Different Question about Music.

[XSãoXLuisX]

So in a previous thread of mine called, "Question about Music in Islam" I was given a few verses about where in the Quran it prohibits the listening of music. One verse was:

"And there are among men those who purchase idle talk in order to mislead others from Allah's path without knowledge, and who throw ridicule upon it. For such there will be a humiliating punishment."

Now, the keyword in this specific verse, and a few others related to this, is "idle talk" or "lahwal hadeeth". When I read that word, I think as if the word is as it's name implies "talk that is idle". With no surprise, I came to find that this word is very ambiguous and comes with many meanings and/or interpretations. Some say it means music and any associations with it, others say it means a "conversation inviting to or consisting of shirk (polytheism)", and finally others believe it means, "all false talk, actions or deeds, whose nature it is to divert people from Allah's path and from His worship and remembrance".

With so many ambiguities in that word alone, why is it that muslims have come to the consensus that it means specifically "all music"???

Now I'm no scholar, but if one wanted to prohibit music, wouldn't it have been easier to simply use the term "music"? Or, if the term "music" wasn't in existence, at least use a less ambiguous term??? Now...one could argue, that what is ambiguous to our society today, may not have been ambiguous back then. But!!!!...this is the word of God we're talking about, and I would think God would know not to use terms that would stir confusion for future societies.

Like I said before, I'm no muslim and nor do I have a Quran, so another verse about music using a different term could probably prohibit music. If that verse exist, please tell me about it!!!!

For those of you that have replied to my previous thread about music, and are reading this one, I was willing to let this topic go and focus on other aspects of Islam, but I still had more questions and misunderstandings.

Sorry.

Music is a big part of my life and a major part of who I am. It's always been something positive for me and has never lead me away from God, in fact, the contrary.

So far I like what I've learned about Islam and it's teachings, but giving up the one thing that has made me feel closer to God more than anything else, seems to be a bad move on my end.

Is it better to be a mediocre muslim and feel happy & closer to God, or to be one of the best of muslims and feel unhappy and distant????

 

[arzafar]

since you are not a muslim yet, you should become a muslim first.
do the salah, learn how to read Quran and other far more important things first. then as your faith grows you will be ready to make more sacrifices and eventually cut music off from your life.
do not lose your head over specific rulings at this moment. keep to the spiritual aspect and ask God to help you change. Change will take time but your intention must be sincere.

edit:
however, music IS haram (forbidden)! this is beyond any doubt.
may Allah guide us all. Ameen!

 

[al-muslimah]

When you decide to become a Muslim, you will join Muslims, not follow them.

Exactly! I liked the statement.

 

[a_stranger]

Peace
Islam teaches why we(humans) are here on this earth : to worship the one who created us i.e. to love him the most love with most humility ....this goal will make it easy for you to do all that is good in this life .

 

[hayat84]

hello,I posed the same question before,but now I arrived to the conclusion that listening to music is a happy way to remove the thoughs to AllahSWT,even if you say to think to Allah:no,because in the moment you listen a song you feel good,but how do you feel when the song finishes?.try to Listen to the song of a muslim singer and do the same with a non-muslim singer one.How do you feel?remembering Allah by a song isn't it better than "dreaming"with other argumented songs??Islam invites people to the remembering of Who created us and it invite us to avoid listeng anything bad that our ears can hear.If you stop to the meaning of the songs you use to listen to,can you give an explaination of and say to whom are they addressed?you may make fantasies and by doing this,you arrive to forget the real target,that's to say Allah SWT.but by myself you should open Quran and full your mind of it,so you may remember to Allah more than you espect.salam

 

[BrotherInIslam7]

hello,I posed the same question before,but now I arrived to the conclusion that listening to music is a happy way to remove the thoughs to AllahSWT,even if you say to think to Allah:no,because in the moment you listen a song you feel good,but how do you feel when the song finishes?.try to Listen to the song of a muslim singer and do the same with a non-muslim singer one.How do you feel?remembering Allah by a song isn't it better than "dreaming"with other argumented songs??Islam invites people to the remembering of Who created us and it invite us to avoid listeng anything bad that our ears can hear.If you stop to the meaning of the songs you use to listen to,can you give an explaination of and say to whom are they addressed?you may make fantasies and by doing this,you arrive to forget the real target,that's to say Allah SWT.but by myself you should open Quran and full your mind of it,so you may remember to Allah more than you espect.salam

:salam2:

Nice answer sister.

 

[Al-Kashmiri]

Hi again Luis,

In Islaam, we have two Primary sources of legislation, the first is of course the Qur'aan and the second is the Sunnah (a general term which includes the meaning "everything the Prophet said, did and approved of). The source of the sunnah are those prophetic narrations that were recorded, relayed and preserved by the early generation/s of Muslims.

Now the Sunnah, like the Qur'aan contains warnings prohibitions, commands and other forms of legislation. So the Muslim takes his religion from both the Qur'aan and Sunnah, denying this elementary principle is to exit from Islaam.

Moving back to the Qur'aan, we need to remember that while yes, the message of the Qur'aan is simple for mankind, there are uses of expressions that not everyone will understand them first time, especially those who don't understand Arabic. These expressions are sometimes metaphors which add to the beauty of the Qur'aan. An example is the phrase 'Ikhfid Janaahaka', which is found in the chapter 'The Poets', verse 215. The phrase literally means "lower your wing" and the full verse reads, "And lower your wing to the believers who follow you."

If we think about this literally we arrive at the question: 'How can man lower his wing when he doesn't possess a pair?' However, as is understood in the Arabic language, this phrase means to be humble/kind, so the verse actually means, "And be humble and kind to the believers who follow you."

Now as you have stated, the consensus of Muslim (scholars) have come to the conclusion that music is therefore haraam. This is because those scholars who wrote commentaries of the Qur'aan, who had expertise in the Arabic language, and had the chance to meet the companions and family of the Prophet (sall Allaahu `alayhi wasallam), were able to confirm that this was the correct interpretation of the verse concerning 'idle-talk'. From the head of those who knew the meanings of the Qur'aan was Ibn `Abbaas, the prophet's own cousin.

Now the Qur'aan does not outline the details of every single command or prohibition that we have been ordered with. Much of the details (and many of commands/prohibitions themselves) are found within the Sunnah. It is here that we find the explicit narrations that prohibit music. However, there are some exceptions. The use of the duff, a type of drum is permitted for usage in weddings and `Eid celebrations.

 

[adanshai]

Brother Al-Kashmiri is right you can not understand the Holy Quran without the commentay and explanation from the saying of Holy Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessing be upon him).

 

[Valerie]

When you decide to become a Muslim, you will join Muslims, not follow them.

Wow. That's an amazing statement, one I hadn't thought of before. Thank you.