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Originally Posted by czgibson Yes it does, but when I hear a Britney Spears record, or anything else equally horrendous, I switch it off. To suggest people stay away from all music with instruments simply because some of it is filthy/wrong/horrible seems extreme to me. People should be allowed to exercise their own judgement. |
I would agree, but the problem is that if we tell people they can listen to music but just excercise personal judgement, what will be the effect of that? Its not going to have much affect on Muslim adults, most of whom have little interest in western music. Its going to affect the youth, and they're not going to be racing towards Bach, Mozart or whatever other benign form of music. They're going to be racing towards what you describe as 'horrendous', 'filthy', 'wrong' and 'horrible' because this is what western youth listen to today.
Secondly, as you'll recall from the music thread, most scholars do not consider all forms of music absolutely forbidden. So we're not placing any restrictions on anyone and if someone finds some music that has nothing wrong with it, then they can listen to it. But in general, I would advise Muslims to stay away from music, because at any rate it will not bring benefit that cannot be achieved through better means.
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Is it? I listen to nasheeds and recitations of the Qur'an. Perhaps not in the same way you do - but they are not restricted or forbidden to me. I can, and do, listen to any form of music or sound that I wish.
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The reason why I said your argument was ethnocentric was because you argued (or at least strongly implied) that Muslim culture was lacking because we don't listen to western music. And that's judging abother group by the standards of your own culture because western music is an integral part of western culture, and so you falsely assume that cultures lacking western music lack an integral aspect. But, as I pointed out, the Qur'anic recitation and Nasheeds play a parallel role in the Muslim world so we're not really lacking in anything.
Secondly, I never claimed something to be forbidden or placed any restrictions. Instead, I gave directions. i.e. if you want to get to this location, this is the best route to take. If you want to become a better person, music doesn't provide anything that isn't found elsewhere. In general, looking at music as a whole, the harm outweighs the benefit. Sure if you inspect some very specific forms of music you might not see any harm, but I'm not talking in general, hence my advice to Muslims.
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Yet you suggest that Muslims should not listen to Western music, because you do not find it a satisfactory substitute for the audio artefacts of your own culture.
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No, that wasn't the reason for avoiding music. The point about a satisfactory substitute was my response to the ethnocentric argument that Muslim culture was deficient because it lacked the forms of western music. My response was that we have Qur'anic recitation and Nasheeds so we don't feel we're lacking in anything.
And the reason for avoiding music was because overall, in general there is more harm than benefit.
I hope this clarifies.