AL-GHINAA (1) The late Ahmed H sheriff in his article entitled “Ghinaa War-Raqs” writes: "The Arabic word Ghinaa means music. It is an art of combining  sounds into such a style pleasing to the ear and satisfying to emotions. It is prolongation and vibration of sound with variation of the pitch to such an extent that people may say that he or she is singing."

“Among the people there is he who purchases Lahwal-hadeeth to lead (others) astray from the path of Allah, without knowledge, and takes it by way of mockery. For such as these there shall be an ignominious punishment.” (31:6 Qur’an)

Aqa Mahdi Puya says: “Lahw means idle or amusing discourse which disengages attention from meaningful thought, field of inquiry or argument. On this basis the Ahlul-Bayt (as) have applied the term Lahwal-hadeeth to Music.”

“ ..Shun, then, the pollution of the idols, and shun Qaulaz-Zoor” (22:30 Qur’an)

S V Mir Ahmad Ali in his Tafseer writes:
“Zoor, according to the Ahlul-Bayt (as), are the ‘vain words’, including any utterances disapproved by Allah. According to the scholars among the followers of Ahlud-dhikr (the people of the Holy Qur’an), the Ahlul-Bayt (as), Zoor also refers to music since it is composed of vain sounds and voices.”

MUSIC IS FORBIDDEN

All the Mujtahideen are unanimous in their opinion that the manufacture, usage, sale & purchase of musical instruments is Haram (unlawful) & the income derived from musical activity is also Haraam. The transactions involving these instruments are invalid. It is Haraam even to keep instruments of music in one’s possession and it is Wajib to destroy them.

The Holy Prophet (saw) had said:

“My Ummah i.e. followers will be visited (punished) by disasters when they adopt certain habits. Of these are the people who keep singing and dancing girls and those who keep musical instruments.”

The Holy Prophet (saw) also said:

“The Almighty Allah has sent me as a mercy to the worlds, to guide the people. And He ordered me to eradicate the playing of flute and other instruments of music, all games of vice, idol (worship) and all practices of the days of ignorance.”

Imam Ja’ffar as-Sadiq (as) has been reported saying:

“The Almighty Allah has prohibited the manufacture of all such things that are exclusively used in Haraam ways; and things that only create evil like pipe, flute, chess and all types of instruments of gambling, images and statues. The manufacture of all such articles are Haraam.”
Muadda ibn Ziyaad says that:
I was in the company of Imam Ja’ffar as-Sadiq (as) when a person said,
“When I go to the toilet, I can hear the singing girls of my neighbor. Sometimes I remain (in toilet) longer so that I may listen to more of it.”
Imam (as) said:
“Desist from listening to music and songs attentively.”
Then this man further said,
“Master, I do not go to music gatherings! I only hear the sounds!”
Imam (as) said:
“Have you not read this Qur’anic verse: Surely, the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these shall be questioned about that?”
The man replied,
“I was not aware of this ayat. I regret my actions. I shall not do so in the future.”
Seeing his condition, Imam (as) said,
“Get up! Go and perform ghusl and offer salaat and pray for forgiveness. You have certainly been involved in a deadly sin and a terrible situation. You have repented for it and I thank Allah for that; and I seek forgiveness of Allah for all those things which He dislikes. Certainly, Allah only dislikes the evil things. Leave the evil things to the evil people because there are different people suitable for different things.”

FRIDAY LEARNING ZONE FROM WESSEX JAMAAT
14th Rabi-ul-Awwal 1424/16th May 2003

AL-GHINAA (2) The late Ahmed H Sheriff in his article entitled “Al-Ghinaa War-Raqs” meaning “Music & Dancing” writes: When Prophet Adam (as) died, his disobedient son Qabil (the one who killed his brother Habil) and Shaitaan became happy. Together they built some musical instruments to celebrate the death. So all musical instruments now used in singing and dancing have their origin from there.

“Angels do not even enter a house that has wine, drum, tambourine or a flute. Even the prayers of the Inhabitants of this house are unacceptable. They are deprived of Barakah meaning blessings”.

Imam Ali ibn Mussa ar-Ridha (as) has been reported saying:

“A person invites Divine wrath when in his house instruments like flute, drum and chess are played for fourty days. If this man dies within forty days, his death would be of a sinner and a transgressor. His place shall be in hell. And what a dreadful place it is!”

It should be borne that there is nothing which Allah (SWT) has made lawful or unlawful except with reasons beneficial for man. Some reasons are clear and some await to become evident with time and progress in the field of knowledge.

Of the several bad effects, Music is known to:
Boost emotions and arouse lust and sensual powers beyond natural limit and to dominate over one’s ‘Aql i.e. intellect.

Allah (SWT) has blessed man with two main faculties (powers): Intellect and Emotions. The first faculty is designed to guide and control emotions which produce desires and anger. If man wishes to remain on the right path of Islam and safeguard against sins, then he must always hold ‘intellect’ as supreme and all his actions be committed under its guidance. It is his intellect which he must develop to dominate over all his other faculties.

There is no doubt that music serves as a kind of intoxicant in a manner which makes one forget his self-esteem and his surrounding. It also stirs violence and unruly behavior. The Late Ahmed H Sheriff in his aforementioned article sites the following example:

About 50,000 youths once gathered in Melbourne, Australia for a musical concert. They became overpowered with it so much that they started assaulting each other with fists and knives. Many were so excited with the music that they did not realize what they were doing, so the police had to come in to control the situation.

Frankly, such sights are very common everywhere around the pubs and discos today. Usually, on every Monday, numerous incidents of such violence are reported in the newspapers and tabloids.


Moreover, those engaged in the profession of singing and dancing sink to the lowest levels of immorality. Visit any disco and watch any music channel, it invites one to nothing but promiscuity. The dominant theme of these so-called entertainment places is ‘illicit sex’. The contents of most of the songs and the nature of dancing by both men and women stirs sexual desires. All these certainly leads us to the conclusion that there is a very close relationship between music, dancing and prostitution. Thus the saying of the Holy Prophet (saw) that, “ music is the magic of fornication” can easily be understood.

FRIDAY LEARNING ZONE FROM WESSEX JAMAAT
21st Rabi-ul-Awwal 1424/23rd May 2003

AL-GHINAA (3) In traditions, prevalence of music has been mentioned as one of the signs before the re-appearance of our 12th Imam, Imam al-Hujjah (aj).

“And you shall see that music will be so prevalent that no one will dissuade others nor will he find in himself the need to do so. And you shall see that music would be openly played even in the two sanctuaries (the city of Makkah and Madinah)”.

This is evident in our present age where obscene music is openly played in the markets, on the streets, in shops and houses and even in the cars and no one bothers to forbid or prevent it !

In the last “Friday learning zone” we discussed one of the adverse effects of music that it gives a boost to emotions and arouses lust and sensual powers beyond natural limit and also dominates over ones ‘Aql i.e. intellect.

Music is also known to have adverse effects on the physiques of man. Quoting from “Taseere Mousiqee bar Asaab”, the Late Ayatullah Abdulhussein Dasti Ghayb writes in his book “Gunahan-e-Kabeera” as follows:

Expert doctors, scientists and biologists have defined two types of nerves, the principle nerves and the arterial nerves. The Principle nerves stretch from the neck to all vital organs. The Arterial nerves spread from the main nerves to all parts of the body. The secondary nerves are connected to outward parts of the body and convey the messages to the brain. When the veins enlarge, the blood pressure decreases. Due to the shriveling of blood vessels, the blood pressure increases. When the blood pressure varies at different parts of the body, it affects the health.

When the secondary nerves work they produce heat whereas the functioning of the central nerves produces the opposite effect. It is due to these nerves that feelings of sloth, sleep, thoughtlessness, forgetfulness, grief, sorrow, fainting, unconsciousness and even death occur. Obviously, when music can affect various nerves, it can give rise to various maladies. Mental diseases as well as physical ailments can occur. These mental effects can destroy man’s reasoning capacity. It is for this reason that one who listens to music is unable to perform work that can be accomplished by a sane person.

Music creates vibrations in the body and these are conveyed to all the parts of the body through the nervous system. As a result of this, indigestion occurs. Music affects the heart in such a way that the heartbeats become irregular. The blood pressure goes awry. All such ailments make a person permanently ill. Consequently, even modern medical science, in spite of its astonishing progress, fails in such a situation. Sometimes, the music is so intense that the listeners lose their sanity. They become dumb and various kinds of mental diseases occur. In places where music is more prevalent, we find that there are more neurotic illnesses…

The late Ayatullah then adds: Dr. Adlen writes against music,

“Even though it seems pleasant, the effect of music is profound upon the nervous system. Especially, when the temperature is high, the ill effect of music is more. This is the reason that ill effects of music are more in the hot areas of Iran and Saudi Arabia. The American people are so disgusted with the bane of music that they have united to demand from the senate a permanent ban on music. It is a pity that the whole world clearly perceives the evils of music and yet adopts music as entertainment.”

Lastly, it would not be out of place to quote the Late Ayatullah Seyyid Abul-Qasim al-Khui from his book “al-Masaa-ilush Shar’iyyah”:

The prohibition of intentionally listening and giving ear to haraam songs and music has come in the holy tradition. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “And the person with the (sin of) song (al-Ghinaa) will be raised (on the day of resurrection) blind, deaf and dumb. The person with (the sin of) adultery, of wood-wind, and of drum will also be raised in the same way”.

He (saw) has also said:

"Whoever listens to the entertainment (song and music), lead will be melted inside his ear on the day of Judgement”.

It is also reported from him (saw):

“Singing and music are enchantment for adultery”.

Simply put, it is a way that leads to adultery as already explained in the previous supplement. Readers are humbly requested to recite Surah al-Fatihah for Late Ayatullah Dasti Ghayb, Late Ayatullah al-Khui, Late Ahmed H Sheriff and all Marhumeen.

Mulla Mujaheedali Sheriff