical shows and films, then only Shay tan could be the inventor of such ideas.i"

Conditions under which Singing is Permissible

Since it was mentioned in the above discussion that certain exceptions do exist, they will be elucidated here. The exception concerns singing and playing the duff on the occasions of celebrations. As far as the rest of the musical instruments (other than the duff) are concerned, they are not permissible under any circumstances. It must also be noted that most of the music employed these days in weddings goes beyond the Islamic zone of

=to use this quote was confirmed in a personal communication from Shaykh Nuh Ha Mim Keller; for further information, consult http://www.sunnipath.com.

26 Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani, Isldh-e-Muashara (in Urdu) (Reform of

Society) (Karachi: Maktaba Darnl Uloom, 1998).

permissibility, The duff is a round hand drum that resembles a tambourine without the metal disc attachments. We know that it was allowed on special occasions, like weddings and Eids (the two Islamic celebrations, one at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan and the other at the culmination of the hajj).

We find this in the following hadiths: «It has been narrated by 'A'ishah (RA), the wife of the Prophet, that once the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) came home, and at that time, two little girls were singing songs about the battle of Buath. The Prophet (PBUH) lay down on the bed and turned his face away. Then Abu Bakr came and scolded her, saying: These musical instruments of Satan in the house of the Prophet of Allah (SWT)! Prophet Muhammad turned to him and said: Leave them.

In the words of 'A'ishah (~): When Abu Bakr got busy in other matters, I told the two girls to leave, and they left. That was the day of Eid.

The Abyssinians were playing in the mosque with shields and lances. Then either I asked the Messenger (PBUH), or he himself said: Do you want to have a look? I said yes, so he let me stand behind him, with my cheeks against his cheeks, and said: Carry on, Banu Arfidah. When I became bored, he asked: Is that enough for you? I said yes. He said: Then you may leave.» (Bukhari)

Muhammad ibn Hatib al-Jumahi relates that the Messenger of Allah (SWT) said: «The difference between the unlawful and the lawful (in marriage celebrations) is the duff and the voice.» (recorded by Ibn Majah and Tinnidhi, who considered its chain of narration reliable)

«It was narrated by 'A'ishah (RA) that when she prepared a lady as a bride for a man from the An.~ar [the Muslim citizens of Madinah who gave refuge to the Prophet (PBUH) and the other Muslim emigrants from Makkah], the Prophet (PBUH) said: O'A'ishah! Haven't you got any amusement (for the wedding), as the Ansar like amusement?» (Bukhari)

Hence, on the occasions of marriage and Eid, we have been allowed the singing and the duff as the previous hadiths clearly specify.

               

In Conclusion: the legal ruling on listening to music and singing

               

I

As stated in the beginning of the book, in Islamic Sharia, the correct approach to an issue is an essential element in deriving a ruling. This requires that we understand the Islamic commandments through the text of the Qur' an and the Sunnah. Then we take that understanding and apply it to the issue as it exists in reality. By combining our understanding from the Qur'an and the Sunnah and applying it to the issue, we derive the fatwa on the permissibility or impermissibility of the issue at hand. In doing so, we also look at the harms and the benefits related to the issue. The approach of the Islamic Sharia is to weigh the benefits and harms of everything, because the ultimate aim of Sharia is to benefit the society.

We can dissect the problem into three parts:

1. Musical instruments such as duffs, pianos, guitars and fiutes 

2.            Lyrics

3.            Singers or composers

We have looked at the evidence from the Qur' an and the Sunnah regarding music and singing. We have also looked at the positions taken by the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them) as well as our great Imams and other Islamic scholars. Furthermore, we have scientifically looked at the harms caused by music to individuals and the society. Hence, when we apply our understanding from all of these sources to the issue of

listening to music and singing, we give the following decisive ruling with regards to music:

Musical instruments that are designed solely for entertainment are haram, with or without singing. Moreover, the use of the sounds of musical instruments generated by any means whatsoever (digitally produced or computer-generated or even produced by the mouth of the singer) is also haram. However, the majority of Islamic scholars permit the use of the duff when played on special occasions by men or women in separate-gender gatherings. Note that the natural sounds (such as the waterfall sound or chirping of the birds) used in songs do not constitute

musical sounds.

As far as the songs are concerned, if their lyrics consist of anything that is unlawful, if the environment in which singing is carried out is unlawful (such as singing in mixed gender gatherings, vain amusement and entertainment, and singing by professional singers), or if they prevent one from his or her obligatory duties, then they are haram. If the songs are free from the above-mentioned things, and they are NOT accompanied by any musical instruments (except the duff) or the sound of musical instruments generated by any means whatsoever (such as digitally produced or computer-generated), then it is permissible to sing them.

Critical Analysis of Arguments Used in Favour of 'Islamic' Music

8s there such a thing as 'Islamic' music? Can we listen to 'Islamic' music? Can music be used to further the noble cause of the spread of Islam? Is the subject of music a highly controversial issue in Islam? The purpose of this chapter is to provide answers to all these questions by logically analyzing some of the arguments that some Muslims use in favour of music.

If we simply look at the Islamic history, we will notice that there is not a single Islamic scholar who took music as his profession. Since human nature needs novelty, Islam is acutely aware of the fact that even religious music eventually leads to haram music. In fact, there is nothing Islamic about 'Islamic music,' just like the terms 'Islamic bingo' or 'Islamic beer' or 'Islamic socialism' do not exist in the vocabulary of Islam. If we put the 'halal' label on a beer bottle, it will not make it pure; that is only a deception to the eyes. Alcohol can still not be used to inspire us for any noble cause or simply as a mild entertainment.

Similarly, if we recite the name of Allah (SWT) while slaughtering a pig, this will not make the pork halal. By the same token, if we call the interest (earned on our money deposited in the banks) a profit, it will still be usury, which is absolutely forbidden in Islam.

So it is manifestly erroneous for Muslims - particularly some scholars who follow the so-called 'modernist' trend set by modernist scholars and intellectuals - to use terms such as 'Islamic music.' They confuse Islam and music and are thus responsible for the confusion of Muslims and for leading them astray. Some of them even suggest that the Companions and tabi 'oon listened to music and singing, and that they saw nothing wrong with it. However, they cannot produce hadiths with authentic chains of narration going back to these Companions and tabi 'oon, which would prove what they falsely attribute to them with respect to music. Imam Muslim mentioned in his introduction to his Saheeh. Muslim that Abdullah ibn Mubarak said: "The chain of narration is part of religion. Were it not for the chain of narration, whoever wanted to could say whatever he wanted to."

Listening to music is a non-Islamic practice that has been clearly prohibited by Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (PBUH), so there can never be such a reality as 'Islamic music.' Music and Islam are as far apart from each other as East and West. Based on the evidence from the Qur' an, the Sunnah and the verdicts of the Islamic scholars, we can say:

Oh! Music is music, and Islam is Islam, And never the twain shall meet.

In the following pages, we will address some of the most common arguments put forward by people in favour of music.

The response to each argument contains a critical and logical analysis of that argument.

Prohibition of music - Is it a controversial

issue or a matter of consensus in Islam?

Argument:

Music is a highly controversial issue in Islamic fiqh. Many eminent scholars have considered it forbidden, but there are other eminent scholars - classical and contemporary - who permit singing and the use of musical instruments.

Response:

The best question to ask such people is: "Are you able to name one scholar who claimed that music was a highly controversial issue in Islamic fiqh?"

No doubt it is true that some contemporary scholars hold the usage of musical instruments permissible, with certain conditions attached. Nevertheless, it does not render the issue a controversial one in Islamic law.

Here we must understand a fundamental maxim that rules the Islamic spirit and law. The fact that a handful of scholars hold a view that opposes the overwhelming majority neither makes the issue controversial nor makes the difference a tolerable one. This axiom is agreed upon among the jurists, and this becomes apparent when they discuss the principle that states: "There is NO censure in issues of disagreement, while the censure is only in

issues of consensus." 1

               

The scholars explained the meaning of 'issues of disagreement' by stating that odd or weak opinions are

I Haytham bin Jawwad AI-Haddad, "Music: A Simple Matter of Disagreement?", accessed June 1, 2007, http://www.islarnicawakening.com.

excluded from this principal altogether, rendering them open for censure. For this reason, Ibn al-Qayyim, in his work I'ldm al- Muwaqqi 'een, explains at length the difference between issues subject to ijtihdd (using one's knowledge of the Qur'an and the Sunnah to derive rulings on matters not specifically mentioned in either source of Islamic law) with conditions attached, and issues not subject to ijtihad, even if there may be scholars who held a contrary opinion.

Failing to differentiate between the two issues, or not implementing this rule, leads to major legal problems.? In fact, this may lead to the destruction of the Ummah. Although this might come as a surprise to us, it is important that we open our hearts and minds to certain truths. If we were to read through the works on comparative Islamic fiqh, especially the voluminous manuals such as al-Mughni, al-Majmoo', FatIJ al-Bdri, 'Umdat al-Qiiri or at- Tamheed, we would rarely find a legal issue that is free from any dispute; and if we were to accommodate differences at every legal dispute, we would end up with no Islam at all. It is precisely for this reason that the scholars would often say: "One who deliberately seeks out religious allowances becomes a heretic."

It must be noted that just because there happens to be any level of difference of opinion over an issue, this does not necessarily render the difference as a tolerable one. The tolerable difference is where there is room for ijtihad, which occurs only when the difference of opinions is a major one. Moreover, it must be performed objectively and sincerely. 3

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

Having said that, let us focus our attention on the tiny minority of scholars in the past who have been reported as considering music to be permissible; they include Ibn Hazm, Shawkani, an- Nabulsi and al-Ghazali. It must be noted that none of those scholars lived in the first two centuries after the death of the Prophet (m). In the period closer to Prophet Muhammad (m), his Companions and the pious predecessors, pioneers of Islamic tasawwuf and all four great Imams, music and singing accompanied with music were considered prohibited in Islam.

Ibn Hazm did not accept the hadith of Saheen al-Bukhari regarding the prohibition of music. Ibn Hazm was no doubt a virtuous and astute scholar, but his personality was full of contradictory qualities. He belonged to the school of Dhahiri fiqh (those who apply only literal wordings of Qur'an and Sunnah in assessment of judicial issues), which is obsolete and outdated now. In the area of Hadith assessment and verification, Ibn Hazm held some very abnormal and unfounded views. Al-Hafidh ibn 'Abdul-Hadi, the accomplished Hadith scholar and student ofIbn Taymiyah, says of Ibn Hazm that "he often errs in his critical assessment of the degrees of traditions and on the conditions of their narrators.'?" For example, he was not even aware of the name of Imam Tirmidhi, the famous compiler of the hadiths and student of Imam Bukhari.

Al-Hafidh Dhahabi writes about Ibn Hazm:

Ibn Hazm's statement that Imam Tirmidhi is majhool (unknown) is a baseless claim. In fact, Ibn Hazm was

               

               

 4 Hafidh Shams ud-Deen Abu Abdullah AI-Maqdisi Ibn 'Abdul-Hadi Al- Hanbali, Tabaqiit Ulamd al-lfadeeth (Beirut: AI-Resalah Publishing House, 1996 CEI1417 AH).

completely unaware of Imam Tirmidhi and his book of hadiths Jdmi' Tirmidhi.i

Al-I:IMidh Ibn I:Iajar al- 'Asqalani, a well-known Hadith scholar, has the following to say about Ibn Hazm:

Ibn Hazm possessed great memory, but due to his excessive reliance on memory, he often made errors in his critical assessment of the degrees of hadiths and on the conditions of their narrators, and he would often suffer from the worst kind of whims."

As far as Imam al-Ghazali is concerned, he clarifies in his book IJ:tya' 'Uloom-ud-Deen (after a long discussion about the permissibility of religious singing) that listening to music and singing accompanied by women, musical instruments, or lustful poetry is completely haram in Islamic teachings." Hence, we can see that Imam al-Ghazali placed strict conditions on listening to religious music. When we look at the most sophisticated musical instruments today, the environment in which music is played, and the lyrics of the songs, it is clear that all the prerequisite conditions for listening to religious music that were set forth by people like Imam al-Ghazali are nullified. This makes the act of listening to music, and singing accompanied by it, an impermissible act based on the standards set forth by Imam al-Ghazali.

Contemporary Islamic researcher Khalid Baig, in his path- breaking book Slippery Stone, discusses the position of al-Ghazali in the following words:

5 Hafidh Shamsud-Deen Dhahabi, Mizdnul E'tid/il (Cairo: Dar al- II:1ya' Kutub al- 'Arabiyya, 1382 AH).

6 Ibn Hajar al-tAsqalani, Lisdnul Miziin, ed. Shaykh 'Abdul-Fattah Abu Ghuddah (Beirut: 1423 AHI 2002 CE).

7 Al-Ghazali, IlJya' 'Uloom ud-Deen.

Interestingly, most people who refer to his arguments seem to forget his conditions. For example, few realize that al-Ghazali declared sama' to be impermissible for the youth, the target audience of most music business today. In other words, music fans have found in al-Ghazali a convenient prop on which to hang the justification for their indulgence. But this is an exception of al-Ghazali, Anyone who wants to seriously understand the issue must not separate al-Ghazalis conditions from his arguments. When that is done, those invoking al- Ghazali in support of their license may be in for a rude shock. Al-Ghazali does use words like haram and makrooh [disliked] for activities and conditions that describe most of what is going on today even in the nasheed [Islamic songs] department, let

alone the secular music.f Let's take the case of scholars like 'Abdul-Ghani an-Nabulsi, who was of the opinion that religious music is permissible, The verse of soorat al-Jumu 'ah (Friday), which mildly rebukes amusement during the time of prayers, says:

~And when they see some merchandise or amusement, they break away to it, and leave you [O Prophet] standing. Say: What is with Allah is better than amusement and merchandise, and Allah is the best of providers.s (Qur'an 62:11)

An-Nabulsi claimed that the way amusement has been mentioned in this verse shows that there seems to be nothing

8 Khalid Baig, Slippery Stone: an Inquiry into Islam's Stance on Music

(Garden Grove, CA: Open Mind Press, 2008),

wrong with it.9 He tried unsuccessfully to use this argument in defense of religious singing, and the widely circulated fatwa of al- Azhar also copied this argument in an attempt to prove that music and singing are Iegitimate.!" This reasoning has been very strongly refuted by the famous commentator on the Qur' an Mahmood Aloosi:

Shaykh 'Abdul-Ghani al-Nabulsi, may Allah forgive him, argued for the permissibility of lahwa from this verse of soorat al-Jumu 'ah. You should know that that is based on a claim and a misconception. Even stranger is his argument from the conjunction between permissible trade and lahwa in the beginning of the verse. And that is also weird that he wrote epistles to show their permissibility that are used by a group attributed to Mawlana Jalal ad-Deen ar-Roomi. These epistles revolve around arguments that are weaker than the waist of the baby gazelle ... These are baseless lies that no sensible person can accept. 11

Regarding Shawkani's position on music; it seems that he just followed Ibn Hazm due to his love for the Dhahiri school of thought, which was initially strengthened by Ibn Hazm but is almost obsolete today. Otherwise, all the major Hanbali scholars - Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imam Ibn Taymiyah, Ibn al-Jawzi,

9 'Abdul-Ghani an-Nabulsi, ItjiilJ ad-Daldlat fee Sarna' al-Allit (Explaining the Arguments for Listening to Instruments) (Damascus: 1302 AH).

10 Dar al-Ifta al-Masriyah, http://www.dar-alifta.org, fatwa number 3280, dated 12 August 1980, quoted in Baig, Slippery Stone: An Inquiry into Islam's Stance on Music. This ruling was given by the Grand Mufti and Shaykh of Cairo's Al-Azhar, which has been a major centre of Islamic learning for over a thousand years. Michael Mumisa's English translation of this fatwa has been widely promoted by a Muslim music business in the UK.

11 Aloosi, Roon al-Ma 'ani, soorat al-Jumu 'ah, verse 11, 28: 417.

Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Qudamah and others - regarded music as forbidden in Islam. 12

The assumption about music being a controversial topic only underlines the lack of research on one's part. It has been clearly shown in this book that the vast majority of the scholars throughout Islamic history have agreed that music is forbidden.

An obvious question that arises here is how can the vast majority of scholars from all legal schools throughout the past fourteen centuries agree on the prohibition of musical instruments, while the truth happens to be to the contrary? Would it not occur to us that by adopting the other view, we are implicitly imputing error on the part of a vast majority of the scholars throughout the past fourteen centuries? Why would Allah (SWT) order us on the one hand:

               

“ ... So ask the people of the message if you do not know.”

(Qur'an 16: 43)

while the Prophet (PBUH) declared that the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets: «Certainly, the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets, for indeed the prophets did not leave behind dinars (gold) or dirhams (silver), but (they left their) knowledge. Whoever accepts it receives a great fortune.» (a sound hadith recorded by Abu Dawood)

Yet, on the other hand, such a vast majority of the scholars would consent to an invalid legal opinion for over fourteen centuries?

Would this not, in turn, cast doubt on the integrity of Islam, which was conveyed to us by none other than these scholars?

12 See Chapter 5 for references to the Hanbali scholars mentioned here.

Hence, we should not wonder why and how a scholar would oppose such a vast majority of the scholars. The question more worthy of springing to mind is: How could such a vast majority of scholars be wrong in believing musical instruments to be forbidden?

To sum up, both Imam Qurtubi (in his tafseer Ahkdm ul- Qur'dn) and Imam Aloosi (in his tafseer Rooli al-Ma'dni)

mention that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) unanimously agreed upon the prohibition of music and singing but allowed particular exceptions specified by the authentic Sunnah. This includes the four Rightly-guided Caliphs and the jurists among the Companions such as Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn Mas 'ood and Jabir ibn Abdullah, as well as the general body of Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Imam Ibn Taymiyah wrote:

The view of the four Imams is that all kinds of musical instruments are haram, It was reported in Saheeli al-Bukhdri and elsewhere that the Prophet (PBUH) said that there would be among his Ummah those who would allow zina, silk, alcohol and musical instruments, and he said that they would be transformed into monkeys and pigs ... None of the followers of the Imams mentioned any dispute concerning the matter of music. (Majmoo' al-Fatdwa, 11/576)

Unintentional hearing of music

Argument:

How can we consider music to be forbidden in Islam when there is music everywhere? When we go to supermarkets, offices, restaurants, or stores, we are bombarded with music. There is no way to escape music in this technological age.

Response:

There is a difference between listening and hearing. If we happen to hear music against our free will, while we are in a certain public place, this does not justify listening to music. Imam Ibn Taymiyah commented on this matter:

Concerning (music) which a person does not intend to listen to, there is no prohibition or blame, according to scholarly consensus. Hence blame or praise is connected to listening, not to hearing. The one who listens to the Qur' an will be rewarded for it, whereas the one who hears it without intending or wanting to will not be rewarded for that, because actions are judged by intentions. The same applies to musical instruments that are forbidden: if a person hears them without intending to, that does not matter. (Majmoo' al-Fatdwa, 10/78)

Answers to some commonly raised objections

Argument:

We are listening to music and singing because everybody in the society is doing so.

Response:

The Qur' an tells us that the fact that something is done by the majority of people is not a justification to make it permissible.

Music has been prohibited by Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (PBUH).

In fact, each of the prophets of Allah (peace be upon them all) came to this world at a time when the majority of people were not obeying Allah (SWT), to such an extent that the deviance appeared to be the norm in the society. The Qur'an tells us not to follow the majority:

                 

“If you follow most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow nothing but assumption, and they are not but falsifying.s (Qur'an 6: 116)

The Qur' an also says:

“ ... And indeed, disobedient, many among the people are defiantly

(Qur'an 5: 49)

The criterion between truth and falsehood is not the majority; it is the Qur' an and Sunnah. Any act or custom that passes the criteria set forth by the Qur' an and Sunnah is the truth. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, the famous poet of Islam, said in one of his poetic verses:

Falsehood likes dual nature (hypocrisy) whereas truth is one.

Do not accept the compromise of truth and falsehood.

(Kulliyat Iqbal)

Argument:

If this thing (music) is prohibited in Islam, why was this not clearly mentioned in the Qur'an? We only obey the

commandments of the Qur' an.

Response:

This is another excuse propounded by people who indulge in the actions prohibited in Islam. This objection, which is not new, was raised by many hedonists (pleasure-seekers) and apologetics, as well as modernist Muslims, over the entire course of Islamic history. The Qur'an provides clear and conclusive proof of the prohibition of music in Islam, but we must go to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (SWT) for further clarification of any commandment of Islam. The Qur' an is general and does not go into the fine details of the various commandments; it directs us to follow Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) for guidance. The Qur' an tells us clearly:

“ ... And whatever the Messenger has given you - take. And whatever he has forbidden you - refrain from ... “(Qur'an 59: 7)

Mohammad Asad explains that the rejection of the Sunnah by some of the present day Muslims is the outcome of an inferiority complex from which those Muslims suffer when they are confronted with the dazzling Western civilization. He notes: This 'Westernization' is the strongest reason why the Traditions of our Prophet and, along with them, the whole structure of the Sunnah have become so unpopular today. The Sunnah is so obviously opposed to the fundamental ideas underlying Western civilization that those who are fascinated by the latter see no way out of the tangle but to describe the Sunnah as an irrelevant and tlterefore not compulsory, aspect of Islam - because it is 'based on unreliable Traditions.' After that, it becomes easier to twist the teachings of the Qur' an in such a way that they appear to suit the spirit of Western civilization. 13

13 Muhammad Asad, Islam at the Crossroads (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, 1991).

Our beloved Prophet (PBUH) prophesized in his hadiths about the kind of people among Muslims who would raise such objections to the commandments of Islam. One hadith narrated by Abu Rafi' goes as follows: «Let me not find one of you reclining on his couch when he hears something regarding me, which I have commanded or forbidden, saying: We do not know. What we found in Allah's Book, we have followed only that.» (recorded by

Abu Dawood and graded as sound by al-Albani)

In another hadith narrated by al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) warned us: «Beware! I have been given the Qur' an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur' an; what you find in it to be permissible, treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited, treat as prohibited.» (recorded by Abu Dawood and graded as sound by al-Albani)

Argument:

I am listening to music just to kill time.

Response:

First of all, the person must realize that we do not kill time.

Actually, it is time that kills us. With every breath, with every tick of the clock, as the time passes, we get closer to our final destination, to our grave, to our death:

~And that to everything] )

your Lord [Allah] is the finality [return of (Qur'an 53: 42)

The Prophet (PBUH) spoke to us about how much we lose when we waste our time, saying: «There are two blessings that many people squander: health and time.» (Bukhari)

One cannot dispute the fact that spending time in any entertainment consumes time that ought to be reserved for carrying out religious obligations and doing good deeds. We all know that we will be standing before Allah (SWT) to be questioned about how we spent our time. Did we spend our time wisely, or did we just kill it? Abi Barza Aslami narrated that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: «No one will be permitted to turn his two feet away on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about the following: about his life, how he spent it; his knowledge, how much he acted upon it; his wealth, how he earned it and spent it; and his body, how he employed it.» (a reliable hadith recorded by Tirmidhi)

Islam does not like people involving themselves in trivial pursuits. Furthermore, even if we accept that the persons who say, "I am just killing time by listening to music," are doing what they say, then they are also killing something else - their sense of morality, which is a major loss.

               

Hadith about two girls singing to 'Nishah, the Mother of the Believers

Argument:

Music is permissible in Islam because it is mentioned in a hadith that two girls were singing to 'A'ishah (~,), the Mother of the Believers, and at that time, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was there. In addition, there is another hadith about the Abyssinians playing in the mosque of the Prophet in which the Prophet (PBUH) showed them to 'A'ishah (~). These hadiths can be used as p evidence that music and singing is allowed in Islam.

Response:

People who try to make music permissible quote the hadith of 'A'ishah (~), which is as follows: «It has been narrated by 'A'ishah, the wife of the Prophet (PBUH), that once Abu Bakr (~) came to her home, and at that time, two Ansari girls were singing songs about the battle of Buath. They were not professional singers. Abu Bakr scolded her, saying: These musical instruments of Satan in the house of the Prophet of Allah (SWT)! It was the day

of Eid, so Allah's Messenger said to him: 0 Abu Bakr, there is an Eid for every people, and this is our Eid day.» (Bukhari)

Another version of this hadith provides additional details about this incident: «It has been narrated by 'A'ishah (~), the wife of the Prophet, that once the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) came home, and at that time, two little girls were singing songs about the battle of Buath. The Prophet (PBUH) lay down on the bed and turned his face away. Then Abu Bakr came and scolded her, saying: These musical instruments of Satan in the house of the Prophet of Allah (~)! Prophet Muhammad turned to him and said: Leave them. In the words of 'A'ishah (~J When Abu Bakr got busy in other matters, I told the two girls to leave, and they left. That was the day of Eid. The Abyssinians were playing in the mosque with shields and lances. Then either I asked the Messenger (PBUH), or he himself said: Do you want to have a look? I said yes, so he let me stand behind him, with my cheek against his cheek, and said:

Carry on, Banu Arfidah. When I became bored, he asked: Is that enough for you? I said yes. He said: Then you may leave.» (Bukhari)

1.            The first of these hadiths, which is widely quoted by people who try to justify the permissibility of music, has the Arabic sentence 'Endi jdriyatdni tughanniydni, which translates as

"There were two little girls who were singing." While explaining the word jariyah in 'Umdatul Qiiri, his commentary of Saheeb al-Bukhdri, Shaykh Ai 'nee writes: "Among women, jdriyah. refers to a little girl who has not reached the age of puberty, just like ghuldm refers to a little boy who has not reached the age of puberty." 14 This kind of singing is in no way similar to the kind of singing by sexually attractive female singers in the present day. In fact, in Islam there is no room for gatherings where men and women freely mix with each other and listen to each other's singing, even on the occasions of marriage or Eid.

2.            In both versions of this hadith, it is stated that Abu Bakr objected to the singing by those girls. This in itself shows that

Abu Bakr must have heard of the prohibition of music and singing from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and that is why he thought that this prohibition included every instance. The Messenger of Allah (SWT) clarified to Abu Bakr that on the occasion of Eid, it is permissible (with limitations). In addition, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not express his pleasure with this act. For this reason, he did not participate in the act, as he might have done if it were a commendable act; instead he turned his face away.15 There is a difference between hearing something and listening to something.

3.            Commenting on the above-mentioned hadiths of 'A'ishah (~) in Bukhari, Imam Baghawi writes:

The poetic verses those girls were singing (in the hadith of al- Bukhari) were about battle and bravery, and in their

mentioning there was a support to a religious matter (jihad).

14 Hasan 'Abdul-Ghaffar, "Islam and Music", Meesiiq, January 2003.

15 Aloosi, Roof; al-Ma 'ani, vol. 21.

Otherwise, those poetic verses, which discuss lewdness and evil deeds and express forbidden (haram) matters, are not allowed to be recited in a song. That is why, if such verses were sung in front of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he would have spoken against it.16

4.            'A'ishah (~~J, the Mother of the Believers, herself considered singing to be prohibited. That is why, in the first hadith of Bukhari mentioned above, she made a point of saying that these two girls were not professional singers. Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar al- 'Asqalani writes in explaining this hadith:

From this hadith, a group of Sufis has taken the proof of permissibility of singing and listening to singing. However, to refute their false claim, that portion of the hadith is enough in which 'A'ishah (~ob) clarified that those two girls were not 0' professional singers. Thus, if there was any doubt that might arise from the early wordings of the hadith, she eliminated that doubt. (Fatli al-Bdri, vol. 2)

In fact, some of the scholars of Hadith have considered the narrations of 'A'ishah (~), the Mother of the Believers, in Saheeli al-Bukhdri about the singing of girls as a proof and censure against music and singing. For example, Shaykh 'Abdul- Haqq Muhaddith Dehlavi states:

Some people have used the hadeeth of Jdriyatain (tradition about two girls) as a proof for the permissibility of singing but the truth of the matter is that this tradition is a proof against singing except at certain occasions such as Eid... The maximum that can be proved from this tradition is that on certain occasions such as Eid, etc. there is permission of

16 Imam Baghawi, Sharah as-Sunnah, vol. 4 quoted in Shafee, Islam and Music.

singing. Otherwise, it is hardm and it is still a musical instrument of Satan as it is obvious from the tradition. 17

It must be noted here that the singing that Shaykh 'Abdul-Haqq is referring to as haram is singing that is accompanied by musical instruments or singing consisting of anything unlawful in Islam.

Some people use the portion of this hadith about the Abyssinians playing in the mosque of the Prophet (PBUH) as evidence that singing is allowed. However, they never mention that Bukhari included this hadith in his Saheeli under the heading 'Chapter on Spears and Shields on the Day of Eid.' Those Abyssinian slaves were playing with weapons, not with musical instruments, and there is a huge difference between the two.

Pop culture in the name of Islam

Argument:

We can use 'Islamic' music to promote the noble cause of the spread of Islam. 'Islamic' pop music can do a good job in

promoting the message of love and peace. After all, Muslim artists are using pious themes and purposes in their songs as a means to achieve a positive end.

Response:

These days, we have many nasheed artists who make the rounds of Islamic conferences and conventions, singing in the name of Islam in order to entertain the attendees. They may have good intentions to remind the listeners of Islam and to make Islam

17 'Abdul-Haqq Muhaddith Dehlavi, Sharah Safr-us-Sa'adah quoted in Shafee, Islam and Music.

attractive, especially to young people, by offering an alternative to pop music. Sad to say, in their desire to compete, some Muslim nasheed artists use musical instruments or digitally produced music in their 'Islamic' songs, and sometimes human voices are used to create the sounds of other musical instruments. Thus they make permissible what has been forbidden in Islam. A new type of pop culture is growing around some of these performers, who in reality have become Muslim pop stars. These Muslim singers do not realize that they only deceive themselves, as Allah tells us:

“They [think to] deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves, and perceive [it] not.” (Qur'an 2: 9)

Yvonne Ridley is a British journalist and activist who came to prominence in September 2001 after she was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan while working for London's Daily Express. She was held hostage for eleven days and said that she was treated with respect during her captivity. She promised her captors that she would read the Qur' an after her release, and she later did. She accepted Islam in 2003. In her recent thought- provoking article, Ms. Ridley has the following to say about the newly emerging pop culture in the name of Islam:

Eminent scholars throughout history have often opined that music is haram, and I don't recall reading anything about the Sahabah whooping it up to the sound of music. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for people letting off steam, but in a dignified manner and one which is appropriate to their surroundings. IS

18 Yvonne Ridley, "Pop Culture in the Name of Islam," last modified April=

Commenting on one such Islamic singing event held in London, Ms. Ridley continues:

The reason I am expressing concern is that just a few days ago at a venue in Central London, sisters went wild in the aisles as some form of pop-mania swept through the concert venue.

And I'm not just talking about silly, little girls who don't know any better; I am talking about sisters in their 20's, 30's and 40' s, who squealed, shouted, swayed and danced. Even the security guys who looked more like pipe cleaners than bulldozers were left looking dazed and confused as they tried to stop hijabi sisters from standing on their chairs. Of course the stage groupies did not help at all as they waved and encouraged the largely female Muslim crowd to "get up and sing along." (They're called 'Fluffers' in lap-dancing circles!)

... Apparently the sort of hysteria ... is also in America, and if it is happening on both sides of the Atlantic, then it must be creeping around the globe and poisoning the masses. Islamic boy bands like 786 and Mecca 2 Medina are also the subject of the sort of female adulation you expect to see on American Pop Idol or the X-Factor. Surely Islamic events should be promoting restrained and more sedate behaviour.i"

Sadly enough, many of those Muslim 'artists' claim that they are furthering the 'noble cause' of the spread of Islam by using music. However, Islam does not permit its followers to use negative means to achieve a positive end. Music cannot be used as a means to promote virtue. Such Muslim 'artists' claim that they are promoting the message of/peace and love through their music.

=24, 2006 http://www.islamicawakening.comlviewarticle. php ?articleID= 1261.

19 Ibid.

The fact of the matter is that our attempt to promote idealistic concepts is very similar to the Christians using emotional language and idealism to promote what they cannot defend using convincing, rational arguments. The result of Christian attempts to sugarcoat their inconsistencies ended up in people turning away from them. We must not expect any different results.

The Muslim public has lost faith in the so-called 'music for peace and love,' since they have realized that it does not deal with real life problems. It only numbs their sense of pain regarding the global suffering. In the current atmosphere, how can music contribute to stopping the Western troops from attacking innocent people in Muslim countries? How will the music stop the Israelis from shedding the blood of innocent women and children in Lebanon and Palestine? In fact, have we ever noticed violence magically turning to peace because of music? Let us be sincere and truthful to ourselves and not deceive ourselves by using fancy slogans such as 'music for peace and love.'

Let us ask a simple question: Is there any proof suggesting that music has achieved any such noble goals? The answer to this question is a simple 'NO.' In fact, in the history of Islam, music has done nothing to promote peace and love. It has only corrupted the Muslim youth throughout Islamic history.

Imam Shafi 'i' s famous statement about music clarifies that music cannot be used for pious themes and purposes:

I visited Baghdad and I saw something which has been invented by heretics, and it is known as taghbeer. They divert people from paying attention to the Qur' an through the use of taghbeer. 20

20 Ibn al-Qayyim, Ighdthat ul-Lahfiin min Masii'id ash-Shawano

Taghbeer was a practice invented in Baghdad. People would gather, and a singer would sing poems stressing the importance of the hereafter and disliking this world. The singing was accompanied by musical instruments and sometimes dancing. Imam Shafi'i regarded such a thing as an act of heresy, even though those people were using music for pious themes and purposes.

Discussing the non-compromising attitude of Islam, Muhammad Taqi Usmani writes in his book Reform of Society:

The question is: if a people of a certain period or region could be attracted to Islam through the use of music, then would it be permitted to sing Qur' an to them, accompanied by the use of a guitar and piano, for the sake of the 'preaching of Islam'? If it were possible that people of a certain area would accept Islam when they saw the photograph of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), then would Muslims (God forbid) agree to print an imaginary photograph of the Prophet? If some people may accept Islam if they are impressed by the dance and singing of Muslim women, then should we send groups of women dancers to those people for the purpose of 'preaching' Islam? What kind of thought process is this, that whenever acts of evil become predominant and rampant in the world, people not only make them permissible (halal) but also start considering them inevitable for the preaching and progress of Islam .... At the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and during the time of

his Companions, non) Muslim people of the world were fond of musical and other entertainments. It was quite possible to create such entertainments in order to convey the message of Islam to them, but the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (~) did not try to amuse people by dramas and plays; instead, they conquered the hearts of people by presenting their exemplary character to them. As a result of that, the Prophet's Companions waved the flag of tawheed (Oneness of Allah) to all comers of the world. Today, if we are not willing to change our non-Islamic habits and customs for the sake of Islamic preaching, and we want to propagate the message of Islam by

merely making dramas, musical shows and films, then only Shay tan could be the inventor of such ideas?l

Sufism and music

Argument:

Most of the Sufi scholars regarded listening to religious music and singing as permissible; therefore, we can listen to music.

Response:

This is not true. In fact, the founding fathers of Islamic spirituality and tasawwuf took an uncompromising stand against music. Being the experts on the science of purification of the hearts, the early Sufi scholars were quite aware of the corrupting influence of music on the human soul.

Only a tiny minority of some of the later Sufis regarded Islamic singing - without the use of musical instruments - as permissible, but with stringent conditions attached to it. However, those are only a tiny minority of the total body of actual Sufis.
We may find plenty of contemporary pseudo-Sufis who regard music and singing as permissible, but as far as the pioneers and the greatest of the Sufi scholars are concerned, they regarded music as haram.

21 Usmani, lsldh-e-Muashnra,

In chapter 5 of this book, the verdicts of Islamic scholars such as Hasan al-Basri, Harith ibn Asad al-Muhasibi, Shaykh Junayd al-Baghdadi, Shaykh Shahab ud-Deen Suhrawardi and Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi Farooqi have already been given; it should be clear to the reader that those scholars took an unequivocal stand against music. It is hoped that after reading those definitive verdicts from Islamic scholars, it will be clear to the reader that the real Sufi scholars, who were also experts in the knowledge of Hadith, have always considered music to be haram. What we see with the present day Sufis - such as qawwiilis,22 nasheeds with musical instruments and dancing in ecstasy - is completely against Islam. It has no basis in our religion.

Music and Islamic worship

Argument:

Music and singing can be used to express our love for God, and listening to religious music can elevate us to higher spiritual stations. This is why some of the Sufis regarded music as permissible.

Response:

In Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and other religions, music entered into the acts of worship, but Islamic worship has no place for music in it whatsoever. In response to this argument, it would be most appropriate to quote one of the greatest of the Islamic spirituality scholars to explain the position of music in Islamic 22 Qawwfili is a traditional form of devotional music, found in Pakistan and India and associated with Chisti Sufism. One well-known contemporary singer (qawwal) was Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. [Editor]

worship. In a letter to one of his students, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi criticized some of the pseudo-Sufis who were addicted to religious music and singing:

Alas! In this group of Sufis, there are many who try to find the solution to their restlessness in listening to religious music and singing, and they try to find their beloved [Allah] in the songs of the singer. For this purpose, they have made music and dancing as their way even though they must have listened to the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): «Allah has not put a cure in anything haram.» [Narrated by Umm Salamah in Tabarani with an authentic chain] ... If they had the slightest knowledge of the reality of saldn (prayers), they would have never been attracted towards religious music and singing.

When they did not find the path of truth, they took the path of falsehood. O my dear brother! Just like a difference that exists between prayers and singing, a difference of similar amount exists between the excellence and perfection achieved by prayers as compared to the states caused by listening to singing. A hint is enough for a wise person.23

Some people say that they want to play music to express their love of God. Is this the only way to express our love? The question to ask is whether the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) expressed their love through playing music. The answer is no. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to recite the Qur'an, utter remembrances of Allah (SWT), give charity, perform voluntary fasting, feed the poor and needy, and pray voluntary late night prayers to express their love of Allah (~). If there was any better way to please Allah (SWT), the Companions would have done it. Actually, the Companions of

23 Sirhindi, Maktubiit Mujaddid Alf Thdni (Collected Letters), Letter 261.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) knew the corrupting influence of music on worship and therefore they stayed away from it. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, the great Islamic poet and Islamic scholar, clarified in his famous lectures that the real Islamic spirituality does not permit music, in order to prevent the corruption of the mystical experience with music. He said:

Indeed with a view to secure a wholly non-emotional experience the techniques of Islamic Sufism at least take good care to forbid the use of music in worship, and to emphasize the necessity of daily congregational prayers in order to counteract the possible anti-social effects of solitary contemplation.f"

Fundraising in Islamic Gatherings through Musical Entertainment

Argument:

'Islamic' music can be used to promote the noble cause of Islam. Entertainment sessions containing music and singing can be used to attract Muslim teenagers and adults to Islamic conferences and conventions in order to raise funds for Islamic projects.

Response:

Nowadays, Islamic conventions and conferences are held frequently, and they are sometimes accompanied by musical entertainment. A lot of people are attracted to these gatherings due 24 Sir Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1994).

to the entertainment factor, although some Muslims who fear Allah (SWT) go there to seek Islamic knowledge, and prominent Islamic scholars are invited to disseminate the sacred knowledge of Islam. According to a hadith mentioned previously: «Certainly, the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets, for indeed the prophets did not leave behind dinars or dirhams, but (they left their) knowledge. Whoever accepts it receives a great fortune.» (a

sound hadith recorded by Abu Dawood)

We must remember that the heirs of the prophets should be respected, and Islamic conventions should not be polluted with the presence of singers and comedians on the stage. In the Qur' an, Allah (SWT) told the Prophet (PBUH) and his followers in clear terms to stay away from those people who introduce entertainment in religion, and to remind people with the Qur' an (for example, in Islamic gatherings and conventions):

~And leave those who take their religion as amusement and diversion and whom the worldly life has deluded. But remind [them] with the Qur'an .. ) (Qur'an 6: 70)

The Qur' an and Sunnah tell us that Prophets Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them) taught people in the Arabian Peninsula how to pray and how to perform the rituals of hajj.

However, over the next few centuries, the people of that region completely disfigured the religion brought forth by Prophet Abraham. They introduced entertainments into it, and a few thousand years later, when Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was sent as a prophet in that area, the ritual of hajj was reduced to a business festival. Tawaf was replaced by naked men and women clapping, shouting and dancing while circumambulating the House of Allah (SWT), as described in the Qur'an:

~And their prayer at the House [the Kaaba] was not except whistling and handclapping ... P (Qur'an 8: 35)

Hence, the acts of worship were replaced with acts of entertainment.

If we read about the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), we will notice that he enjoyed time with his family. In following the Sunnah, Muslims are encouraged to take part in entertainment along with their families. They are encouraged to have their meals with family, play with their children and have picnics with relatives. These are considered Islamic entertainments. One of the issues of this era is that Muslims do not spend much time with their families. When at home, they give their time to cable or satellite television; if there is time is remaining, they spend it on the Internet. The world of virtual reality is much more exciting to them than spending time with their spouses and children. They think that entertainment lies outside their homes, but in reality, the true entertainment lies with their very families.

We must remember that Islamic conventions are not entertainment centers where we have 'Islamic' singers on the stage, entertaining and amusing their audiences and outside in the hallways, with young Muslim boys and girls in mixed gatherings laughing and chatting, completely unaware of the Islamic concept of haya'. Muslims are to be eloquently solemn and exemplary for others and not show any frivolousness.

Islam holds a unique position among all the other religions of the world in that Islam does not permit comprorrlise with the ways and customs of secularists and modernists. Allah (SWT) warned the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), as well as all the true believers:

“They wish that you would soften [in religious commandments], so they would soften [toward you].” (Qur'an 68: 9)

Islam clearly prohibited the use of non-Islamic methods in the preaching of Islam:

“There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance: of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong ... ~

(Qur'an 2: 256)

Permissible entertainment in Islam

Argument:

We need some entertainment in our lives, so we listen to music because it is the most common entertainment.

Response:

The last refuge taken by Muslims while, defending the enjoyment of music is to claim: "Listening to music is just

entertainment, and we need entertainment in OUlr lives." It is true that all of us need entertainment in our lives, blJt the truth of the matter is that listening to music is not merely ~ntertainment. As has been shown in the previous chapters, ttere is a lot of corruption and filth that comes along with this entertainment. It is similar to the case of alcohol or gambling (such as the lottery); they are also forms of entertainment, but there ale a multitude of harms that come along with them. Since their harm is greater than their benefit (as stated in the Qur'an), alcohol and gambling are prohibited in Islam. We must also bear in mind that music is not the only form of entertainment that is prohibited in Islam. Gambling, intoxication, reading vulgar literature, using animals (cattle or chickens, for example) as targets in archery, and cruel sports like cockfighting or dog fighting are all forms of entertainment. Yet all these 'entertainments' are prohibited according to Islamic teachings.

Islam is a complete and comprehensive religion that addresses all aspects and needs of our lives, and this includes our need for diversions and recreation. It provides lawful means for us to fulfil our needs. Imam Bukhari narrates in AI-Adab al-Mufrad that the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them) used to throw watermelons to each other, but in times of seriousness, they proved themselves to be true men of action.

In the Sunnah, we see that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) participated in many different forms of lawful entertainment and play. They engaged in sports like footraces, horseracing, wrestling, and archery. They spent time in lighthearted conversation. Pastimes are permissible as long as they provide the participant with relaxation or exercise, and at the same time do not compromise the laws of Islam in terms of dress, intermingling of men and women, music, gambling, betting or anything else.

Hence, Islam is not against lawful forms of entertainment. However, according to Islam, listening to music, and singing accompanied by music, is NOT an acceptable entertainment.

Examples of Permissible and Impermissible Entertainments

Permissible

Participating in sports like footraces, horseracing." wrestling, swimming and archery

Listening to Islamic poetry without any musical instruments in gender-segregated settings

Playing with your spouse and children

Qur' anic recitation by various reciters

Reading, watching

Going on picnics with family or friends and enjoying the beauty of nature

Hiking and sailing

Impermissible

Gambling

Spending time in lighthearted conversation Drinking alcohol with family members and friends

Listening to music or to singing accompanied by mUSIC

Listening to beautiful-sounding

Playing chess or listening to vulgar materials

Cruel animal sports such as bullfights, cockfights and the like

25 The permissible type of horseracing involves no gambling, no intermingling of the sexes, and no alcohol or other haram activities.

Examples of Islamic Gatherings without any musical entertainment

!

Argument:

It is very hard to have Islamic gatherings without the use of any musical entertainment. How can we attract Muslim youth to Islamic conventions without having any musical entertainment?

The fact is that music is a strong force, and we are afraid that Islamic gatherings may not be very effective if we do not use 'Islamic' music.

Response:

It is entirely possible to have Islamic meetings without the use of music. In fact, the Islamic gatherings that are free of such entertainment prove to be highly effective and influential upon the lives of their attendees. Here are a few examples of Islamic gatherings without any musical entertainment:

1. Hajj and 'umrah (the minor pilgrimage). Every year, millions of Muslims travel to Makkah to perform the holy rites of the hajj and 'urnrah, and to Madinah to visit the Prophet's Mosque. All the pilgrims visit the holy Kaaba and carry out specific rituals. During hajj, they also congregate in the vast valley of 'Arafah from noon until sunset to engage in prayer, glorifying Allah (SWT) and begging His forgiveness. In spite of all the hardships of travel, overcrowding and high temperatures, the experiences of hajj and 'urnrah are so moving and spiritually invigorating that most Muslims return to their countries having undergone a complete spiritual transformation. Many Muslims make sincere repentance of their sins, intend never to commit those sins again and pledge to uphold their daily prayers and other religious obligations. The number of Muslims who attend the annual 'Islamic convention' of hajj is more than two million.

2. 'Umrah during Ramadan. More than one million Muslims perform 'umrah during the month of Ramadan and gather in Makkah to attend the blessed night prayers during the last ten days, especially on the twenty-seventh of Ramadan. Yet in those blessed Muslim gatherings, there are no 'entertainment sessions.'

Muslims do not come to these gatherings to amuse themselves; they attend these conferences with seriousness and humility. It is interesting to note that a few decades ago, most Muslims performing hajj or 'umrah were elderly people who desired to carry out these obligations before their death. However, the situation is completely different now. Presently, a large proportion of the pilgrims to hajj and those performing 'umrah are young men and women in their thirties, even though youth is the time when people are said to need the most entertainment. These Muslim men and women attend such Muslim gatherings with elegance and sincerity; consequently, they reap the fruits of these congregations in the form of new spiritual strength and vigor.

3. Friday congregational prayer. A third example of an Islamic gathering is the weekly meeting of Muslims for the Friday congregational prayer, which is preceded by a sermon from the Imam, similar to a speech given in any Islamic convention or conference. This event, which takes place every week at every major mosque on the face of this earth, is no less than an Islamic conference or convention. Yet there is one thing completely absent from it, and that is any entertainment session. In spite of the absence of any entertainment in these weekly assemblies,

Muslims - young and old, practicing and non-practicing -attend the prayer submissively. The Friday congregational prayers do not have musical entertainment like that found in many weekly church gatherings, yet Muslims (including many who do not perform the five daily prayers regularly) try not to miss this weekly faith-enhancing experience. The approach of Islam - nip the evil in the bud Islam is a religion that is in complete accordance with human nature. The Islamic approach to dealing with vice and corruption in the society is to nip the evil in the bud. For example, 'db' (Father) was one of the names of Allah (SWT) in almost all the primitive religions, as well as in Christianity and Judaism.

However, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) abrogated that name of Allah (~) for us to call upon in our prayers. The reason is quite obvious: Shirk (polytheism, or associating partners with Allah) and anthropomorphism crept into the creed of Christianity through this door. The Christian theologians made Prophet Jesus the son of God.

It was the same case with gambling. Other religions were lenient regarding gambling, and today gambling takes place even inside churches, under the name of 'bingo.'

Music was no different. With the exception of Islam, music entered almost all other religions of the world at their inception. In the beginning, the hymns seemed very innocent because they were wearing the 'sacred' garments of religion. Today, when traditional religious music has taken off its coat, the monster of rock music has emerged out of it. In early Christianity, music was strictly forbidden, as stated in the Bible:

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols?6 (Amos 5:23, King James Version)

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret,27 and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. (Isaiah 5:11-12, King James Version)

In early Christianity, singing with the accompaniment of instruments was strictly forbidden. The only thing permitted was to sing with voices only, without any musical instruments.

However, with the passage of time and growing secularization of the Christian societies, music crept into the churches. Puritan intellectual John L. Girardeau wrote about the introduction of music into Christianity:

It deserves serious consideration, moreover, that notwith- standing the ever-accelerated drift towards corruption in worship as well as in doctrine and government, the Roman Catholic Church did not adopt this corrupt practice until about the middle of the thirteenth century. 28

That was the time when Luther, like other Christian reformers, declared instrumental music to be permissible and urged his followers to use it in the service of God: "I would like to see all the 26 Viols were bowed, stringed musical instruments used during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries; they are different from violins. [Editor]

27 A tabret is a percussion instrument similar to a tambourine. [Editor]

28 John L. Girardeau, Instrumental Music in the Public Worship of the Church (Richmond, VA: Whittet and Shepp, 1888), 158-159, quoted in Baig, Slippery Stone: an Inquiry into Islam's Stance on Music.

arts, especially music, used in the service of Him who gave and made them. ,,29 Today, music has become an important part of worship in many churches.

If there are minute benefits in music, its harms are much more than its benefits. The ruling of the Qur' an in such issues is clear:

~They ask you [0 Muhammad] about alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: In them is great sin, and [some] benefit for people, but their sin is greater than their benefit.s (Qur'an 2: 219)

The same principle can be applied to all addictions including drugs, alcohol, gambling, music, TV, wasting time in web surfing and Internet chatting, and idle talk. The Islamic approach of nipping evil in the bud can also be seen in commandments of the Qur' an not to go close to zina or even to the means and routes to zma:

               

~And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way.s (Qur'an 17: 32)

Allah, the Exalted, the Almighty commands us not to go close to any form of shameful deed, whether committed openly or secretly:

29 Martin Luther, Luther's Works, preface to the Wittenberg Hymnal (1524), 53:316, (1965) quoted in Baig, Slippery Stone: an Inquiry into Islam's Stance on Music.

... And do not approach immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed .. ) (Qur'an 6: 151)

The modernist writers on Islam do not realize what the end result would be if we began the practice of making forbidden things permissible in Islam. The bitter fruits of such additions or deletions in divine injunctions can be seen in other religions.

Christianity made music and gambling permissible in order to show their enlightenment; today music, singing and dancing are done inside the churches in the name of religion. The same kind of dancing is done in the name of religion in Hindu temples. It may be of interest to readers to note that some of the greatest musicians entered into the music business through the route of religious music. The late Egyptian musical singer Umm Kalthum used to sing religious songs with her father when she was a child; later on, she became the queen of Arabic music. Similarly, Elvis Presley's early introduction to music came from gospel singing in church and in school; later on, he emerged as the king of rock and roll and pop music.

Islam knows that the more people are exposed to the evils in society, the more they become desensitized to them. Thus, if children are exposed to lascivious songs, suggestive music and sexy dances in their childhood, their whole worldview of sexual morality will be tarnished. Their moral uprightness will be destroyed from their very childhood. The natural inclination with which they were born, which was instilled by Allah (SWT), will be disfigured. They will lose the ability to distinguish between modesty and immodesty, morality and immorality, and chastity and promiscuity.

Ibn al-Qayyim writes in I'ldm ul-Muwaqqi 'een (vol. 2) about this approach of Islam:

Among Islamic scholars, some consider the use of the duff to be disliked, even on the occasion of marriages. The reason for this approach is based on the rule of Islamic Sharia known as sadd biib zaree 'ah, which means that some of the permissible acts are forbidden because they may result in a back door for the introduction of prohibited acts in the society. It is similar to the idea that exchanging gifts among people is an act of Sunnah, but it is prohibited to present gifts to a government official or to someone who has given us a loan, because this paves a way for bribery and usury (interest) and creates corruption in the society. Similarly, to stare at the face of a woman (who is not a person's wife) intentionally is prohibited because in this way the germs of fornication are nourished in the society, even though someone could argue that by looking at the beautiful female faces, we are only enjoying the artistry of Allahr'" Similarly, Imam Ibn Taymiyah, weighing the harms and benefits of music and religious music and singing (like qawwalis), stated:

But their harms are much more than their benefits. It is similar to the case of alcohol and gambling, in which there are some benefits for people but the harms of alcohol and gambling are much more. It is for this reason that Islamic law has not made them permissible."

30 Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyah, l'ldm ul-Muwaqqi 'een (Lahore: Ahl Hadeeth Academy, 1976).

31 Ibn Taymiyah, Risdlah. Waj'd wa Sarna'.

In conclusion, Islam prohibits music and singing because they lead a person to commit sins. Hence, Islam takes preventive measures rather than suffering the consequences. As explained by Ibn al-Qayyim, this is based on the Islamic juristic idea of preventing an evil before it actually materializes. Based on this Islamic principle, preventing harm is given precedence even over achieving possible benefits.

Music creates heedlessness

and a hole in one's soul

Music, by its very nature, creates heedlessness of remembrance of Allah (SWT). This is why musical instruments

are known in the Arabic language as maldhi, meaning instruments that prevent one from the remembrance of Allah (SWT). Music is Not food for the soul; on the contrary, it creates a hole in one's soul. It clouds the minds of the listener and takes him or her into a delusional state, far from the remembrance of Allah (SWT) -

making the listener oblivious to the purpose of his creation on this earth. Allah (SWT) says:

“And the poets - [only] the deviators follow them; do you not see that in every valley they roam and that they say what they do not do? Except those [poets] who believe and do righteous deeds and remember Allah often .. ) (Qur'an 26: 224-227)

It is clear that singing and music are closely related to poetry; in fact, they are inseparable. Allah (SWT) has made it clear that the ones who follow the poets are people who have strayed from the right path. The only exception made by Allah (SWT) in the Qur'an are the poets who remember Allah (SWT) frequently, and we know that very few poets in the history of Islam fall under this category. Of course, there are no legal objections to Muslims practicing the art of poetry in defense of Islam and its values. In fact, Sultan Bahoo, the famous poet from the subcontinent, said in one of his poetic verses:

Whatever moments are spent in heedlessness (not remembering Allah) are spent in a state of disbelief in Allah.

This is the lesson taught to me by my spiritual teacher. Poetry accompanied by musical instruments takes its listeners into a delusional state of heedlessness and invites them to a culture of permissiveness and liberalism. There is a clear link between music and behaviour, and then crime by extension, as shown in this book using scientific evidence.

In addition, most soft, romantic songs have lyrics that border on shirk, where the person who is the object of one's desire or love is put on a pedestal equal to or above Allah (SWT), and the person who is in love is constantly thinking of that person, thus turning away from Allah (SWT) and remembrance of Him. This takes a person's heart into a state of hypocrisy. Ibn al-Qayyim writes that one of the characteristics of such singing is that it:

distracts the heart and prevents it from contemplation and understanding of the Qur' an, and from applying it. Among the signs of hypocrisy is one's rarely remembering Allah (SWT) and one's laziness in rising to prayer, along with its poor performance .... A person's addiction to song peculiarly makes listening to the Qur' an a heavy weight upon his heart, hateful to his ears. If this is not hypocrisy, then hypocrisy has no reality?2

There are two types of memory: short term and long-term. As the name implies, short-term memory lasts for a shorter period of time than long-term memory. Converting short-term memory to long-term memory (a process known as coordination) requires rehearsal. This involves, among other things, repetition, rhyming, and emotional attachment to the incident or the message. If we look at songs, we find that all these factors are available to make them a part ofthe long-term memory of a person. There is repetition in the lyrics of the songs, and there is rhyming as well.

In addition, music arouses emotions in its listeners. Hence, music and songs become part of the long-term memory of a person who indulges in music. When the memory of a person is flooded with music and the lyrics of songs, it becomes hard for that person to contemplate the Qur' an and its message. It becomes hard for such a person to engage in remembrance of Allah (SWT) as mentioned in the Qur'an:

“ O you who have believed! Remember Allah with much remembrance.s (Qur'an 33: 41)

Dr. Bilal Philips is a Western convert to Islam and a contemporary Islamic scholar. 33 In one of his public speeches, Dr. Philips pointed out that when he accepted Islam in 1971, he learned about the prohibition of music, so he stopped listening to

32 fun al-Qayyim, Ighdthat ul-Lahfdn min Masii'id ash-Shaytdn.

33 See the next chapter for his detailed biography.

his record collection. When he used to invite non-Muslim friends to his house to tell them about Islam, he would sense that they felt uncomfortable having discussions with no music in the background. They found something amiss.

Actually, that is the trick of the Western society. Whether you are at work, shopping in a department store, or using a restroom, there is background music. It ensures that you are immersed in worldly pleasures and materialistic desires so that you neglect to remember Allah (SWT). It ensures that you do not have time to think about the purpose of your creation." On the other hand, Allah (SWT) makes us think by addressing us:

               

“ And the Qur'an is not the word of a devil, expelled [from the heavens]. So where are you going?~ (Qur'an 81: 25-26)

This question put forth by the Qur' an makes us remember that the purpose of our creation, our death and our life after death is different from the purpose depicted in the words of Satan, that is, music. The Qur'an is the word of Allah (SWT), whereas music is the word of Satan. Music is a delusion of this world, which paralyzes one's mind and does not let him or her think about the fundamental question, "So, where are you going?"

               

Music affects the bestial souls of human beings, not their angelic souls

               

Now let us have a philosophical examination of the idea that music is food for the human soul. First of all, we know that human

34 Dr. Bilal Philips, Silence, audio recording of lecture in Saudi Arabia, n.d.

beings are made of two things: dust and soul. It is mentioned in various places in the Qur' an that our body is made from the soil of this earth. For example:

~And among His signs is that He created you from dust...~

(Qur'an 30: 20)

Then Allah (SWT) sends an angel to blow the spirit into this material being, as He (SWT) mentions:

~So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] soul, then fall down to him in prostration.~(Qur'an 38: 72)

This soul blown into human beings is unique to humans; they do not share it with other living creatures on this planet. Allah (tMt) refers to the dual nature of human beings when He describes the creation of Adam (AS):

“ [Allah] said: O Iblees [Satan], what prevented you from prostrating to that which I have created with My Hands ... ?” (Qur'an 38: 75)

The human body is made from the ingredients of this world, but the soul is blown into the body by an angel. A human being consists of both a body and a soul; he or she is at once a physical being and a spirit. The human body possesses desires similar to those of animals (such as hunger, thirst, and sexual urges), whereas the human soul strives for heavenly desires. It is due to the presence of the soul that a human being is regarded as the best of the creations of Allah (tMt). Thus, human beings are a combination of a celestial element (the spirit) and a terrestrial element (the body or flesh).

Islamic scholars make a second classification according to which the human being possesses not only the rooh(soul), but also a nafs, which is the type of soul present in animals as well as in human beings. Hence, humans have two souls, or spiritual powers, analogous to this dual nature. Shah Waliullah Dehlavi, in his famous book Hujjatullah al-Bdlighah, writes that Allah (tMt) has given human beings two kinds of powers. One power is due to the higher, angelic soul, which exists only in humans; it urges humans to grow close to Allah, the Exalted, the Almighty, and to perform good deeds. The other power is due to the lower, animal or bestial soul, which urges them to perform acts that are unworthy of being a human. These two powers are always in conflict in the human being?5

It is mentioned in the Qur' an that Allah (tMt) has created everything in pairs:

 (“ Exalted is He who created all pairs - from what the earth grows and from themselves and from that which they do not know.s (Qur'an 36: 36)

Allah (tMt) has endowed human beings with a dualistic nature, not only with respect to the body and soul but also with respect to

35 Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dehlavi, Hujjatullah al-Bdlighali (Karachi: Darul Isha'at, n.d.).

a pair of souls (angelic and carnal). In describing the dualistic nature of human beings, Syed Muhammad Al-Naquib Al-Attas, a contemporary Islamic thinker, writes:

Man also has two souls (nafsan) analogous to his dual nature:

the higher, rational soul (al-nafs al-ndtiqahi; and

the lower, animal soul tal-nafs al-hayawdniyyahy.

When God proclaimed the reality of His Lordship to man, it is the rational soul that knows God. In order for man to fulfil his Covenant with God, to constantly confirm and affirm the Covenant within his total self so that it is enacted as action, as work ('amal, i.e., with reference to 'ibadah) performed in obedience to God's Law (i.e., the Sharia), the rational soul must assert its supremacy and exert its power and rule over the animal soul, which is subject to it and which must be rendered submissive to it. 36

Music affects this bestial or carnal soul of humans. The angelic soul of a human being is not affected by music (or, if anything, it is negatively influenced). If music were influencing only the angelic soul in humans, then animals would remain unaffected by music, but we know from everyday experience and observation that this is not the case.

When songs are sung to camels, they are so powerfully affected that they start to run rapidly, bearing heavy burdens, until they fall down in a state of exhaustion.

A cow produces more milk if music is played while it is being milked.

Some owners of pig farms play music at their farms because in their experience, the pigs eat more food and become fatter when they listen to music.

When a flute is played in front of a snake, it becomes mesmerized by the sound. Ibn al-Qayyim wrote:

36 Muhammad Al-Naquib Al-Attas, Islam and Secularism (Delhi: New Crescent Publishing Company Company, 2002).

The thing which is activated and excited by listening to songs and music is the animal (carnal) soul, not the human soul or 'angelic soul.' What is presented as a proof of this (by Islamic scholars) is the influence on animals and birds when singing and music are played to them?7