Continued from “Music + Muslim youngsters” (Feb. 1). Too many Muslim youngsters are under the mistaken impression that the people advising them to give up music for good have never experienced the “high” themselves; that they don't appreciate the “power” of music; they are trashing something they don't understand. Just as one doesn't need to commit a major sin to warn others who are heading towards such sins, indulging in music oneself or having indulged in it at some point in one's past is not a pre-requisite for offering advice against it. It is enough for us to know that music is considered Haraam (impermissible) by the Imams of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and the minority opinion that considers it ‘allowed' is subject to stringent conditions that definitively place today's popular music outside the pale of what's considered ‘permissible' in Islam. That said, we do have people who have given up their intense involvement with music for good, and are now students of knowledge, teachers and Khateebs in their communities – living proof that not only is it possible to overcome an attachment to music, one can completely turn around one's life and transform one's interests. One such person is Imam Abu Eesa Niamatullah, an instructor with Al-Maghrib institute of Islamic studies (based in North America) and a director of the 1st Ethical Charitable Trust, UK. Speaking of his involvement with music as a youth, he said, “[…] I was completely obsessed with music. I used to work at HMV and WHS as well which didn't help. I had a ridiculously large music collection, a lot of old-skool stuff, hip-hop and R+B was starting to get big in those days, and I belonged to a club of DJs who were trialling the mixing of CDs instead of the normal 1210s that vinyl DJs would use to mix. So we'd get white-labels on CD which of course made me a very popular young man at the time.” An argument with a “drunk racist” resulted in him getting kicked out of from his University hall (where he was completing a degree in pharmacy), and he took up lodging in a Masjid, where he began taking lessons in Qur'an and Arabic. After several stints studying with scholars abroad, he now conducts Islamic lectures and has appeared on TV presenting a series on Adab Al-Mufrad (a program on Islamic manners based on the exegesis of a classical text). In a blog post on the death of Michael Jackson, he wrote: “Muslims don't get rewarded from abstaining from music in their lives because it's a meaningless pastime. Rather, the reward is proportionate to the huge sacrifice it takes to stay away from something that the soul desires for so much, misses during the lonely times, yearns for during the party times, and weeps over when reminded of it … “Yet here, the Muslims should count their blessings and be very grateful to the religion of Islam. Alhamdulillah, our Lord gave us something infinitely more perfect, beautiful, melodious and devastatingly impactive upon the soul: Al-Qur'an Al-Karim. “For every MJ fan, there is a Minshawi. For every Presley fan, there is an Abdul Basit. For every Timberlake fan, there is a Ghamdi. For those who have no one they cared about in the music industry, ‘fallahu Mawlahu' (Allah is his protecter). “That's why I feel so sad when I hear some music playing somewhere – excellent music at that – from back in the day. I think of all the people who are finding it as stunning as I am, but then having nothing else to turn to as an alternative. The more you remember the pointless, the less space is left for that which benefits. Trust me. I've just so been there.” Other Muslims who have successfully kicked the music habit talk about a three-step solution: 1. Purifying one's intention and making up one's mind to give up music for the sake of Allah The Qur'an says: “And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him out of every difficulty, and He will provide for him from where he could never imagine.” (Qur'an, 65: 2-3) According to a narration: “Whoever gives up something for the sake of Allah, Allah will replace it with something better.” (Musnad Ahmad) The enormous reward for abstaining from something impermissible that one's heart is inclined toward, is described in a narration by Malik Bin Dinar, who said, “The Gardens of Delight are between the Gardens of Firdaws and the Gardens of Eden. They will be inhabited by those who were about to engage in a sin, but then remembered Allah and stopped themselves from doing so, and bowed their necks out of the fear of Allah.” (At-Tawwabin by Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi; pg. 41-42) 2. Finding a permissible substitute to fill in the space/silence left by music Islamic lectures, Nasheeds (sans music), even talk show radio, sports and news shows are some of the substitutes used by people in the process of weaning themselves off music. However, it's important to remember that these are merely temporary substitutes on the path to reducing all that distracts us from tasting the sweetness of true Faith, by engaging in the remembrance of Allah. 3. Turning to the Qur'an, turning away from the Qur'an of Satan People who have tasted the delight of reciting and listening to the Qur'an swear that its beauty far surpasses anything in the world. Ibn Al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy upon him) says, “From among the artful machinations and entrapments of Allah's enemy (Satan), with which he has snared those possessing little good sense, knowledge and deen (faith), and by which he has stalked the hearts of the false and ignorant people, there is the listening to whistling, wailing, handclapping and song to the accompaniment of forbidden (musical) instruments. Such things block the Qur'an from people's hearts and make them devoted to sin and disobedience. For song (to musical accompaniment) is the Qur'an of Satan. It is a dense veil and barrier, preventing nearness to Ar-Rahman! By way of such song, Satan deceives vain souls, making it appear pleasing to them through his cunning appeal to their vanities. He insidiously whispers false, specious arguments suggesting the goodness in song. These arguments are accepted, and as a result, the Qur'an becomes an object of neglect and abandonment.” – SG Recommended resources: The Islamic ruling on music and singing in the light of the Qur'an, Abu Bilal Mustafa Al
