When it comes to Islam, music is a very interesting and heavily debated topic. Before I continue any further, I’d like to make it clear that my intention is not to take any side of the argument but instead to present both opinions in a short article. My aim is not to tell you what is haram (forbidden) or what is halal (permissible) but instead to explore some of the points we often debate. I’d like to add that I myself do listen to music, but I assure you that this won’t affect the neutrality of the article.
We all listen to music, so what can be wrong with it? For me, that argument is about as weak as they get, just because something is common or popular, it doesn’t become acceptable, I’ll leave the additional examples to your very own imagination. What is it about music that could potentially make it prohibited in Islam? It relaxes the mind and helps you to be calm and focused in life. No, that doesn’t seem like a major risk of listening to music. Music is difficult to define especially because it means so many different things to so many different people. There are many different types of music in the world, and if I chose to evaluate each and every type, you’d be moving to another webpage at the speed of light! So let me have a go at only one or two types of music.
Music enters the ears and moves down to the heart and eventually influences the soul. Some argue that it can control your lifestyle, your actions and your thoughts, put simply it can control you. One would ask, how might that be possible? You listen to a song written by a murderer, who kills for enjoyment, and then you go out and do exactly the same as him. Not quite, it is a little more sophisticated than that.
A youngster spends five hours daily (remember you can do other stuff whilst listening to your tracks) listening to rap music which, just like a jam-sandwich is packed with jam, is packed with abusive language. The rap artist is a drug addict, living in a land where money grows on trees.
Music is his voice, his frustration, anger, whatever you call it, his way of expressing himself and his heart presented in an audio format. The heart of a man (or a woman) is influenced by what he/she sees and hears, so if the youngster in our example, is constantly exposed to ‘filth’, what are the chances his mind will become corrupted? There is no rocket science in this example; it is plainly obvious that music can influence people.
