Music is haram?

[Dracula Girl]

I was reading this article that said, "' He said, 'I know music is haram [forbidden], and inshallah [God willing], with time, I will be able to stop listening to music too.' "*

So what is the Islamic view of music? I have heard Muslim singers before, so is this a Wahabi thing?

Source: http://teacher.scholastic.com/schola...08_saudi_girls

[KingsGambit]

There is a Wikipedia article on music in Islam. (I know, I know, Wikipedia.. but I think it gives a good general overview.) The article has one section in particular discussing the permissibility of music in the religion - apparently a couple passages in the Quran seem to forbid it (and I also linked to a Muslim site below that quotes these passages and espouses this view). However, this view is not universal, especially today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_in_islam
http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/5011

[barnasha]

according to extremist fundamentalists... yes
but check carefully the basis of their logic against the conflicting opinions

[Hesperado]

The commenter "barnasha" writes:

"according to extremist fundamentalists... yes"

Barnasha doesn't give us evidence for this claim.

In fact, the sahih hadith of Abu Dawud records Mohammed as saying:

“Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of Ignorance.”

What is a "sahih hadith"? Many non-Muslims in the West have yet to educate themselves on Islam. Mainstream Islam is not merely based on the Koran -- it is also based on the hadiths (sayings of Mohammed) -- and the sayings that are "sahih" are most authoritative for all Sunni Muslims (over 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni),

This website, "The Daily Hadith", explains about music what should be an unremarkable fact about Islam, but which is obscured either by ignorance or by clever tactics of obfuscation to make mainstream Islam seem less extremist than it is.

Thus we read:

"The evidence against musical instruments, in particular wind and string instruments, is irrefutable. There are many sahih ahadith forbidding the use of musical instruments. The Sunni schools of fiqh all prohibit wind instruments (e.g. flutes, trumpets) and string instruments (e.g. violins, guitars) categorically, while they differ in their ruling on percussion instruments (e.g. drums)."

Source: http://dailyhadith.adaptivesolutions...nstruments.htm

Many non-Muslim Westerners think in a box about Islam. They think that Islam must follow the same model as all other religions. We think, "well, all religions are in their mainstream moderate, and any extremism we may find must pertain only to a tiny minority of 'fundamentalists' or 'radicals'..."

Well, there's a mountain of data out there from around the world to indicate that Islam is the exception -- extremism is not merely a fringe in Islam, it is the mainstream norm, from its founding texts through its history, to its present practice. This is not merely with regard to music, but also to a whole panoply of other topics. Not familiarizing oneself with that mountain of data is no longer an excuse, with the Internet.

The so-called "moderates" are in fact the exception, in Islam.

Just a tiny sampling from that mountain of data:

Taliban murder two at music festival


Saudi variety show -- with no women or music


Muslim former guitarist now preaches against music


Montreal: Muslim kindergartner permitted to block out music


"If the other party puts you on hold on the phone, then try not to listen to the music as much as possible. Beware of actively enjoying the music, and seek the forgiveness of Allaah"


Bombs at Baghdad music shop kill 32, wound 71


U.K.: Muslims withdrawing children from music classes because they're "un-Islamic"


Somali music ban comes into effect today -- or else


What other religious group is doing such things around the world today?

[Epoetker]

It sounds like exactly the sort of thing Mohammed would do-ban anything artistic that wasn't his own work, thereby making people live completely within its principles. Easier to do in the desert among people living close together, of course. Without music, many of those learning the Koran seem to subsitute rocking themselves according to the Koran's meter of recitation.

On one hand, I suppose it does focus the mind on the moral basics. On the other hand music is one way the mind can non-verbally organize and harmonize itself, so the tendency of Muslims to maintain a frame of cognitive dissonance makes much more sense when you consider that. There are undoubtedly consequences to listening to too much music, but the horror of a society where the chords are silent probably explains the varieties of Islamic superstition all too well-a deprived brain hallucinates its unmet needs.