I thought I couldn’t live without ‘music’…and I was right!
Posted by: Admin on: May 27, 2009
- In: Allah| Islam| Life| Muslim Life| My writings| Quran
- Comment!
There was a time when I wouldn’t leave the house without my discman. My harddisk was filled with Mbs of music files…you name the song and i had it. My room was filled with cassettes and cds. MTV was one of my favourite channels and I even had my favourite videos recorded!
Then I heard a cassette ’From The Shadows’ by Halaqah media (Available here) and i got scared..really really scared. Amongst other issues, this documentary discussed how satanic subliminal messages were found in many pop songs and and the singers were actually worshipping and calling out to satan through their music. It gave examples of songs from Madonna and Eagles.
In Madonna’s song “Like a Prayer” it is not God that the prayer is directed at, but Satan. When played backwards, the words “0h hear us, Satan,” are clearly audible, one of my favourite songs by Eagles Hotel California also was an ode to satan and when played backwords you can hear a spooky voice say ‘yaaay satan’ and if you know about the rituals of ‘Free Masons’ you will realize that its a song about visiting a Free Masonic lodge.To be honest the song always sounded spooky to me!
I did a lot of research on the internet and found that satanic messages in songs were very common and these messages do actually have an impact on your subconciousness.For days I couldn’t sleep. The satanic voices kept going round and round in my head. then I stopped listening to music completely.
This went on for some time, I dont remember exactly how long….there was a void and then i started swaying towards music again. satan made me think up of a lot of justificationa and excuses like… oh i only listen to nice people they dont have such things in their songs.. oh its only heavy metal that has satanic messages, i listen to pop and ballads.. i dont listen to madonna and micheal jackson.. etc etc…. I couldn’t live without music… i said…and music was back in my life with a bang! My collection restarted and soon i had all my favourite songs loaded on my harddisk.. music was playing all the time on my pc even while i was studying and sometimes even sleeping…When i went to Uk for studies, my laptop had my entire music collection. My Australian flatmate was quite surprised to see my music collection! It had her favourite songs too!
Then i came back after completing my studies in 2006 and ramadan was about to start. During ramadan my mother dragged me to listen to the explanation of the Quran. Quran entered my life and i started studying it regularly by joining a course.
I started realizing why Music was haram. It took me away from the remembrance of Allah , it took me away from the Quran. If i listened to Music, even during my Salah (prayer) the song would be going on in my head. I would be physically praying but my heart and mind were not! early in the morning the first thing on my lips would be songs… not Allah’s name.I started seeing the shirk in songs and the open delcarations of disobedience to Allah in all the romantic songs, ballads and love songs .
‘Everything I do, i do it for you’ (Bryan Adams) – Everything for WHO?
‘Il do anything for you…anything you want me too.’-(BSB) I’ll do ANYTHING?
“Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): “Verily, my Salat (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are forAllah, the Lord of the ‘Alamin”
(Quran 6:162)
My Everything is supposed to be for Allah..not any human being! What am i saying.. what am i singing..open obscenity and declarations of love…If i dont mean them then why should i say these words and sing them or listen to them! every word I utter is being recorded by the angles …what explanation will i give for these songs!
I started avoiding music …
Then discussions started ,is music haram or halal? People would say…. Music is not haram. Its not in Quran… we pray we remeber Allah but we listen to songs as well and we can concentrate in our prayers… etc etc…Music does not interfere in our worship… we only listen when we are busy in work.. etc etc… there is no harm in listening to nice music… etc etc…
I came across a hadith in Sahih Al Bukhari in which our Prophet Muhammad (s) said : “From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful.(Sahih Al Bukhari)
This was the final blow!
So people who are justifying listening to music are the ones this hadith is talking about. From this saying of Prophet Muhammad (s) it is clear that Music is haram. Anybody who disagrees and brings in ifs and buts.. is fulfulling this prophecy of Prophet Muhammad (s) that his followers will one day make musical instruments halal for themselves!Just to make things clear – only one instrument -The Daff is allowed in Islam.
I stopped listening to Music. but for how long….?They say Music is the food for the soul.I realized my soul still needed some ‘music’ . I could’nt live without ‘music’…and i was right..but i was feeding my soul with the wrong kind of music.My soul wanted the ‘divine music’.The divine music of the Qur’an
I started listening to various different recitors and some surahs recited by some qaris was the most beautiful thing i had ever heard. It was far beyond what i had ever heard. The beauty of the words, the peace it gives and the divine rythm of Allah’s words was truly amazing and it is indescribeable.
I realized that the first time i stopped listening to music, there was a void so i went back on the path of shaytan.But the second time around the craving of my soul for music was satisfied in the halal way with halal divine music of the Quran. As one has rightly said,Moseqe khabees rooh ki ghiza hai - Music is the food of the wretched soul.The real tayyab food of the good soul is the Qur’an.
Before I used to make a list of my top ten favourite songs..but now i want to share with you all a list of my top ten favourite surahs by my favourite qaris. Please do listen to the beautiful recitations!! I have listed them 1-10 but to be honest all of them are just great, beautiful and amazing…
1. Surah Al-Insaan by Mishary Rashid Al Afasi-mp3
2. Surah Al-Bayyinah by Mishary Rashid Al Afasi-mp3
3. Surah Al Kahaf by Mishary Rashid Al Afasi-mp3
4. Surah Yasin by a young child Hasan Bin Abdullah(link to youtube video)
5. Ayatul Kursi by Saad Al Ghamdi ( link to youtube video)
6. Surah Mominoon by Abu Bakr Shatri (link to youtube video)
7. Al-Anam by Saad Al Ghamdi-mp3: This is a long surah.Listen to its first part which is beautifully recited.
9. Maryam by Saad Al Ghamdi-mp3
10. Al Haqqah by Hani Rafai-mp3
I usually don’t blog about my personal life, but now i think i should.. maybe somebody will learn something from my life and change their life for good and make Allah happy. I don’t mean to show off with this post, may Allah purify my intentions ..I realized that Music is such an emotional subject.. people just get into arguments and long debates because they just find it impossible to leave music, just like i did. I thought it was impossible…. but it is.
So all those of you who think and say that you can’t live without music. Think again. There is halal music and there is haram music. All you have to do is change your taste. Don’t satisfy your soul with haram when the most beautiful halal music is available….Listen to the Quran, listen to halal nasheeds with beautiful lyrics and no musical instruments.. change your taste,, there is a lot of good halal music out there and the best of it is the Qur’an!!
Some great websites to listen to Quran
15 Responses to "I thought I couldn’t live without ‘music’…and I was right!"
May 28, 2009 at 10:21 pm
The above mentioned Hadees is about musical instruments. What if I sing a song or listen to a song without musical instruments, or with drum or duff only, can you clear its position in Islam? And what is the rationale behind allowing duff and not any other instrument? Is there any Islamic scripture paricularly allowing the use of duff?
June 6, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Muslim :: Book 4 : Hadith 1940
‘A’isha reported that Abu Bakr came to her and there were with her two girls on Adha days who were singing and beating the tambourine and the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had wrapped himself with his mantle. Abu Bakr scolded them. The Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) uncovered (his face) and said: Abu Bakr, leave them alone for these are the days of ‘Id.
Bukhari :: Book 7 :: Volume 62 :: Hadith 77
Narrated Ar-Rabi’:
(the daughter of Muawwidh bin Afra) After the consummation of my marriage, the Prophet came and sat on my bed as far from me as you are sitting now, and our little girls started beating the tambourines and reciting elegiac verses mourning my father who had been killed in the battle of Badr. One of them said, “Among us is a Prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow.” On that the Prophet said, “Leave this (saying) and keep on saying the verses which you had been saying before.”
It is recommended to sing and beat the daff to celebrate a wedding
Abu Balj Yahya Bin Saleem reported that he said to Muhammad Bin Haatib (RTA): “I married two wives and in neither of the two marriages was there the sound of a duff.” Muhammad then told him that Allah’s Messenger (SAW) said: “What distinguishes between the lawful (i.e. Nikah (Islamic marriage contract)) and the unlawful (i.e. adultery) is beating the daff and the sound (of singing) at a wedding.”(An Nasai, At-Tirmidhi)
So it can be concluded that:
1. Only the Tambourine/ daff is allowed.
2. Songs should be based on truth – no lies or exaggeration in songs. No singing about woman’s beauty, romance or vulgar things.
3. Singing is recommended on weddings and also on two Eids.
So one can sing or listen to nahseeds (Islamic Songs) which have meaningful lyrics based on truth and are not vulgar or obsecene and which does not keep one away from the zikr of Allah and which only have daff or natural sounds as music. Nasheeds by Zain Bikha are good.
And Allah Knows Best.
June 1, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Assalamu alaikum
I agree with you completely that music takes us away from remembering Allah. Even if one is not listening, it is actually being replayed again and again in your mind…and doesn’t that take us away from doing Dhikr of Allah which is what we should and which will make us earn so much reward?!
The very sad thing is that even those who know this and decide not to listen, the society as a whole is not like that…
Its difficult to ask a friend to close the deck in a huge party, you can’t ask again and again to close the music to your siblings or family while going in a car, etc etc… what exactly should one do in such situations? If we try talking not everyone will agree and there will be arguments definitly. I would really appreciate if you give some comments.
Jazak Allah
June 6, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Walaykum Salam,
Deciding to quit music is easy Inshallah and stopping your self from listening to Music is also easy. You can get rid of your cds and mp3s, but the problem arises when the people around you listen to music and that too in a loud volume. So what to do in such a situation.
1. If your brother or your sis or anyone else in house is listening to music. Tell them politely that its haram, you don’t listen to it so they should turn it off.. If they dont listen.. which is mostly the case then leave that room if you can. If you cant then do not enjoy the music and instead start doing tawbah istagfar silently and make dua for their hadayat.
If you are in a car, you are stuck! so do tawbah and istaghfar silently . Do not start enjoying the music thinking its a good chance to do so! Shaytan will tempt you ..im telling you he will!! do not give in .. just keep doing tawbah. Asyaaghfirullaha rabbi min kulli zumbin wa atobo alayah. and dont forget to make dua for steadfastness on deen..
rabbana la tazigh qulubana ba’da iz hadaitana wa hablana milladunka rehma innaka intal wahab.
Keep asking Allah for help and He will help. Inshallah . You have to be determined!
June 7, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Hi Javeria, went through your blog and found it quite interesting and helpful. I needed some advise from y you. What do you do if you crave to be a good muslim yet you are not..when life seems in distress and you feel too weak or feel loss of hope to ask god for something..what do u do when u feel u r bad and that you’re not able to change urself?
June 18, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Well you didn’t tell me, i really need to know how you do this. I need to know how to keep faith that things will turn out good even though life doesn’t end up where u dreamt it would.. how do u do that?
June 7, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Assalamu Alikum, Jazak/Jazaki’Allahu khairn for sharing ur story and for sharing the reciting of the Quran I like Mashari Al-Afasi, Saad Al-Ghamdi and My favourite shaikh is Mahir Al-Ma’aqali u better listen to him very nice masha’Allah. I have a smilier story like urs with music and I want to share it too if u dont mind.
I used to listen to all the kind of music ( pop, R&B ….ect ) but then once I watched a video about converted dutch women and it impress me so so much ( u can watch it here http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2l5m2_hollondaise-se-convertie-a-lislam_events ), I said what is the different between her and me ? she just converted from a year ago and I was bron as Muslim !!! I should pracitice more then I stoped listening to music step by step first I said I’ll just listen to muslim brans ( like Outlandish …ect ) then after while I quit listening to this too and now Im just listening to Islamic nasheeds and the most is Quran alhamdu’llah, cuz of Allah grace. I have link show the ruling of Music in Islam and I wanna share it ( http://islamqa.com/en/ref/43736 ).
thats all, sorry for taking much from ur time. Jazakum’Allahu khairn and May Allah guide us all to the right path, Ameen.
ASsalamu Alikum W rahamtu’llah
thats all and Im sorry if I take much from u time
June 10, 2009 at 8:01 am
BarakAllahu Feekum. May Allah Subhanuhu Wa Ta’Ala increase you in good Aameen
July 17, 2009 at 8:28 pm
You seem to have been addicted to music at one time! I play music rarely though mostly when tidying up my room, don’t have a large collection. I find this ok.
Had a walkman when I was 16 the habit died off in a few years, gave away my cassettes, didn’t read much into the lyrics of any song.
Playing a Quran CD in the morning in your homes or in the car is beautiful.
People who go deep into religion develop a negative bias towards others, maybe it’s natural, they focus on narrow things. Life isn’t black or white, right or wrong, there are shades of grey in between.
Sharing my 2 cents, no flaming please.
October 25, 2009 at 11:01 am
Assalamoallikum,
I m preety much impressed by ur story,I am searching 4 answers 4 abt a time now,I visited several sites in which some Ulma says Muzic is allowed if kept in check,But I wondered how can v check weather music contains `shirk` or not?then I read dat Al-Bhukari`s hadith n I got scared dat R V muslims?R v following Islam properly like Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w) defined? I went thru ur story n I felt so peace dat quran is d music I needed!! I listened to the recitations u posted they were great.
In the end I would like to thank u for giving such a good advice n changing my thoughts about `it`s not possible to quit music` I hav quit music n I have got Complete holy quran recitation in my cellphone!
May Allah forgive all of us Ameen
all the best,
Usama Mazhar
Leave a Reply
Recent Comments
 | Usama Mazhar on I thought I couldn’t liv… |
 | Muhammad Akbar Hussa… on Where did the Universe Come… |
 | Abu Jafar Siddique on Prayer according to Sahih(Auth… |
| Abu Jafar Siddique on Prayer according to Sahih(Auth… |
 | maryam on Importance of First Ten Days o… |
May 27, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Thanks a lot for posting this. I have been through exactly the same mental struggle to finally be convinced that music is haram in Islam and anyone wanting to practice deen has got to avoid it.
Hotel California also used to be my favourite song. And strangely, Mishary Rashed Alafasy is now my favourite qari (I even happened to have a talk with him on telephone).
Yes, you must write about such personal experiences related to shifting one level up from being just a Muslim to a practicing Muslim. It would encourage a lot of us…inshallah
July 9, 2009 at 12:38 am
please help me o my dear brother. like you,i also want to be more than just a practising muslim. insha allah, you will be rewarded in this world and in the Hereafter. Help me please brother. you have my e-mail ad.