2008 November 07 | Between Asgard and the Western Paradise

Archive for November 7th, 2008

Nov 07 2008

Pop Culture in the Name of Religion

Posted by: 阿偉 in Culture, Religion

Greetings, friends and visitors.

Today I want to talk about what I see as a disturbing trend across the religious world. Nearly a decade ago, Protestants began to come out with “praise songs” in the style of popular music. Such praise songs consist entirely of theologically incorrect lyrics, and are empty and meaningless because they glorify the singer’s “artistic” ego rather than God. The singing people allow themselves to be taken in by rampant emotionalism, whipped up by the music itself, rather than the true joy of worshipping God.

I see a similar trend in Islam, but in my opinion, the problem can be considered more serious. Some Muslim scholars have opined that music is haram in one form or another. Bukhari narrated that the Prophet once said: “There will be people of my Ummah who will seek to make lawful; fornication, wine-drinking and the use of musical instruments.” Other scholars have said that music is permissible, so long as it is wholesome and does not cause one to sin. Still others, (in the Maliki, Hanbali and Shafi schools of jurisprudence) regard the prohibition on music from hadith to have a weak line of prohibition.

A friend of mine, who lives in England, said that at one concert by Sami Yusuf, the largely female crowd was encouraged to “get up on stage” and sing along. Islamic boy bands like 786 and Mecca 2 Medina are also the subject of the sort of female adulation you expect to see on American Pop Idol or the X-Factor. Surely “Islamic” events can at least promote more restrained behavior.

If people wish to glorify Allah (swt), then they should do it in a way that is pure and consistent with the way of Sunnah and the Quran. It is very clear that instrumental music is prohibited in worship, and that Allah has mandated this way of preserving our deen. We should not fall into the trap of “modernizing faith” to appeal to the masses, but rather, let the people who are truly willing to follow the Quran come of their own accord, for it is written:

Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors. (3:110)