BismIllah wa as salaamu alaikum.
Subhaan Allah! I have witnessed a devotion, a worship, a remembrance so great that I am speechless at its power. This god has had great love from its people, and over the years their reverence of it has increased to such levels as no other god has received. This god is worshiped by the rich, the poor, and those in between. It is worshiped by the intelligent and the ignorant. It is worshiped by every race and ethnicity.
It started out as remembrance during free time; the worship was mainly outside of working hours or on weekends. Then it became more common to worship during working hours, through speaker and public announcement systems. People became so intent on increasing their worship that they bought personal CD players, most recently upgraded to i-pods. Now the god is worshiped during almost every waking moment: on the street, in the car, shopping, working - an unceasing devotion.
Grand ceremonies are held to honor those who show reverance in the the most beautiful or original ways. Financial gain is abundant for the leaders in this religion, for that's what it is - a religion, a way of life, something people can no longer live without. The masses want to fill their every moment, waking and sleeping, with it. It gives pleasure, satisfaction, evokes passions and emotions, and allows everyone to be an individual. Day in, day out, I consider what the world would be like if this focus and devotion was to Allah, Al Khaaliq, but Allah is not the focal point at all...
The god is music; shaytaan has had amazing success with this angle.
Audhu b'Illahi min as-shaytaan ir-rajeem! .
It started out as remembrance during free time; the worship was mainly outside of working hours or on weekends. Then it became more common to worship during working hours, through speaker and public announcement systems. People became so intent on increasing their worship that they bought personal CD players, most recently upgraded to i-pods. Now the god is worshiped during almost every waking moment: on the street, in the car, shopping, working - an unceasing devotion.
Grand ceremonies are held to honor those who show reverance in the the most beautiful or original ways. Financial gain is abundant for the leaders in this religion, for that's what it is - a religion, a way of life, something people can no longer live without. The masses want to fill their every moment, waking and sleeping, with it. It gives pleasure, satisfaction, evokes passions and emotions, and allows everyone to be an individual. Day in, day out, I consider what the world would be like if this focus and devotion was to Allah, Al Khaaliq, but Allah is not the focal point at all...
The god is music; shaytaan has had amazing success with this angle.
Audhu b'Illahi min as-shaytaan ir-rajeem! .
Subhan Allah how true is this.............. how true this is................ may Allah subhana wa ta'ala protect us from this vice.
ReplyDeleteYou know it is deceiving even us Muslims believing that it is OK for us to make dawah using music! They rap using the name of Allah and our beloved Prophet peace and blessings be upon him 'Authu billah they don't realise that this will just encourage our youth to then listen to other types of music and those who never listened in the first place will then start listening.
What is wrong with the method of dawah used by our Beloved, what is it that we know better!?
They will not stop until we are like them........... We need to educate ourselves and our offsprings.
salam alaikoum sister, I like these thoughts and the truth in it. Audhu billahi, mashaallah, you are so right, Allahu aalem. what is about nasheed? do you know Huda TV, what abut the nasheed in there? just singing in remembrance of Allah? is that ok? is it ok in general, or just in some circumstances, to which degree? or is it not right because it could lead to other kind of music and distract from reciting qur'an? do you have any fatwa about it? I am always in between with my thoughts... barak Allahu feek.
ReplyDeleteWa alaykum as salaam wa Rahmat Allah wa Barakatuh sweet sister Itto.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, to my great sadness, one can find a fatwa for just about anything nowadays. If one wants to listen to music, they will manage to find a fatwa saying it's okay. If they want to ban all nasheed, they will find a fatwa that will support that. The sources of the fataawa and the proof that is given with them are key to their acceptance or rejection. I have read fatwa that are based solely on the opinion of the person issuing it. Also, some fatwa are based on a interpretation of a Quranic verse or hadith, which is not commonly held by others.
Here are some fataawa that may help your thoughts.
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1786&CATE=142
http://www.fatwa-online.com/fataawa/innovations/celebrations/cel004/0000504_1.htm
There are others that will argue against these, so truly we must seek Allah's Guidance and take heed of our conscience.
I have a word limit per comment, so I'm splitting the whole response into three parts.
ReplyDeleteSo... here is what I know so far on this subject.
- Nasheed such as "Taala al Badru alayna" are from the time of the Prophet, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and are acceptable.
- Nasheed and dancing are for women and children on the two Eids and festive occasions such as weddings.
- The only permissible musical instrument is the duff, which is not actually a tambourine, as many have translated, but more like a tambourine without any metal cymbals on the sides. It only makes a drum sound by hitting on the surface; there is no clinking, ringing, or other sound.
- Modern "nasheed" that imitate modern music with Islamic themes are, at least, disliked because they simply encourage and increase the love of modern music, song, and dance.
Are there hadith and fataawa to support these things? Yes.
However there is much more. I read a book about Al-Zuhd. It made clear that the highest level of Zuhd is to avoid the halal things that are a distraction from remembering Allah and Qur'an.
A very important point is that Imam Ahmad said in the book is that zuhd can be put into three categories:
The first is leaving the haraam things; this is related to the common people.
The second is leaving the preferred things that are halaal; this is for the specific types of people from the upright and steadfast.
The third is leaving the things that distract you from Allah; this is the zuhd of the knowledgeable ones.
For me, at my developmental stage, I don't enjoy listen to nasheed because I believe they are a distraction from "that which is better." In other words, why listen to singing and poems of man, when we have the Qur'an and ahadith? Much in the lives of believers is dependent on their developmental stage and level of emaan, taqwa, and ibadah. I have found that as these things have grown in me, my avoidance of singing of most sorts has increased.
part 3:
ReplyDeleteI particularly avoid those who sing nasheed for a profit, just like musical artists worldwide. Me standing in my kitchen singing adhkaar or songs of Islam for my child or while I cook is different than making a recording and selling it to the world for entertainment.
I don't encourage my daughters to sing nasheed. However, if they are watching a video clip from Huda TV which has nasheed, I don't force them to mute it. Mashaa'Allah, they often do mute it though if it seems like a long song and if it sounds like it is modeled on modern music.
For example,Zein Bikha moved from fairly "good" and "simple" nasheed to ones that are comparable with any mainstream song on the radio. Groups like Native Deen are, to me, just promoting the Hip-Hop lifestyle...injecting it with Islam. They want to be Muslim without changing their culture, lifestyle, entertainment, and forms of enjoyment. However, we are Muslims, and as such should follow a Muslim lifestyle foremost and that, in itself, brings about a whole new perspective. We should want to live Islam, not fit Islam into how we lived as unbelievers. Our lives should be a reflection of striving for the Sunnah...not baggy pants and rap music.
One problem with nasheed is that the hadith specifically says that the only instrument permissible for playing at such celebrations mentioned before is the duff. However, some have taken that to include all percussion instruments (interesting stretch of the definition of "duff")and so well-known artists perform nasheed with drums, cymbals, tambourines, etc. This I avoid as well. Truly all innovation is misguidance and all misguidance is in the fire!
I also know that we receive 10 hasanaat for each letter of Quran we recite. That is a sahih hadith, inshaa'Allah. However, there is no hadith about receiving any hasanaat for singing nasheed. Yes, we will get the reward for mentioning Allah's name in it, but that isn't comparable to reciting His Perfect Words.
Subhaan Allah! I have typed all this and much of it is my own feeling. However, it is based on the Quran, the ahadith, the Scholars statements and rulings, and was strongly consolidated by reading Az-Zuhd by Ibn Qayyim (it's available as an e-book online).
That's enough of Mai's extremely long response.
Wa iyaaki ukhty, wa barak Allah Feeki.
Jazakallah Khair. I always love to read your posts. They are packed full of great reminders and info. I am starting to re-evaluate myself with nasheeds I listen to now inshallah. And the more I go without listening to them, the next time I hear them, I feel particularly annoyed because I feel like where's my brain? If that makes any sense :S
ReplyDeleteWa iyaaki Em Hamzah.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to what you are saying. For me it was a long process to wean myself off music. I listened to nasheed to "fill in the gaps" but after a while I found myself humming them all the time. It didn't seem any less a distraction than mainstream music. The more time away from them, the more they seemed like a regression when I listened to them.
You are very blessed to start having that feeling so early in your Islam, mashaa'Allah. The more you become involved in Quran memorization with understanding, the more you will find everything else incomparable. When Allah sees His servant wanting to focus only on what pleases Him, he makes the road easy. Subhaan Allah! Aren't we blessed to have His gift of Islam? All thanks and praise to our most perfect Creator!
SiI heard this website is not good: [I cannot paste the link here] Go to www.bilalphilips.com and u will see sunnipath in the deviant sites. Allah knows best. tc sis
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bilalphilips.com/bilal_pages.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=317 it came through :-)
ReplyDeletesorry for writing too many comments but after posting that I felt guilty because it's not like I am SURE it's a deviant site but after reading it on his website I thought, why take a chance...
ReplyDeleteJazaaki Allahu khayran Anonymous. I appreciate your comments.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am aware that sunnipath is considered a deviant website. However, I was simply using them as an example of one of the fatwas available. In this case, their information on music was very detailed with some perfectly sound hadith and sources inshaa'Allah. While some of the hadith may have been weak, as it was not in contradiction with fatwa online, or Ibn Al Qayyim (If you read my post, Music to my Eyes, you will see what I mean), then it was not misguiding in a general sense. However, most certainly I do not endorse the site in any way and was only using their proofs on music as an additional example. Fatwa online, however, is a very sound and reputable source, inshaa'Allah.
Sadly, many websites with names that would imply correct aqeedah and understanding are just the opposite. One cannot be too careful and your warning is a blessing and a benefit to us all. Jazaaki Allahu khayran,
The way this works, I cannot change the comment to delete that source. I must delete it and post the comment again, then it will come totally out of place at the end of the comments. I will let is suffice to have your comments and mine here so that readers can have a more complete picture.
We are seekers of truth, never apologise for that. Barak Allahu feeki wa fee hayaatiki.
I know sister...even when I interact with people I have a hard time giving da'wah because I am just so worried that they'll take offense. :-)
ReplyDeleteMashallah Sister!! You are Mai to the Extreme.... Mashallah! I still watch TV and listen to my ipod every so often. I can say that lately, the ipod has been at the bottom of my purse. I can not remember the last time I pulled it out. My TV consists of Huda, so much so that when my husband reaches for the clicker to turn it on he will say, "Hmmmm I wonder if Huda is on, A light in every home." lool Inshallah, by the time my baby comes maybe I will learn something... Inshallah!!
ReplyDeleteMashaa'Allah Daisy, it's a developmental curve that we travel along in this area. Us reverts that were raised with media and music have so much programmed into us that it is especially hard to pull away. I found that it just came easier and easier the more I immersed myself in Islam and learning.
ReplyDeleteYes, inshaa'Allah Huda TV will benefit you and help boost your knowledge. That's hilarious about your husband! Please don't tell me if you have a girl you will name her Huda, LOL!
Anyway, yurp...extreme is me, lol.