Music in Islam

I used to listen to music a lot. In fact, a lot is probably an understatement. I wore out my first iPod in less than two years because I listened to music so much (either that or I dropped it on the floor one too many times). My iTunes library currently contains 2,200 songs. Probably not nearly the biggest music library out there, but it is big enough.

However, since I have become a Muslim, I have slowly weaned myself from listening to music.

See, in Islam, music is prohibited to a certain extent. The Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam said in a well-known hadith, ‘From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful.’

The definition of music here is specifically instrumental sound. For the most part, simple singing is fine. Men are forbidden from listening to adult females signing, but that is the only restriction. Females are more than welcome to sing, just not in such a way that a non-related man can hear her.

So what’s permissible? Well, anything besides instruments and adult female singers. Allah made human nature such that it loves music. Therefore, it is not banned but is regulated by banning harmful aspects

Yet, nothing is ever that easy. Of course there is a difference of opinion among Muslim scholars as to what is permissible and what isn’t. A few say no instrument at all is allowable; there can only be singing and human voices. Others, probably the majority, say use of a duff (a tambourine-like frame drum sans bangles) is permissible. Then there are some who allow synthesized or digitally remastered music. Lastly, there are a few who agree musical instruments are fine so long as the content of the song is permissible.

Some of you might be wondering why music is prohibited in Islam. The reason is rather simple. For some, music becomes a source of solace instead of Allah. When they are down, music brings the up temporarily, like a drug. The Qur’an, the word of Allah filled with guidance, should play that role, not music. A heart filled with music has no room for the words of Allah. They begin to depend upon the music and the Creator. Ibn Taymiyyah, a scholar of the past, once said that music is like alcohol to the soul.

And so, the twenty or more songs out of my 2,200 that I now listen exclusively to are nasheeds. What is a nasheed? Nasheeds are sort of the Islamic equivalent of Christian hymns. As defined by Wikipedia, nasheeds ‘are moral, religious songs sung in various melodies by some Muslims of today without any musical instruments.’ Nasheeds can be sung in any language: Arabic, English, Spanish, German, you name it. Most are probably sung in Arabic as Arabic is the language of Islam, but language is not a defining feature.

Following are some examples of nasheeds. The first two are Arabic while the last two are in English.

However, there are also many other types of permissible and religious music in Islam. This includes madih nabawi (Arabic hymns praising the prophet Muhammad), Mawlid music (performed for the birthday of Muhammad, in various regional styles), manzuma (moral songs performed in Ethiopia), and hamds (songs in praise of Allah).

Another relatively common type of religious music in Islam is termed naat. There are two basic definitions of what exactly a naat is. Many Muslims will say naats and nasheeds are one and the same, the only difference being what language the term originates from: nasheed, Arabic; naat, Urdu. Many others define naats as songs specifically praising the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam. In this way, the last nasheed above could be considered a naat as well. The following song, which is perhaps my favorite, would also be considered a naat.

Now, what to do with the 2,180 songs I don't listen to anymore?

My First Abaya!

Today was an exciting day!

Well, maybe not all of it. I spent most of the morning doing nothing. The afternoon wasn’t much more thrilling. I took a walk through a nearby park which was filled with picnickers, kite fliers, and cricketers.

Then, the person I was with suggested we amble down a nearby street, Wilmslow Road. I’m currently in Manchester, which, like London, is very ethnically diverse – especially the part of the city I’m staying in. Over ten percent of the population is South Asia; over half of that 10% is Pakistani.

Wilmslow Road reflects this large percentage of South Asian peoples. Restaurants with Urdu written on their fronts line the road; posters advertise the delicious dishes being served inside. Customers sit outside in the lovely weather, some puffing away on a hookah. The savory smells of curry and whatnot fill the air, setting one’s mouth watering no matter how hungry they are. Several store windows are filled with mannequins displaying saris and shalwaar kameez, the bright colors and shimmering sequins catching one’s eyes. Urdu music escapes from stores and filters onto the street. The person I was with, who is from Pakistan, made the comment that walking Wilmslow Road is like being back home.

Near the end, just before the store fronts turn to a park, we came across an Islamic bookstore. I can’t remember the name, but I suppose that’s not very important. Anyway, the two of us stepped into the store – simply out of boredom…we weren’t looking for anything. I was drawn to the back of the shop where a small section was closed off. Hanging on the walls were several abayas.

For those of you who do not know what an abaya is, it is essentially a long, robe-like over garment some Muslim women wear as part of hijab, or Islamic modest dress. Traditional abayas are black, and some have a bit of embroidery or other work. They cover the whole body except for the face, hands, and feet. The term is Arabic for ‘cloak,’ and abayas are the national dress of Saudi Arabia.

I have often thought about buying an abaya and have often found myself perusing websites selling such dress. Personally, I don’t see it as being necessary to wear an abaya; rather it’s a way to maintain one’s modesty and be more modest. Yes, it is important to cover one’s self, but that can be achieved with a skirt or something else. However, I had never brought myself to actually purchase an abaya. I’m the sort of person who likes to actually handle what I’m planning on buying, touching it and trying it on.

I won’t bore you with the details, but I went into that store out of interest and boredom and left with a nice, new abaya in hand.

That was certainly the highlight of my day and possibly the highlight of my week. Yet, it’s hard to say why. Wearing an abaya does not necessarily mean I’m a better Muslim; what good is the outside if the inside is lacking? And, as I said before, I don’t believe Muslim women must wear an abaya so long as they are covering themselves in some other way.

Instead, I think it not only shows modesty but also helps keep a sister’s iman in check. Long ago, I talked to a Muslim lady who wore an abaya whenever she stepped foot outside her home, and I asked why she wore an abaya. Her answer was simple: it made her feel closer to Allah subhana wa ta'ala as well as changing her character for the better. I’m not sure if the same will happen for me, but the hope is there that it might insha’Allah.

But, whatever the reason why I was excited, I am very happy I decided to buy an abaya. Currently, I only wear jeans and kurtis – not always the most modest of dress. Insha’Allah wearing an abaya will please Allah and will mean more reward for me.

I can’t wait to wear it!

Violent Verses

Time for a pop quiz!

Below are four quotes. Each is from one of two sources: the Qur’an or the Bible. Although, just to make things interesting, there’s also a chance all four are from one book. Two were edited for length and one of those was also edited to remove a religion-specific reference. Your job: identify the holy book of origin.

Ready? Go!

~ “Wherever you encounter (nonbelievers), kill them, seize them, besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post.”

~ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

~ “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and worship other gods’ ... do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death.’

~ “Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

So, how did you do? If you identified the first quote as being from the Qur’an (9:5) while the last three as being from the Bible (Matthew 10:34, Deuteronomy 13:6-9, Numbers 31:17-18), then I congratulate you on that degree in theology. However, if I’m correct in guessing, most of you found it hard to place each quote in the proper book. And, if I’m again correct in guessing, most of you have noticed a certain theme in these quotes.

There is a point here: people should stop cherry-picking warlike quotes from the Quran to “prove” the evil of Islam. This sort of stuff is all over the web. Just a few days ago I was doing some research for a paper I was writing when I came across a website that listed Qur’anic exhortations to violence to prove that Islam is a religion of hate and murder.

Websites such as that one really get under my skin. People browsing the Internet come across these sites and read the verses. In reading these verses they begin to think, “Wow! There is so much violence in this book! So many verses commanding Muslims to slaughter and kill!”

As time wears on, these verses may lead them to believe Islam is a violent religion; they may begin to view Muslim as people ready and willing to cut down any nonbeliever and those who dare speak out against Islam. Or, if such beliefs already existed in a person, what they read can serve only to deepen those convictions.

The problem is, most of these verses that seem to advocate murder and whatnot are time specific. For example, the verse listed above that originates from the Qur’an (9:5) is one such time specific verse. In his English translation of the Qur’an, M. A. S. Abdel Haleem writes a short description of Surah al-Tawba, the chapter in which the verse in question can be found. He writes:

‘The sura opens by giving notice of the severance of the treaty with the idolaters because they had broken it, but the bulk of the sura deals with preparations and recruitment for the expedition to Tabuk, which took place in the heat of the summer of AH 9 (631 CE).’

As one can see, 9:5 does not necessarily apply to now nor is it a general command to kill all nonbelievers. Rather, it was a command to kill because the idolaters (idolaters, not even disbelievers in general!) had broken a treaty. Plus, if one were to read further, they would find the next part: ‘…but if they turn to Allah, maintain the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, let them go on their way, for Allah is most forgiving and merciful. If any one of the idolaters should seek your protect [Prophet], grant it to him so that he may hear the word of Allah, then take him to a place safe for him, for they are people with no knowledge [of it].’ Quran 9:5-6

But, how many people are actually going to pick up a Qur’an and read more than just that one ‘violent’ verse? My guess is probably not too many. Instead, they’ll read what these Islamophobic websites have to say and they won’t investigate further.

As rhetorical devices go, cherry-picking warlike quotes from the Qur’an is a cheap parlor trick, a con job to fool the foolish and gull the gullible and for anyone who has spent quality time with the Bible, its shortcomings should be obvious.

If not, see the pop quiz again. The Quran is hardly unique in its admonitions to take up the sword. The Bible is full of such ‘violent’ quotes.

However, the purpose of this post is not to analyze any of those troubling quotes. I’ll leave it to religious scholars to contextualize them, to explain how they square with the contention that Islam and Christianity are religions of peace. For the purpose of this post, it is sufficient to note that, while both Christian and Muslim scholars will offer that context and explanation, only Christians can be assured of being taken at their word when they do.

Christians get the benefit of the doubt. Muslims get Glenn Beck asking a Muslim congressman to “prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.”

Because Christianity is regarded as a known – and a norm. Muslims, meantime, have been drafted since Sept. 11, 2001, to fulfill the nation’s obsessive, historic, paranoiac and ongoing need to rally against an enemy within. We lost the Commies, but along came the Islamofascists. The names change. The endless capacity for irrational panic remains the same.

As in people who send out emails insisting upon the rightness of holding over a billion people – that bears repeating: over a billion people – responsible for the actions of what? A few hundred? A few thousand? But then that’s getting into stereotyping – another topic for another time insha’Allah.

Some of us use lies, exaggerations and rhetorical gobbledygook to instill in the rest of us that irrational panic they breathe like air. Yes, it is only sensible to fear the threat we face from terrorism. But panicked, irrational people are capable of anything.

It might be wise if we chose to fear that too.

On the Lookout for Haram Products

Alhamdulillah apart from the occasionally cold I have always been blessed with great health. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been seriously sick. But, when I do get sick, it tends to happen at the most incontinent times. Such as when there’s a big exam at school. Or when I’m traveling.

Yes, I have somehow managed to catch the flu while here in the UK. Alhamdulillah it’s mild and I get over the flu relatively quickly; after one or two days the fever breaks. The only tough time is at night when the sleeplessness hits me. Add high humidity and a naturally warm room, and it’s even harder to sleep. Now, if I had been at home, I would have reached for the Nyquil. Anytime I have trouble sleeping because of an illness, I take a small dose of Nyquil, which puts me right to sleep.

But, I just learned Nyquil has alcohol. Now this really isn’t a huge deal nor does it mean I can never take it again. There are varying opinions about the issue of alcohol in medicine among Muslim scholars. Some say it’s fine so long as it doesn’t impair mental ability, some say a certain quantity is okay, and others strictly outlaw consuming alcohol in medicine. So depending on which opinion a Muslim follows, taking Nyquil to help relieve the effects of the flu is fine.

However, this situation highlights something all Muslims living in the West should do: read the ingredients of products unless the product is specially labeled as being halaal. Many products produced and sold in the West contain haram products.

One such example is gelatin. Gelatin can be found in so many products. There are the obvious foods: gelatin desserts (like Jell-O), marshmallows, gummy candies, trifles, candy corn, Poptarts, Peeps. Other products use gelatin as a stabilizer, thickener, or texturizer, such as jams, yoghurt, cream cheese, and margarine. Fruit juices, like apple juice, and vinegar are sometimes clarified using gelatin. A fact less well-known, gelatin is also used to stabilize beta-carotene, which is often used in soft drinks as a coloring agent.

Gelatin’s use is not exclusive to food. Many pharmaceutical capsules make use of gelatin to make them easier to swallow. As a surface sizing, it can be used to smooth glossy printing paper or playing cards and maintain the wrinkles in crêpe paper. Some cosmetics include a variant of gelatin called hydrolyzed collagen. I used a specific face wash for a few years until I read the ingredients one day out of boredom and came across gelatin. Never would have guessed I’d find gelatin there!

While gelatin is one of the biggies, many other ingredients are haram. Two closely related ingredients are whey and rennin. Rennin is an enzyme taken from the stomach of a newly killed calf and is used in the cheese-making process. In the process of producing cheese, a coagulum is formed by clotting milk with rennin. When that is cut, a watery liquid known as whey is released and drained off. The curd is further prepared to become cheese while the whey can be used in cream, butter, cheese, drinks, and syrups.

Other ingredients to avoid include vanilla extract (artificial vanilla is fine), alcohol, bone phosphates, cochineal/carmine, glycerine, l-cysteine, magnesium stearate (and stearic acid), shellac, emulsifiers, and any other animal by-products. Not all of these are found in food products. For example, magnesium stearate is often found in medicines, specifically tablets.

Some of these ingredients are not always haram. There are different ways to produce ingredients, like emulsifiers. Emulsifiers can originate from animals or vegetable sources. This is true for several common ingredients. Certain chemicals can by synthesized including stearic acid. There are also many substitutes in these modern times. Gelatin substitutes for vegans and vegetarians commonly are produced using plants rather than animals.

Also, some of these ingredients can be derived from halal animal sources so long as the animals are slaughtered in the manner specified by the Qur’an and hadith. Therefore it is possible to consume such products as cheese and gelatin originating from animals.

Yet it can be tough to learn whether or not these ingredients are halal and this safe for Muslims to eat or not. Unless one has a direct line to the producer of the food (or just anybody who knows exactly what is in the food), it is much better to play safe than be sorry. Muslims should avoid anything that is suspect, even slightly so. This grey area is termed mushboosh, and a good practicing Muslim should prevent himself or herself from eating/consuming such products.

Therefore, it is best to either completely avoid food with haram ingredients or stick to foods and other products labeled halaal. Even products labeled safe for vegetarians does not guarantee there is not some other haram ingredient (e.g. alcohol). Products imported from a Muslim country nor products imported into a Muslim country ensure the permissibility of consumption.

Remember, if there is no halaal label, check the ingredients, investigate. Learn the common haram ingredients and stay on the lookout while shopping. There are many Muslim websites online that list haram ingredients or products. I have included some links at the end of this post. Memorize these ingredients or keep a small list of them close by when shopping. Insha’Allah this will help in avoiding the ‘hidden’ and ‘unknown’ haram products so common in the Western world.

‘Forbidden to you for food are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars).’ Qur’an 5:3

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http://www.muslimconsumergroup.com/

http://www.canadianhalalfoods.com/

http://www.halalmc.net/index.html

http://www.zabihah.com/