The commentary Ruhul Ma’ani...

📌The commentary Ruhul Ma’ani, (one of the Sunni Important commentary of the Quran) narrates that one of the elders of Bani Umayyah said to them: “Stay away from music for it reduces modesty, increases lust, shatters (one’s) personality, is a successor and substitute for intoxicants and leads to the same deeds, which arise out of intoxication.”(1) This goes to show that even they had perceived its as evil.

If the Islamic traditions have repeatedly stated that music fosters the ‘hypocritical soul’ within man, it is an allusion to this reality, for such an individual possesses a soul that has become polluted as a result of depravity and being distanced from piety. If the traditions also state that the angels do not enter into houses in which music is played, it is because of this pollution and uncleanness, for the angels are entities that are pure and seek purity. 2.

Heedlessness with respect to the remembrance of Allah In some Islamic traditions, music has been interpreted to mean law (amusement, idle sport) – an allusion to the fact that music intoxicates a person in lust and passion to an extent that it makes him heedless of Allah. In a tradition from Imam ‘Ali (a.s) we read: كُلُّ ماَ اَلْهىَ عَن ذِكرِ اللٌّهِ فَهُوَ مِنَ الْمَيْسَرُ “Everything that causes man to become unmindful of Allah, (and drowns him in lust) is a gamble.” (2) 3.

The harmful effects on the nerves In reality, music is one of the important factors that cause the narcosis of the nerves. In other words, at times narcotics enter the body through the mouth, just like alcohol; or by means of the faculty of smell, such as heroin; or as a result of the injection, like morphine; or, at times, by means of the ears, such as music.

It is for this reason that, at times, certain forms of music lead people into such high spirits that they come to possess a state similar to intoxication; of course, there are also times when this state is not reached, but nevertheless it does induce a state of mild stupor. It explains why many of the evils of narcotics are also witnessed in music.

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