Music, Remembrance of God & Jihad
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful
In a comment in my previous entry, "I am a Muslim Extremist", somebody new in their acceptance of Islam asked me about Islam's position on music. Just the fact that Islam holds a position on music may come as a shock to those unfamiliar with the religion. It would not come as a shock to most Muslims, however, since we understand Islam to be nothing more than submitting to God's will in every aspect of our life, which includes the topic of music (I'll go into why I think this is a "topic" in Islam to begin with). Before I say anything further, I would like to make it clear to those who do not know me, that I am by no definition a scholar of any kind. All I can do is relate what I have learned personally from scholarly and other sources, and give my view. If somebody wants a definitive answer to "Is music 'allowed' in Islam", I would say ask a scholar. What I am doing here is sharing with you my thoughts on an issue I personally deal with. That being said, here we go.
I find it easier to think when using precise language. It's hard, but I try. Rather than asking, "is music allowed in Islam", let us ask "what is God's will concerning music, according to the revelation of the Qur'an, and what the Prophet Muhammad (God's peace and blessings be upon him) said?" Once we begin talking about God's will, everyone with an ounce of fear of God in their heart should be at pause. Why? Simply because we are now talking about interpreting the primary sources (the Qur'an and the hadith, or sayings, of the Prophet) and then stating that X is what God wants us to do in situation Y. In certain things, God's will is clear. In our Shari'ah, or law, those things go in the category of "definitive rulings". These are rulings that are, clear, agreed upon, and they hold for all time and place. These are things like praying five times a day, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving a certain amount of charity every year, Hajj, the prohibition of murder, stealing, of comsuming alcohol, pork, wearing hijab, etc. There are also other issues that are not as clear, but for which God's will must be known. Who is willing to speak for God? Not I. I don't want to be held accoutable for that. It is those who have dedicated their lives to understanding the Qur'an and the hadith as a whole, who learn the nuances and subtleties of Arabic to a great extent, who understand the contexts of revealed verses and the various sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him), who have to learn several other sciences relating to language, grammar, rhetoric, prosody, and others, and who learn what those who came before them said about various issues. If one will be saying, "In my understanding, in this situation God's will is..." then they should have spent the time to understand the primary sources as a whole, and to the best of their human ability. This is, after all, nothing less than human salvation we are talking about. Ultimately however, no one can truly speak for God except God Himself, or His Prophets (peace be upon them all). And as a side note, traditional Muslim scholars's works were rife with the phrase "Wa Allahu 'Alim (And only God knows best), placed often at the end of a section or a paragraph, pertaining to a particular ruling.
In terms of music, this is an issue, as I have come to understand it, that has had varying opinions attached to it. Generally, most Muslims grow up with an understanding that music is frowned upon in Islam, due to the fact that if you ask most people who are considered to have authority in the Shari'ah, they will say something to that effect. From what I have learned from my teachers, a very common understanding of the scholars of Islam on music is that it is considered something to stay away from. Some scholars say that music is forbidden. Some say that only certain instruments (primarly percussion, no winds and no strings) and voice are allowed. Some will even say that there are only specific types of drums that can be used. There are those (from my understanding, in the minority) who say you can listen to anything as long as nothing haram (prohibited) is being referred to in the lyrics. The commonality in all of these scholarly views, however, is that nothing with lyrics that speak of anything that is prohibited by God, is allowed to be listened to. So even if we take the minority view that music is allowed as long as nothing haram is spoken in them, that limits most of what we often listen to as people growing up in the West. If you need it spelled out for you, here's a list of things off the top of my head (note: this list is not complete) - heck, might as well make it another top ten:
Given the above, the only music you can really listen to anymore is either a Nasheed (a song in praise of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the "Care Bears" theme song.
Personally, I think that's enough to answer the question. Regardless, let's take a further look at the issue.
We all must admit something first. Music is powerful. The effect music can have on individuals is remarkable. We've seen it before, someone hears an old song and it instantaneously transports them back to a moment of their past; music can move one to the core, making one experience sadness, happiness, elation, anger, and a variety of other emotions and personal internal experiences. In fact I learned that Muslims saw music as so powerful that at a certain point in our history Muslims actually used music to try and cure certain spiritual ailments. There would be a process of diagnosing the individual and then prescribing the appropriate type of music to affect him/her and hopefully change their state for the better. Thus, one perspective is that it is due to the immense power of music that Islam is so careful with regards to its every day use. This would not be a far stretch in terms of the general "philosophy" of Islam towards aspects of human experience that have such power. An example is the attraction between a man and a woman. God knows, quite obviously (and more than we do), how powerful this interaction is. As a non-Muslim friend shared with me recently, based on personal experience he came to the conclusion that it is impossible for a man and woman who have even the slightest bit of attraction between them to maintain a friendship without it leading to something more. This "something more" is what God wants us to avoid. We all know that sex outside marriage is very strongly forbidden in Islam. Since the power of attraction between man and woman is so strong, Islam takes the pre-emptive approach and states that men and women should not interact on a purely social basis, but rather limit their interactions to necessary ones entailing things like business, education and other goal-oriented endeavors. Another example is the fact that the Qur'an states that in alcohol there is good for us, but that the bad outweighs the good, and thus alcohol should be kept away from completely. Given the dozens upon dozens of health, familial and societal issues that chronic alcoholism leads to, and given our understanding that this addiction can actually be genetic, it is no wonder that God has forbidden it completely for us. If you look at what is considered to be the first sin in the Qur'an, it is that Adam and Eve (both) disobeyed God in their taking from a specific tree in Heaven. The lessons to be learned by this story are many, however it is important to note, as Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar has pointed out, the specific wording of the command that prohibited them from taking from the tree. God commands, as described in the Qur'an, "Do not approach the tree", however, the two human beings are not taken to account until they actually take from the tree. This shows Islam's philosophy towards sin in general. If a particular action is detrimental for us, one is much less likely to engage in that act if approaching it is made forbidden. This is why, alcohol and purely social relations between men and women (amongst other things) are both forbidden, not because they are necessarily so evil in themselves, but because they have an extremely high probability of leading to something much worse. The point of all of this is to suggest that it is due to the immense power of music on the soul, and our inability to safely discern (or to be honest enough with ourselves to admit) which music is beneficial for us or not, that music is often viewed as highly discouraged (I am not using an Islamic legal categorization here).
It is interesting to note however that historically, muslims invented instruments, including string instruments, one of which was actually the precursor to the modern guitar. It is clear that as Muslims we do have our history with music. What is also clear however is that our attitude to music was different. Those Muslims that used music therapeutically were using it to treat spiritual ailments. In other words, they were using music as a tool to help one get closer to God. Everything in Islam exists to help one draw closer to God. That is the purpose of our lives, to draw closer to God by serving Him and by serving His creation in the way He wants us to. One of the most important and essential ways of drawing closer to God is through His remembrance. The Qur'an itself is called "The Remembrance". In numerous places throughout the Qur'an we are told to remember God, and told of the benefits of remembering God. The Qur'an tells us that we should establish our five daily prayers for the remembrance of God. Remembrance of God is what our very souls, our hearts, our cores, desire. It is the nourishment of what is spiritual within us, just as food and drink is the sustenance of our bodies. It was either Ali the cousin of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or the Prophet himself who said that the difference between those who remember God and those who do not, is like the difference between the living and the dead. The reason for this is because if you do not nourish your heart, it dies, along with its ability to recognize and respond to God's Signs. The spiritual heart, as mentioned in the Qur'an, is the organ that humans have been given that allows them to be receptive to God's Signs. God reveals Himself through His Signs in revelation and in the natural world around us. It is the healthy spiritual heart that is receptive to these Signs. It is the healthy spiritual heart that sees and reflects on these Signs and thus comes to know God, and eagerly fulfills His commands. It is due to unhealthy, undernourished hearts that we can read the Qur'an and not be affected by it; that we can live in the natural world and not marvel at God. The nourishment of the heart is in remembering God, remembering The Reality, The Truth. This means for Muslims, minimally, praying five times a day. Praying does not mean performing. The physical actions of the prayer exist to faciliate the prayer, which is an action of the heart. Our spirituality is not separate from our bodies, and so in this fundamental act of worship, God commands that our bodies be involved as well. Remembrance of God also means reciting and reflecting on the Signs of God (the ayat or verses) in the Qur'an. Remembrance of God means reflecting on the natural world, its complexity, its beauty, its majesty and power, and what it tells us about the Beauty, Majesty and Power of God Himself. Remembrance of God means making the little prayer that the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) made as he mounted and demounted his camel (got into/out of his vehicle), as he stepped in and out of the bathroom, as he entered and left his house - all of this was remembrance of God. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was the one who remembered God the most, he was always in the Presence of God, whether he was talking with his companions, helping the needy, spending time with his family, taking care of the sick, or fighting in battle. That is the true servant of God: one who is actively engaged in the world, but whose heart is always with God. How do you achieve that state? Only by His remembrance. For this reason, the statement that had the most effect on me in terms of my stance towards music was what my beautiful teacher, Shaykh Jamal Dhahabi told me, when I asked him a long time ago, simply, innocently, and with a child-like thirst to know, "Shaykh Jamal, why is music frowned upon in Islam?" He said, with humility and a certain tranquility in his voice, "Saleem, anything that takes us away from the remembrance of God, it is best to stay away from."
It is so true. If our very purpose in life is to worship and thus know God, and the most important method of doing this is by remembering God, then how can we immerse ourselves in something that removes us from His remembrance? People in modern Western society (including Muslims) listen to music to "get away from it all", to drown out the problems in their lives, as a fun distraction, or simply because, well, it's music - it's just part of every day life, how can one not listen to it? The latter is simply a matter of course of history. Music has, indeed, been a part of human life from the beginning, however its ubiquitousness in our time is unprecedented. With the advent of modern technology, including radio, walkmans, headphones, CD's, and of course iPods, music has almost become the matrix within which our lives exist. The radio is on as soon as the car is running, the headphones are on as soon as the books are opened, or the sneaker laces tied. People listen to music all the time, in their homes, in the car, in their study rooms. Just in case that wasn't enough there's even musak in elevators, in grocery stores, in malls. Simply by the principle of "everything in moderation", wouldn't one think that this is a bit much? Music in the modern world is primarily a distraction. It distracts us from our purpose, from being purpose-driven people, from being people who remember God and act in the world in a manner befitting representatives of God on Earth, as human beings are meant to be. How often do you hear people say, "Wow, 50 cent is truly a luminary, his beats remind me of the majesty of God" or for that matter any other deep reflective statement? Last time I checked, girls went to [insert name of manufactured pop star here]'s concerts because 1) they want to look like her, 2) they like the sound of her transient-soon-to-be-replaced music, and guys go to her concert because 1) they like to see her shake around on stage and 2) they like to see her shake around on stage. Similar ideas apply to all the different types of music out there. Be it rap, hip-hop, hippy-rock, rock, metal, punk, alternative (whatever that's supposed to be), hard rock, soft rock, medium-well rock, whatever it is, I doubt one can finish reading their mid-day prayer and then sit in the car and listen to any one of those, thinking, "Glory be to God! How wonderful the intonations and how magnificent the harmonies! The dissonance of that chord requires a resolve in tension that only God can bring!" Not that we all talk like that anyway. All of this, just as a reminder, is predicated on the fact that what they sing about is not something that God has forbidden, which as we established means that you better set that Care Bears theme song on your play list to "repeat".
I know there are some of you out there right now thinking, "but what about classical music!? surely you must admit that it can be spiritual!" Well I have three responses to that (and now for a shift in tone, because, hey, this is getting long, and I'm sure you need a break too).
1) If you are a second generation Muslim living in the United States of America, you don't listen to classical, you listen to rap or hip-hop. If you grew up around rich white people then you listen to whatever they listen to, which is rap, hip-hop, and music ranging from Metallica to Dave Matthews Band to Green Day. You also most likely listen to whatever transient-soon-to-be-defunct, one-hit-wonders on the radio, so don't talk to me about listening to classical.
2) If by "spiritual" you are referring to how Moderns talk about "spiritual" which basically amounts to "whatever makes me feel good and gives me that tingly feeling in my spine", then you're right. Classical music (along with instrumental movie soundtracks) is "spiritual". Whether it draws you closer to God is another question; a question whose answer must be sought, not from our limited human minds that "discover" new theories about how everything works every few years, but rather, from Revelation from God, the one who created us, and the one who truly knows the best way for all of us to draw closer to Him. There is very little evidence in the Qur'an and Hadith, as interpreted by our scholars, that listening to Bach and Beethoven will put you on the fast track to being a Wali (a saint) of God. But this leads me to the third point.
3) Islam is based on our being impeccably honest with ourselves. In the face of varying scholarly opinions, one must truly, and completely honestly, look within oneself and act according to what one knows to be right. Of course, taking into account that the majority of scholars say something, in reality, holds a lot more weight than personal reflection on the issue, and there is really no reason, in our every day lives as Muslims, to find minority views and take them as our own simply because they suit us (when to take minority scholarly views is a department of the scholars themselves. If one has a particular situation, one should always approach a traditional scholar of Islam who will guide you with regards to your options given your particular situation - the shari'ah is not so static as many Muslims think). This being said, and returning to the original point, we have to be honest with ourselves. If you find that something you do increases your ability to remember God and increases your inclination to obeying Him and His Messenger, that that action is within the bounds of the shari'ah, and that you have striven hard to understand what the shari'ah says on the issue by consulting scholars and gaining knowledge, then by all means, continue with that action. If, however, you find that the action is something that distracts you from His remembrance, that does not help you in acting in accordance with His commands and does not make you a better human being in the sight of God, then it is up to your honesty with yourself to stop it.
And that last point, is the jihad. The struggle for good, for improvement, for positive change. It is a specific form of Jihad, called mujahada, spiritual or inner struggle, that defines the Muslim. My understanding is that life is not meant to be a place of distraction. It is meant to be a place of struggle to focus on God. It is meant to be a place of fighting distraction. As humans we are not meant to be automaton-consumers whose ideas of the world are based simplistically on the society into which we are born, meandering through life dazzled by flashing lights and sweet sounds, as the Modern world wants us to be. Humans are meant to be Representatives of God on Earth as all Prophets have taught. This does not mean that we cannot relax, or do things that bring ease to our minds and hearts. What it does mean is that when we do them, they should not be things that take us away from our ultimate goal: serving God to the best of our ability, through His worship, and through serving humanity.
> Saleem
In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful
In a comment in my previous entry, "I am a Muslim Extremist", somebody new in their acceptance of Islam asked me about Islam's position on music. Just the fact that Islam holds a position on music may come as a shock to those unfamiliar with the religion. It would not come as a shock to most Muslims, however, since we understand Islam to be nothing more than submitting to God's will in every aspect of our life, which includes the topic of music (I'll go into why I think this is a "topic" in Islam to begin with). Before I say anything further, I would like to make it clear to those who do not know me, that I am by no definition a scholar of any kind. All I can do is relate what I have learned personally from scholarly and other sources, and give my view. If somebody wants a definitive answer to "Is music 'allowed' in Islam", I would say ask a scholar. What I am doing here is sharing with you my thoughts on an issue I personally deal with. That being said, here we go.
I find it easier to think when using precise language. It's hard, but I try. Rather than asking, "is music allowed in Islam", let us ask "what is God's will concerning music, according to the revelation of the Qur'an, and what the Prophet Muhammad (God's peace and blessings be upon him) said?" Once we begin talking about God's will, everyone with an ounce of fear of God in their heart should be at pause. Why? Simply because we are now talking about interpreting the primary sources (the Qur'an and the hadith, or sayings, of the Prophet) and then stating that X is what God wants us to do in situation Y. In certain things, God's will is clear. In our Shari'ah, or law, those things go in the category of "definitive rulings". These are rulings that are, clear, agreed upon, and they hold for all time and place. These are things like praying five times a day, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving a certain amount of charity every year, Hajj, the prohibition of murder, stealing, of comsuming alcohol, pork, wearing hijab, etc. There are also other issues that are not as clear, but for which God's will must be known. Who is willing to speak for God? Not I. I don't want to be held accoutable for that. It is those who have dedicated their lives to understanding the Qur'an and the hadith as a whole, who learn the nuances and subtleties of Arabic to a great extent, who understand the contexts of revealed verses and the various sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him), who have to learn several other sciences relating to language, grammar, rhetoric, prosody, and others, and who learn what those who came before them said about various issues. If one will be saying, "In my understanding, in this situation God's will is..." then they should have spent the time to understand the primary sources as a whole, and to the best of their human ability. This is, after all, nothing less than human salvation we are talking about. Ultimately however, no one can truly speak for God except God Himself, or His Prophets (peace be upon them all). And as a side note, traditional Muslim scholars's works were rife with the phrase "Wa Allahu 'Alim (And only God knows best), placed often at the end of a section or a paragraph, pertaining to a particular ruling.
In terms of music, this is an issue, as I have come to understand it, that has had varying opinions attached to it. Generally, most Muslims grow up with an understanding that music is frowned upon in Islam, due to the fact that if you ask most people who are considered to have authority in the Shari'ah, they will say something to that effect. From what I have learned from my teachers, a very common understanding of the scholars of Islam on music is that it is considered something to stay away from. Some scholars say that music is forbidden. Some say that only certain instruments (primarly percussion, no winds and no strings) and voice are allowed. Some will even say that there are only specific types of drums that can be used. There are those (from my understanding, in the minority) who say you can listen to anything as long as nothing haram (prohibited) is being referred to in the lyrics. The commonality in all of these scholarly views, however, is that nothing with lyrics that speak of anything that is prohibited by God, is allowed to be listened to. So even if we take the minority view that music is allowed as long as nothing haram is spoken in them, that limits most of what we often listen to as people growing up in the West. If you need it spelled out for you, here's a list of things off the top of my head (note: this list is not complete) - heck, might as well make it another top ten:
Top 10 Things that are Referred to in Most of our Western Music:
10. Romantic relationships between two unmarried individuals-of the opposite, (or same) gender
9. Sex between two unmarried individuals - of the opposite, (or same) gender
8. Booty (not the type you get after a battle in war, nor the type that pirates are always after), often referred to in "Rap" & "HipHop"
7. Girlfriend doesn't need boyfriend anymore [see 10]
6. Guy talking about girls, usually using words like (hot, need, baby, shake, hold, love, etc)
[note: not necessarily bad things, but usually it's not spoken of in a very wholesome manner]
5. Illicit drug use
4. Murder, stealing, driveby's (yes, they get their own category) - see "Rap".
3. Words such as: $@*!, &@%&, !*&%@ and @%*.
2. Making fun of people (see "Short People Got No Reason to Live" - yes, it's a real song)
1. See 10.
10. Romantic relationships between two unmarried individuals-of the opposite, (or same) gender
9. Sex between two unmarried individuals - of the opposite, (or same) gender
8. Booty (not the type you get after a battle in war, nor the type that pirates are always after), often referred to in "Rap" & "HipHop"
7. Girlfriend doesn't need boyfriend anymore [see 10]
6. Guy talking about girls, usually using words like (hot, need, baby, shake, hold, love, etc)
[note: not necessarily bad things, but usually it's not spoken of in a very wholesome manner]
5. Illicit drug use
4. Murder, stealing, driveby's (yes, they get their own category) - see "Rap".
3. Words such as: $@*!, &@%&, !*&%@ and @%*.
2. Making fun of people (see "Short People Got No Reason to Live" - yes, it's a real song)
1. See 10.
Given the above, the only music you can really listen to anymore is either a Nasheed (a song in praise of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or the "Care Bears" theme song.
Personally, I think that's enough to answer the question. Regardless, let's take a further look at the issue.
We all must admit something first. Music is powerful. The effect music can have on individuals is remarkable. We've seen it before, someone hears an old song and it instantaneously transports them back to a moment of their past; music can move one to the core, making one experience sadness, happiness, elation, anger, and a variety of other emotions and personal internal experiences. In fact I learned that Muslims saw music as so powerful that at a certain point in our history Muslims actually used music to try and cure certain spiritual ailments. There would be a process of diagnosing the individual and then prescribing the appropriate type of music to affect him/her and hopefully change their state for the better. Thus, one perspective is that it is due to the immense power of music that Islam is so careful with regards to its every day use. This would not be a far stretch in terms of the general "philosophy" of Islam towards aspects of human experience that have such power. An example is the attraction between a man and a woman. God knows, quite obviously (and more than we do), how powerful this interaction is. As a non-Muslim friend shared with me recently, based on personal experience he came to the conclusion that it is impossible for a man and woman who have even the slightest bit of attraction between them to maintain a friendship without it leading to something more. This "something more" is what God wants us to avoid. We all know that sex outside marriage is very strongly forbidden in Islam. Since the power of attraction between man and woman is so strong, Islam takes the pre-emptive approach and states that men and women should not interact on a purely social basis, but rather limit their interactions to necessary ones entailing things like business, education and other goal-oriented endeavors. Another example is the fact that the Qur'an states that in alcohol there is good for us, but that the bad outweighs the good, and thus alcohol should be kept away from completely. Given the dozens upon dozens of health, familial and societal issues that chronic alcoholism leads to, and given our understanding that this addiction can actually be genetic, it is no wonder that God has forbidden it completely for us. If you look at what is considered to be the first sin in the Qur'an, it is that Adam and Eve (both) disobeyed God in their taking from a specific tree in Heaven. The lessons to be learned by this story are many, however it is important to note, as Shaykh Husain Abdul Sattar has pointed out, the specific wording of the command that prohibited them from taking from the tree. God commands, as described in the Qur'an, "Do not approach the tree", however, the two human beings are not taken to account until they actually take from the tree. This shows Islam's philosophy towards sin in general. If a particular action is detrimental for us, one is much less likely to engage in that act if approaching it is made forbidden. This is why, alcohol and purely social relations between men and women (amongst other things) are both forbidden, not because they are necessarily so evil in themselves, but because they have an extremely high probability of leading to something much worse. The point of all of this is to suggest that it is due to the immense power of music on the soul, and our inability to safely discern (or to be honest enough with ourselves to admit) which music is beneficial for us or not, that music is often viewed as highly discouraged (I am not using an Islamic legal categorization here).
It is interesting to note however that historically, muslims invented instruments, including string instruments, one of which was actually the precursor to the modern guitar. It is clear that as Muslims we do have our history with music. What is also clear however is that our attitude to music was different. Those Muslims that used music therapeutically were using it to treat spiritual ailments. In other words, they were using music as a tool to help one get closer to God. Everything in Islam exists to help one draw closer to God. That is the purpose of our lives, to draw closer to God by serving Him and by serving His creation in the way He wants us to. One of the most important and essential ways of drawing closer to God is through His remembrance. The Qur'an itself is called "The Remembrance". In numerous places throughout the Qur'an we are told to remember God, and told of the benefits of remembering God. The Qur'an tells us that we should establish our five daily prayers for the remembrance of God. Remembrance of God is what our very souls, our hearts, our cores, desire. It is the nourishment of what is spiritual within us, just as food and drink is the sustenance of our bodies. It was either Ali the cousin of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or the Prophet himself who said that the difference between those who remember God and those who do not, is like the difference between the living and the dead. The reason for this is because if you do not nourish your heart, it dies, along with its ability to recognize and respond to God's Signs. The spiritual heart, as mentioned in the Qur'an, is the organ that humans have been given that allows them to be receptive to God's Signs. God reveals Himself through His Signs in revelation and in the natural world around us. It is the healthy spiritual heart that is receptive to these Signs. It is the healthy spiritual heart that sees and reflects on these Signs and thus comes to know God, and eagerly fulfills His commands. It is due to unhealthy, undernourished hearts that we can read the Qur'an and not be affected by it; that we can live in the natural world and not marvel at God. The nourishment of the heart is in remembering God, remembering The Reality, The Truth. This means for Muslims, minimally, praying five times a day. Praying does not mean performing. The physical actions of the prayer exist to faciliate the prayer, which is an action of the heart. Our spirituality is not separate from our bodies, and so in this fundamental act of worship, God commands that our bodies be involved as well. Remembrance of God also means reciting and reflecting on the Signs of God (the ayat or verses) in the Qur'an. Remembrance of God means reflecting on the natural world, its complexity, its beauty, its majesty and power, and what it tells us about the Beauty, Majesty and Power of God Himself. Remembrance of God means making the little prayer that the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) made as he mounted and demounted his camel (got into/out of his vehicle), as he stepped in and out of the bathroom, as he entered and left his house - all of this was remembrance of God. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) was the one who remembered God the most, he was always in the Presence of God, whether he was talking with his companions, helping the needy, spending time with his family, taking care of the sick, or fighting in battle. That is the true servant of God: one who is actively engaged in the world, but whose heart is always with God. How do you achieve that state? Only by His remembrance. For this reason, the statement that had the most effect on me in terms of my stance towards music was what my beautiful teacher, Shaykh Jamal Dhahabi told me, when I asked him a long time ago, simply, innocently, and with a child-like thirst to know, "Shaykh Jamal, why is music frowned upon in Islam?" He said, with humility and a certain tranquility in his voice, "Saleem, anything that takes us away from the remembrance of God, it is best to stay away from."
It is so true. If our very purpose in life is to worship and thus know God, and the most important method of doing this is by remembering God, then how can we immerse ourselves in something that removes us from His remembrance? People in modern Western society (including Muslims) listen to music to "get away from it all", to drown out the problems in their lives, as a fun distraction, or simply because, well, it's music - it's just part of every day life, how can one not listen to it? The latter is simply a matter of course of history. Music has, indeed, been a part of human life from the beginning, however its ubiquitousness in our time is unprecedented. With the advent of modern technology, including radio, walkmans, headphones, CD's, and of course iPods, music has almost become the matrix within which our lives exist. The radio is on as soon as the car is running, the headphones are on as soon as the books are opened, or the sneaker laces tied. People listen to music all the time, in their homes, in the car, in their study rooms. Just in case that wasn't enough there's even musak in elevators, in grocery stores, in malls. Simply by the principle of "everything in moderation", wouldn't one think that this is a bit much? Music in the modern world is primarily a distraction. It distracts us from our purpose, from being purpose-driven people, from being people who remember God and act in the world in a manner befitting representatives of God on Earth, as human beings are meant to be. How often do you hear people say, "Wow, 50 cent is truly a luminary, his beats remind me of the majesty of God" or for that matter any other deep reflective statement? Last time I checked, girls went to [insert name of manufactured pop star here]'s concerts because 1) they want to look like her, 2) they like the sound of her transient-soon-to-be-replaced music, and guys go to her concert because 1) they like to see her shake around on stage and 2) they like to see her shake around on stage. Similar ideas apply to all the different types of music out there. Be it rap, hip-hop, hippy-rock, rock, metal, punk, alternative (whatever that's supposed to be), hard rock, soft rock, medium-well rock, whatever it is, I doubt one can finish reading their mid-day prayer and then sit in the car and listen to any one of those, thinking, "Glory be to God! How wonderful the intonations and how magnificent the harmonies! The dissonance of that chord requires a resolve in tension that only God can bring!" Not that we all talk like that anyway. All of this, just as a reminder, is predicated on the fact that what they sing about is not something that God has forbidden, which as we established means that you better set that Care Bears theme song on your play list to "repeat".
I know there are some of you out there right now thinking, "but what about classical music!? surely you must admit that it can be spiritual!" Well I have three responses to that (and now for a shift in tone, because, hey, this is getting long, and I'm sure you need a break too).
1) If you are a second generation Muslim living in the United States of America, you don't listen to classical, you listen to rap or hip-hop. If you grew up around rich white people then you listen to whatever they listen to, which is rap, hip-hop, and music ranging from Metallica to Dave Matthews Band to Green Day. You also most likely listen to whatever transient-soon-to-be-defunct, one-hit-wonders on the radio, so don't talk to me about listening to classical.
2) If by "spiritual" you are referring to how Moderns talk about "spiritual" which basically amounts to "whatever makes me feel good and gives me that tingly feeling in my spine", then you're right. Classical music (along with instrumental movie soundtracks) is "spiritual". Whether it draws you closer to God is another question; a question whose answer must be sought, not from our limited human minds that "discover" new theories about how everything works every few years, but rather, from Revelation from God, the one who created us, and the one who truly knows the best way for all of us to draw closer to Him. There is very little evidence in the Qur'an and Hadith, as interpreted by our scholars, that listening to Bach and Beethoven will put you on the fast track to being a Wali (a saint) of God. But this leads me to the third point.
3) Islam is based on our being impeccably honest with ourselves. In the face of varying scholarly opinions, one must truly, and completely honestly, look within oneself and act according to what one knows to be right. Of course, taking into account that the majority of scholars say something, in reality, holds a lot more weight than personal reflection on the issue, and there is really no reason, in our every day lives as Muslims, to find minority views and take them as our own simply because they suit us (when to take minority scholarly views is a department of the scholars themselves. If one has a particular situation, one should always approach a traditional scholar of Islam who will guide you with regards to your options given your particular situation - the shari'ah is not so static as many Muslims think). This being said, and returning to the original point, we have to be honest with ourselves. If you find that something you do increases your ability to remember God and increases your inclination to obeying Him and His Messenger, that that action is within the bounds of the shari'ah, and that you have striven hard to understand what the shari'ah says on the issue by consulting scholars and gaining knowledge, then by all means, continue with that action. If, however, you find that the action is something that distracts you from His remembrance, that does not help you in acting in accordance with His commands and does not make you a better human being in the sight of God, then it is up to your honesty with yourself to stop it.
And that last point, is the jihad. The struggle for good, for improvement, for positive change. It is a specific form of Jihad, called mujahada, spiritual or inner struggle, that defines the Muslim. My understanding is that life is not meant to be a place of distraction. It is meant to be a place of struggle to focus on God. It is meant to be a place of fighting distraction. As humans we are not meant to be automaton-consumers whose ideas of the world are based simplistically on the society into which we are born, meandering through life dazzled by flashing lights and sweet sounds, as the Modern world wants us to be. Humans are meant to be Representatives of God on Earth as all Prophets have taught. This does not mean that we cannot relax, or do things that bring ease to our minds and hearts. What it does mean is that when we do them, they should not be things that take us away from our ultimate goal: serving God to the best of our ability, through His worship, and through serving humanity.
"Without doubt, it is in the Remembrance of God that hearts find tranquility."
- The Qur'an, Chapter of The Thunder, Verse 28-
- The Qur'an, Chapter of The Thunder, Verse 28-
> Saleem
PS - If you made it this far, feel free to read the addendum to this entry below.
posted by Mujahada at 1:11 PM
13 Comments:
Well, from reading your rules against music it certainly seems like the only purpose for those rules is to prevent a) people thinking or talking about sex and b) people talking about violence. One of the questions I have is the following: If one prevents someone from talking (which is an extention of thinking) about forbidden things, than how can one know that one freely chooses the path of a particular religion? To put it another way faith depends on free choice, not mindless adherence to rules.
If the only two points you received from this entry was that there are “rules against music” simply to prevent people from thinking about sex or violence, then either I wrote very poorly, you didn’t read it well, or you didn’t read the whole entry (I say this simply as a matter of fact, not as an attack on you or your intelligence). I thought that I clearly stated in this entry that the point of limiting one’s exposure to music, *if that is what one chooses to do after due diligence and reflection*, is to uplift oneself spiritually. By occupying oneself by listening to most of the kinds of music that there is out there today, I said that it decreases one’s ability to remember God, which is one of the most valuable ways of drawing closer to God, not just in Islam but in many of the world’s religions. There is an inverse relationship between the sensory and spirituality in almost all world religions. If one is dousing oneself in the sensorial all day long, as our Modern world inclines us to do, then that can be detrimental to spiritual growth. This is part of the reason why fasting is so common a religious practice in most religions. This does not mean that we deny our bodies or that we reject sensory pleasures. It simply means we must be careful to prevent them from getting out of hand, to prevent them from interfering with our spirituality, which, from Islam’s perspective, is the most important and defining aspect of the human being. I have addressed the initial statement upon which your question rests, thus there was no need for me to address your actual question. I hope I did not offend, I by no means meant to.
Take care,
Saleem
salaam
read this:
http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2005/03/30/music-in-islam/
and:
http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2005/10/22/yusuf-islam-talk-on-muslims-in-the-world-today-music-a-performance/
shaykh habib ali jifri was present at yusuf islam's latest concert (he played a guitar) in abu dhabi, and Shaykh Abdullah Adhmani (www.sakeenah.org) is featured on an interlude on Outlandish's latest Album, Closer than Veins (http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2005/10/30/outlandish-featuring-shaykh-abdullah-adhami/).
jazakallah khair
love,
haseeb
Yes, I'm well aware of those things. They have been brought to my attention many times, and by people who may not have read my entry clearly (this is a perennial issue I have, perhaps I need to take some writing courses!)
For anyone who is interested, Yusuf Islam's article on music is a great read. Check it out, as posted above, but I will re-post it here for emphasis:
http://www.hahmed.com/docs/music_question_faith.pdf
I think that some of what Yusuf Islam says sums up a great portion of my entry:
"Now going back to the subject of music – so long as it is within certain moral limits and does not divert a person from worship – it obviously does not make people non Believers."
I wasn't talking about it in terms of whether it makes someone a believer or not - that is not an issue at all. The issue is, as he says in the article, and as I mentioned above, an issue of varying opinions in fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence). I gave my argument against most music these days, which I believe Mr. Islam would agree with. As for the other types of music, types of music made by people like Yusuf Islam, I would refer you to "3)" where I talk about being honest with oneself, proper evaluation of the issue, and using the criterion Mr. Islam mentioned when he said, "so long as it is within certain moral limits and does not divert a person from worship".
I hope this helps.
alhamdulilah, this was a good post. I actually think this should go in some pamphlet. Or maybe you should write for white thread press and have Farooq design your cover.
Salamu Alaikum
I think the issue is far deeper then alot of people imagine. Merely stating something is "differed" upon does not mean that one is permitted to do it. Take for example (and now im going deep into fiqh) the ruling that it is obligatory to be in a state of ritual ablution to do the prostration of recital, which is the verdict of the vast majority of the Ulema. Yet, not surprisingly, there does exist a position to the the contrary, but although this position exists and the difference is there, it is considered aberrant (shadh) and cannot be followed.
I know the above example might not be all that similar to the issue at hand, but, nonetheless, my intention was to merely show that "differed" does not entail "followable".
At most what one can say is that the one who indulges in such acts, such as music, cannot be condemned merely due to the fact that difference does exist. Just to clarify, the difference amongst the fuqaha regarding Music is slightly more then my example, but it remains an extremely weak opinion i.e. weak in itself, not weak in comparison to a more sound position (this is an important distincition).
I particularly do not agree with Yusuf Islams remarks regarding how it "obviously does not make people non Believers". If this was the legag basis for what is permissible and not, then im sure we can make alot more things permissible other then music.
Lastly, although Yusuf Islams had the best of intentions - and may Allah reward him based on that - I dont think a non-faqih should openly indulge or discuss these issues, much less promoting things which a the majority forbade. This is not merely because he is not qualified to, but because the public usually formulate their own opinions on what is considered "moral" and "divergent" and it does have disasterous consequences. This is why the fiqh principle "sadd al dhara'i" exists i.e. blocking the means.
Request for du'as
Wasalam
Salman
I really enjoyed reading your post on music. I was actually given Haseeb’s site to listen to the outlandish and Sami Yusif’s album. I was looking through the links on his page and a link to your site was there, so instead I read your article. El hamdulila for finding it, it couldn’t have come in a better time. I am struggling with this issue. I actually haven’t been listening to music or watching TV for about 4 months, but lately I have been caught up in all this “halal music” stuff. Your points made me realize that yes even though it might have good words the point is it’s taking us away from our main purpose REMEMBERING GOD. We know in our hearts that Music takes us away from that no matter how good the words are. It’s like we found a way to justify the issue now, as usual we are trying to get the best of both worlds. But seriously who are we fooling? Only ourselves.
It’s defiantly better than listening to western music but lets be honest with ourselves how many of us listen to Sami yusif more than we listen to the Koran? I don’t know how to say this but I feel all this Islamic music is making Muslims blind to the real issues. We are so caught up in the rhythm and the beat in this unreal world of songs. I don’t know about everyone else but I don’t listen to it then go pray. I don’t feel any closer to God after listening to an outlandish song. And isn’t that our purpose in life aren’t we suppose to remember Him all the time?
Thanks again for posting this Jazakom Allaho kahir
Aslam alikom
I really enjoyed reading your post on music. I was actually given Haseeb’s site to listen to the outlandish and Sami Yusif’s album. I was looking through the links on his page and a link to your site was there, so instead I read your article. El hamdulila for finding it, it couldn’t have come in a better time. I am struggling with this issue. I actually haven’t been listening to music or watching TV for about 4 months, but lately I have been caught up in all this “halal music” stuff. Your points made me realize that yes even though it might have good words the point is it’s taking us away from our main purpose REMEMBERING GOD. We know in our hearts that Music takes us away from that no matter how good the words are. It’s like we found a way to justify the issue now, as usual we are trying to get the best of both worlds. But seriously who are we fooling? Only ourselves.
It’s defiantly better than listening to western music but lets be honest with ourselves how many of us listen to Sami yusif more than we listen to the Koran? I don’t know how to say this but I feel all this Islamic music is making Muslims blind to the real issues. We are so caught up in the rhythm and the beat in this unreal world of songs. I don’t know about everyone else but I don’t listen to it then go pray. I don’t feel any closer to God after listening to an outlandish song. And isn’t that our purpose in life aren’t we suppose to remember Him all the time?
Thanks again for posting this Jazakom Allaho kahir
oops sorry I didnt mean to send it twice!
that was a great article. did anyone hear the new 50 cent album? just kidding, hahaha. love u saleem! ur blog is great
Assalaam alaikum mujahada,
Masha Allah!!!
Your entry on music beautifully captures the true essence of the whys music is not good for the muslim soul.
I want also add that if we let our children listen to "decent"(as described by many to be songs with music not about romance etc or even some nasheeds with music) types of music when they are small, who can we blame if they grow up and end up choosing vile musical choices???
Keep writing your thoughts...they are good for the Muslim soul.
Jazaakallah khair
Wassalaam
Ummzaina
Very beneficial Jazakallah
Is it ok if I use extracts form the article with slight alterations?
Dear Anonymous,
I'd like to discuss how you would like to use it first and what alterations you would make before giving you permission. I am not averse to giving permission, but I do want to have this discussion before I do. Please email me at saleemniazi@meccacenter.com
Wassalam,
Saleem
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