The Dark Danger: Bigotry: The Allegation that Music and Poetry Are Forbidden
Contents
- The Misunderstood Islam
- The Two Basic Concepts Misused by Those Who Portray Islam as a Violent Faith: Sharia and Jihad
- Islam: The Religion of Ease
- The True Sharia in the Qur'an
- What Does the True Qur'anic Sharia Bring to A Country?
- The True Jihad in the Qur'an
- An Examination of Verse 95 of Surat an-Nisa'
- An Examination of Verse 52 of Surat al-Furqan
- A Muslim Has a Responsibility to Believe in Every Verse of the Qur'an, Without Exception
- The Qur'an Is a "Preserved" Book
- The Mistakes in Differentiating between the "Meccan Period Muslims" and "Medinan Period Muslims"
- The Harsh Testing of Muslims in the Meccan Period
- The Medinan Period and the Battles
- Who Were Battles Fought Against?
- The Description of War in the Qur'an
- Polytheists with Whom Agreements Were Made
- The First Multilateral and Most Democratic Constitution Ever: The Constitution of Medina
- Verses about War and the Interpretation Thereof
- There Is No Justification for War in Islam Except for Self-Defense
- War for Ideological or Ethnic Superiority?
- One of the Main Causes of Radicalism: Tribal Culture
- War for the Purpose of Spreading the Rules of Islam to be Introduced by A Muslim Leader?
- War for the Elimination of Enemies?
- Who Desires War?
- Conclusion
- The False Faith of the Fanatics
- Fabricated Hadiths that Shape the Religion of the Fanatics
- Our Prophet (pbuh) Did Not Allow Any Hadith To Be Written Down
- The Rightly-Guided Caliphs Did Not Allow the Writing of Hadiths
- Some of the Companions of Our Prophet (pbuh) Objected to Collecting Hadith
- The Idolaters and Hypocrites Tried to Harass Our Prophet (pbuh)
- Where Did Fabricated Hadiths Come from?
- Differences between the Islamic Schools of Thought
- Those Who Seek Commandments outside the Qur'an Must Turn to the Truth of the Faith
- Radicals Seek to Hold on to "What They Learned from Their Forefathers"
- The Islamic World's Abandonment of the Qur'an
- The Qur'an Is Our Guide and Should Be in Our Hands at All Times
- A Major Problem: The Defamatory Idea that the Hadiths Have Abrogated Verses
- Understanding the Limits of the Fanatical Mindset
- The Killing of People Who Drink Alcohol
- The Killing of People Who Commit Adultery
- Adultery in the Eyes of the Qur'an
- The Killing of People Who Steal
- The Killing of Apostates
- The Killing of Those Who Cease to Pray
- The Beating of Children Who Stop Praying
- The Killing of People Who Do Not Give Alms
- The Imprisonment and Starvation of Those Who Do Not Fast
- The Killing of People Who Abjure the Faith When Drunk
- The Killing of Those Who Speak Improperly about the Prophet without Calling on Him to Repent
- The Superstition of "Accursed Animals" in the Religion of the Fanatics
- Our Prophet (pbuh) Did Away with the Cruel Customs that Mistreated Animals
- Our Prophet (pbuh) Forbade Animals from Being Overworked
- Working Animals' Right to Rest
- Our Prophet (pbuh) Prohibited the Abuse and Mistreatment of Animals
- Our Prophet's (pbuh) Cat, "Muezza"
- Our Prophet's (pbuh) Affection toward a Mother Bird and Her Young
- The Baby Goat
- A Starving Camel and Its Owner
- A Sleeping Antelope
- A Donkey Branded on the Face
- Treating Animals Well
- The Foul Nature of the Fanatic
- A Dirty Conception of Faith and A Low-Quality Conception of Being a Muslim
- Women Are One of the Finest Blessings in This World
- Women in the Qur'an
- The Idea that Women Are Deficient in Intelligence and Faith
- The Idea that Women Are Crooked
- Hadiths and Claims Fabricated to Debase Women
- The Idea that Women Are a Barrier to People Living by the Faith
- The Idea that One Should Never Be Guided by Women
- The Defamatory Idea that Women Are Second-Class Citizens and that God Has Left Women Backward
- Allegations Prohibiting Women from Adorning Themselves
- The Fanatics' Idea of How Muslim Women Should Treat Their Husbands
- The Rights and Superiority Bestowed on Women in the Qur'an Are Nowhere in the Religion of the Fanatic
- The Position of a Woman Who Divorces Her Husband
- A Woman Being Regarded as a Sinner until Her Husband Is Pleased with Her
- Women Being Unable to Go out, and the Idea They Are Prone to Deception by Satan
- The Idea that A Woman Is Misfortune and Annuls Prayer
- Examples of the Fanatical Mindset that Compares Women to Animals
- Verses Addressing the Wives of Our Prophet (pbuh)
- Conclusion: The Qur'an Attaches the Greatest Value to Women
- The Addition of the Word "Headscarf" to Translations of the Qur'an As a Means of Restricting Women
- Surat an-Nur Verse 31, 1st Part
- "Khimar" / Cover
- "Yadribna" / To strike
- "Juyub" / Collar opening
- Misleading or Incorrect Translations Based on Fabricated Hadiths
- A False Interpretation: "That They Should Draw Their Head Coverings"
- 1-Care over the Use of Words in Arabic
- 2-Examination of Words in the Qur'an Through Other Verses
- 3-Care Being Taken Over Ascribing Meaning to Arabic Words in Parenthesis
- Surat an-Nur Verse 31, 2nd Part
- Misinterpretations Regarding "Women's Adornments"
- The Idea that Women Are Instruments of Trial
- The Error of Making Adornments and Accessories Unlawful
- How Is the Word "Ornament" Used in the Qur'an?
- The Region Referred to in Verse 31 of Surat an-Nur
- Fabricated Hadiths on the Subject of the Head-Covering and Their Internal Inconsistencies
- Forbidden Things Are Not Left Obscure in the Qur'an
- The Desire to Shut Only Women and Their Bodies Away
- The Qur'an Refers to the Jilbab, Not to the Headscarf
- Surat al-Ahzab Verse 59
- Espousing the Head-Covering but Never Mentioning the "Jilbab"
- Which Important Topics Do Some of the Passionate Defenders of the Headscarf Never Talk About?
- A Muslim Woman Knows How to Dress in Accordance with the Qur'an
- The "Two Women = One Man" Error
- Women and Witness Testimony in Loans
- Women's Inheritance Rights
- A Woman's Right to Divorce
- Divorce and the Protection of Women Thereafter
- Women Being Kept Happy and Content in the Event of Divorce
- Women Being Given Financial Security after Divorce
- Assets Given to Women Must Not Be Taken back after Divorce
- Ensuring Women Have a Place to Live after Divorce
- Women Not Being Inherited by Force
- The Value Placed on Mothers
- The Slander of Male Superiority and the Nonsense about Beating Women
- The Idea of Male Superiority
- The False Idea of the "Beating of Women"
- Other Misconceptions concerning Women
- Sayings of Our Prophet (pbuh) in Praise of Women
- The Fanatics' Hatred of Art
- The Idea that Joking, Humor and Laughter Must Be Avoided
- According to the Qur'an Grief and Unhappiness Are Attributes of Unbelievers Alone
- The Joy in Paradise and the True Meaning of Sorrow
- The Idea of Avoiding Humor
- The Allegation that Music and Poetry Are Forbidden
- The Dishonesty of Fanatics Who Seek to Ban Music
- God Loves Music, and Causes His Servants to Love It
- The Idea that Painting and Sculpture Are Unlawful
- The Idea that Gold and Silk Are Prohibited
- Fabricated Hadiths that Prohibit Pleasant Scent
- Fabricated Hadiths that Prohibit Tattoos, Removal of Facial Hair, Esthetic Dental Work
- Fabricated Hadiths that Prohibit Women from Going out of Doors in Attractive Clothes
- Fabricated Hadiths that Maintain that Women Lose Paradise by Preoccupying Themselves with Gold and Clothes
- Fabricated Hadiths that Maintain that Women Should not be Given Nice Clothes
- If the Spirit of the Fanatics Dominated This World
- Make-up, Grooming, Cleanliness, Modernity and Culture, "Quality" for Short, Are All Requirements of Islam
- Women Are Lovely Beings, of course They Must Be Well-Groomed
- The Horrifying Nature of the Misogyny of the Fanatical Mindset
- The Perversion that Leads to Running inside and Locking the Doors upon Seeing a Boy
- The Lie that Young Boys are Accompanied by Eighteen Satans
- The Perversion that Claims Boys Can Be 19 Times More Seductive than Women
- The Perversion that Claims ‘Young Boys Are Same as Women’ And ‘Boys Can Be Lusted After just like Women’
- The Claim that a Young Boy's Voice is Forbidden
- Muslims Have the Right to Wear Attractive Stylish Clothing and Own Fine Cars and Nice Homes
- Jews and Christians in the Religion of the Fanatics
- Responses from the Qur'an to Those Who Look to the Qur'an for Enmity toward the Jews
- The Comparison with "Monkeys and Pigs" and What the Qur'an Really Says about the People of the Book
- Examination of Verse 60 of Surat al-Ma'ida
- Jews Who Are Praised
- Examination of Verse 166 of Surat al-A'raf
- Examination of Verse 65 of Surat al-Baqara
- The Error of the Jews Being Cursed
- An Examination of Verse 88 of Surat al-Baqara
- Examination of Verse 155 of Surat an-Nisa'
- The Idea of Not Taking Jews and Christians As Friends
- Misunderstandings About War and the Jizya
- What Does the Expression "The Religion with God Is Islam" Mean?
- The Idea of Killing Jews Who Enter Adolescence
- The Idea of Making Jews Responsible for the Sins of Muslims
- The Idea that Food Is Spoiled because of Jews
- The Idea that Two Faiths Should Not Co-exist in Arab Lands
- The Idea that Calling Someone a Jew Is an Insult and that Cursing Jews Is a Source of Reward
- The Idea of Forcing Them onto the Narrow Part of the Road
- The Gharqad, the Tree of the Jews
- Muslim Men Can Marry Women of the Book; Muslims Can Eat the Food of the People of the Book and They Can Eat the Food of Muslims
- Muslims' Invitation to the People of the Book
- The Just Behavior of Muslims toward the People of the Book
- Muslims Are Obliged To Protect Churches and Synagogues; It Is a Sin To Attack Places of Worship
- Our Prophet's (pbuh) Relations with the People of the Book
- The Gospel and the Torah in the Qur'an
- Our Prophet's Practices concerning the Torah and the Gospel
- The Jews Enjoy the Right to Live in the Holy Land in the Qur'an
- Afterword
Ibn 'Asakir relates from Anas (ra) that the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Whoever listens to a female singer, molten lead will be poured into his ears on the Day of Judgment." (Dha'ifu-Jami' As-Saghir Lil-Albani no. 5410 and Ad-Dha'ifah no. 4549) It would be better for you were your insides full of vomit and blood rather than poetry. (M. al-Masabih 4/4809)
Whoever listens to the sound of singing will not be permitted to listen to the spirits in paradise. (Kanzu 'Ummal no. 40660, 400666 and Qurtubi no. 14/53-54)
Singing produces hypocrisy in the heart. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 41, Hadith 4909)
God has made singing, being paid for it, money from it and teaching and listening to it forbidden. (Muhammad al-Ghazali, Nabawi Sunnah) Contrary to all these fabricated hadiths, there is no commandment whatsoever in the Qur'an that prohibits music, dancing and entertainment. God has made happiness, pleasure and joy lawful for Muslims. Dance means rhythm and harmony. God has created the entire universe with a rhythm; even birds, insects and butterflies dance. Birds sing lovely songs with a sound and rhythm one can never get enough of. It is a great delight to listen to them. The sound of the sea, the pulse of nature, the sighing of the trees, all are rhythmic. God loves rhythm, dance, music and lovely voices. Paradise was also created with that rhythm. All the trees, plants and animals in paradise will dance. One hadith that reveals this says: It is related from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (ra) that, he said from the Basra pulpit: "God will send news to the people of paradise and ask: 'Has God kept His promise to you?' At that moment, they will look at the ornaments, clothes, fruits, spotless spouses and rivers bestowed on them and will not be able to help saying: 'God has kept His promise to us.' The angel will three times ask, 'Has God kept His promise to you?' When they see that the promise given them has been kept down to the finest detail, they will say 'Yes!' The angel will reply, 'There is one thing more.' Almighty God will manifest Himself to His servants and lift the veil from their eyes. When they see Him, all rivers will rejoice, the trees will wave and murmur, the mansions will give off sparks, the streams will flow fast and bright, fine scents will pervade the courtyards and mansions, and the smell of musk and camphor will be smelled on all sides.
Birds will sing, and maidens will dazzle the eyes with their beauty. (Ash-Sharani, Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 370)
God thus inspired the beauty of paradise and the joy of harmonious music in paradise in our Prophet (pbuh). How can a delight that God has created in paradise and that He praises be unlawful for human beings? It cannot, of course.
There is folklore and dance all over Turkey. There are folk dances known as the horon, halay and zeybek. People dance all over the world. A world in which music and dance are forbidden is incompatible with human nature. That would leave a huge gap and a loss of blessings. Trying to forbid a blessing that is praised by and pleases our Almighty Lord represents a calamitous failure to understand God and His sublime artistry.