I always loved Music and Dancing. But about 7 years ago, I started a serious effort to quit it...then for about 3 years it was really not working for me...then again i tried to stop...couldn't really for another two years. God is certainly mysterious...one day i got myself an mp3 player to listen to music...dunno, may be Allah liked my effort, he gave me the push (tofeeq)...and the mp3 player was never used for music at all. Instead i started listening to quran recitations, speeches, debates and so many other constructive audio, it literally transformed my life. Plus I had other benefits too...I realized that my ability to memorize and understand the quran and hadith increased dramatically...My arabic was getting better...Instead of humming songs etc, i would hum quranic verses, nasheeds etc...My perspective of life broadened so much...Increase in General and Islamic Knowledge and so many other benefits, mashAllah.
For a Long time i believed in the saying that Music is the food for soul. I realized it's not actually food for the soul...it's food for the Nafs (the devil inside). Music is like smoking...passive smoking can be as dangerous as actively smoking. In many ways it holds true for music too. Quran is actually the food for soul (rooh), medicine for the diseases of the character, remembrance, guidance and blessing for Momineen. And Quran is the symbol of Allah's blessing and graciousness , and Quran is something we should be cheering about, it's better than what others are accumulating.
"the beauty of one's islam is that he/she would give up every meaningless/useless activity" (al Hadith)
May Allah give us all tofeeq to give up Music. Ameen