Bigotry: The Dark Danger

If the spirit of the fanatics reigned over the world...

God does not desire a still and silent world. That is why He has created rhythm and harmony. A world with no lovely harmonies, rhythm and music when people turn on their televisions or radios would be a soulless world. If the spirit of the peddlers of superstition were to reign over the world, this would be the picture that emerged:

·       There would be no compositions by Mozart or Vivaldi, no folk music or anything.

·       There would be no national anthems or military bands.

·       The Ottoman Army went into battle and achieved its victories accompanied by janissary music that praised the name of God. In the view of the peddlers of superstition, that is also wrong.

·       There would be no musical instruments such as violins, guitars, drums or pianos.

·       There would be no conservatories, theater or cinema.

·       While America and Europe had and enjoyed music, there would be no music or music-related arts in Islamic countries as these delights would be totally rejected, and the result would be soulless, joyless and frozen Islamic communities (and it is a tragic fact that some Islamic communities live in that way solely because of these prohibitions).

·       Social relations and mutual friendships with Americans and Europeans and shared activities would be cancelled simply because they involved any music. Islamic communities would become totally isolated.

·       If “someone who sits in an environment where music is being played is a deviant,” and if “enjoying a musical instrument is disbelief” then according to the peddlers of superstition, no credence should be attached to anything said by such a person. That person will be completely unreliable. For that reason alone it would be impossible to build any system based on individual or societal trust. There could be no trade, political agreements, etc., with other countries. People would be branded as hypocrites and deviants, and become hostile to one another. Music would therefore become an instrument of strife; indeed, that applies to some Islamic societies now and the sole reason for that sorry state of affairs is the way the fanatics enforce commands of what is lawful and unlawful that are nothing but their own invention.

The dishonesty of fanatics who seek to ban music

In discussing these things, we also need to look at the fanatics’ own lives. Since they have invented a false prohibition that appears nowhere in the Qur’an, a great many of these people are in a constant state of contradiction and falsity in their daily lives (those who are genuine are surely apart from that description, however).

• Those people who say, “Music is forbidden” generally keep music stations turned on the whole time, and even enjoy music themselves.
• When these people attend weddings they happily dance and sing or hold henna nights.
• These people generally listen to music in their cars.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with listening to music all the time or dancing at weddings; on the contrary, these things are delightful blessings. The way that these people we are criticizing here use religion to back up their prohibitions on music is entirely false and reflects their own dishonesty. It is important to be aware of the true face of those who issue prohibitions in the name of religion and their position is described in verses of the Qur’an. Our Almighty Lord describes the state of those who adopt faiths other than the Qur’an as follows:

... They invented monasticism – We did not prescribe it for them – purely out of desire to gain the pleasure of God, but even so they did not observe it as it should have been observed. To those of them who had faith We gave their reward but many of them are deviators. (Qur'an, 57:27)

In this verse, God is saying that this false invented religion does not appear in His book, and that those who invent that religion do not themselves abide by it. We can therefore learn about these people’s hypocrisy from the Qur’an. Their private lives always corroborate this fact revealed in the Qur’an. Many people may imagine that the people in question actually lead lives full of fear of God. There may very well be some sincere people among them, but not generally; the sincere ones among them will eventually learn the Islam of the Qur’an. Indeed, it is impossible for someone to be honest and yet live by a false religion because we have God’s promise:

You who have faith! If you have fear of God, He will give you discrimination and erase your bad actions from you and forgive you. God’s favor is indeed immense. (Qur'an, 8:29)

As revealed in this verse, an honest person will have the understanding to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

There is folklore and folk dance all over the world. Dance is a form of entertainment that people feel the need for. A world in which music and dance are banned is incompatible with human nature.