MUSLIM
HATE OF MUSIC
Afghanistan: Taliban 'sentences TV
To Death,' Destroys Scores Of Musical Instruments
Taliban that has enforced strict
sharia law for governance after political takeover is seen forcing a man to
take an oath that he will 'never watch TV again'
Written By Zaini Majeed
Republic World
December 30, 2021
After Kabul befell the hardline Islamist
faction Taliban, the group had assured Afghans of "freedom" and that
there was "no need to flee the country." "Don’t be
scared," Afghan TV presenter of a political debate programme told the
public as at least eight armed Taliban men surrounded him LIVE on camera. Now,
the so-called Taliban that pledged press freedom and "no threats" for
TV crew was seen forcing a man to take an oath to “never watch TV” again. And
then, the Taliban sentenced a TV to death.
The incident occurred on Wednesday, 29 December
in Afghanistan and has rattled the Afghan population. The now-viral footage,
first shared by a Pakistani journalist, Hamza Azhar Salam, is doing rounds on
the internet and shows Taliban members terrorising households across the
central Asian country that was exited by the US troops in August on orders
of President Joe Biden as his foreign policy required American forces
stationed in Kabul to finally abandon 20-year war and "come
home".
In the chilling video, the Taliban
that has enforced strict sharia law for governance after the political takeover
is seen forcing a man to take an oath that he would never watch TV again. This
is purportedly due to the belief among the Islamist extremists that it is not
permissible in sharia (Islamic law) to watch TV. The Taliban men are
seen smashing a television set and destroying scores of musical instruments
including harmonium as it is "haram" [forbidden] in Islam.
Pakistani journalist Hamza Azhar Salam who first shared the footage appeared to
normalise the behaviour as he stressed that "things can change in
future."
While the Taliban’s act wasn’t
condemned, Salam reiterated that the incident was similar to what maulvis
[Islamic religious scholars] practised in Pakistan. “They were also against TV,
Radio, and other modes of entertainment before they jumped on the bandwagon and
now benefit from these platforms,” he said. “Taliban may do the same in due
course,” he wrote, sharing the disturbing footage. It remains unclear whether
the musical instruments destroyed were lifted from music shops across
Afghanistan or that if the owners were punished too.
As one of the Taliban men shattered
the instruments to pieces by smashing them against the ground, others
armed were seen cheering and filming the entire incident. In another footage,
the Taliban is seen harassing an Afghan man to promise that he wouldn’t watch
TV again, and then they smash the set in what is being reported as a
"field court" where execution of TV was carried out. Taliban
apparently pronounced their judgment and sentenced the TV to death.
Natiq Malikzada from Afghanistan
first shared the footage, and it has now sparked a widespread backlash. The
Taliban labels the television and other modes of entertainment as
"haram" or anti-Islamic, although does not seem to have issues
with social media or the internet.
As the Taliban sieged the country post US
withdrawal, a spokesperson for the faction uploaded at least five videos to his
official YouTube page celebrating and congratulating each other. Mullah Abdul
Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban featured in a video as he posed in
front of senior officials in a curtained office. The hardline Islamist faction
also instated their presence on social media and lambasted Facebook [now Meta]
CEO Mark Zuckerberg for removing user accounts linked to Taliban. Taliban
spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid ranted about Facebook demeaning the Islamic
group’s democratic “right to freedom” of speech and expression.
Mujahid complained about not being able to post
on Facebook and the photo-sharing app Instagram. But Taliban has lodged
strong resentment against Afghans for using modes of entertainment forbidden
under Sharia law. In September, the shocking visuals similarly emerged from
Kabul's National Music Institute as the Taliban destroyed musical instruments
including piano and drum sets. They also reportedly broke into the headquarters
of an all-female orchestra and caused the destruction of musical instruments.
The images were posted by singer Aryan Khan on his now-deleted
Twitter account that depicted damaged piano and shattered drums.
Under the
Taliban rule, music and entertainment are banned and women are not allowed to
work or study and are permitted to leave the house only when a male relative
accompanied them. Students and staff at the Afghanistan National Institute of
Music (ANIM) and other musical schools fear for their lives as their premises
have gone "silent" since the Taliban's takeover.
Afghanistan: 2 Killed, 10 Injured As Taliban Opens Fire To Stop Music Played At Wedding
Taliban terrorists killed two people & injured at least 10 people
in the Sra-road district in Nangarhar district of Afghanistan,as they
opened fire at a wedding
Written By Aakansha Tandon
30th October, 2021
Republicworld.com
Taliban terrorists have killed two people and injured at least 10
people in the Sra-road in Nangarhar district of Afghanistan, as they
opened fire at a wedding on Saturday.
As reported by ANI, citing local media, an argument between Taliban
members and wedding participants occurred after which the Talibani
outfit resorted to violence, injuring innocent people. Reportedly, the
argument had broken out when the Taliban forces stormed into the
wedding and demanded that the music playing at the party should be
stopped.
When people resisted Taliban and tried to convince them, the terror
force resorted to firing upon a mere incident of argument with the
guests in the wedding party, reported ANI citing the local news
sources.
Reacting to the same, former Afghanistan Vice-President Amrullah Saleh,
who declared himself as the Acting President of Afghanistan after
former president Ashraf Ghani surrendered to the Taliban and fled the
country, condemned the violence against Afghan nationals by Taliban.
Saleh added that condemning the killing of the people cannot be the
only medium to express rage against such violence induced by the
Talibani regime, and urged people to stand up against the Taliban.
He further expressed his rage against the 'Pakistan sponsored Talibani
outfit' and said that they have been receiving training in Pakistan for
the last 25 years to destroy the Afghan culture and to perpetuate the
ideology of ISI to control Afghanistan.
In the tweet, Saleh wrote on Saturday, "Taliban militiamen have
massacred 13 persons to silence music in a wedding party in Nangarhar.
We can't express our rage only by condemnation. For 25 years Pak
trained them to kill Afg culture & replace it with ISI tailored
fanaticism to control our soil. It is now in the works."
The acting President of Afghanistan assured Afghan nationals that the
Taliban regime will not last long. However, he said that innocent
people will continue to lose their lives as long as the Taliban rule
goes on. He added that the national resistance launched by him and
Ahmad Shah Massoud is the need of the hour to fight the Taliban.
He said in another tweet, "This regime won't last but unfortunately
until the moment of its demise the Afghans will continue paying a price
again. Just denouncing our rage against the massacre of thirteen people
at a wedding party in Nangarhar can not show our depth of anger. The
Taliban must be lost and resistance is a national need."
Taliban To Ban
Music In Public In Afghanistan Because It's Un-Islamic
Business Times
August 27,
2021
The Taliban
has said it will ban music
in public in Afghanistan because it is forbidden in Islam,
despite the assurances given by the insurgent group that it will be more
tolerant than it was two decades ago.
The
restriction on public playing of music acts as a return to one of the harshest
policies of the Taliban in the 1990s.
The previous
emirate only allowed religious chants, with nearly all other forms of music
forbidden because it was viewed as a distraction that could encourage evil
thoughts.
In an
interview with The New York Times, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid laid out the group's plans to rule Afghanistan. From 1996 to 2001,
music in public in the country was taboo, while the Taliban ruled the country.
"Music is
forbidden in Islam...the only exception to the ban during the Taliban's
original governance in Afghanistan was for some vocal religious pieces with no
musical accompaniment," Mujahid said in quotes by the Times.
The Taliban
have long considered music a dangerous and deceitful influence. And with the
insurgents in control of Afghanistan again, musicians are in hiding, afraid the
Taliban will hunt them down.
"But
we're just promoting arts and music and freedom of expression and we're not
trying to harm anyone's culture," a local musician said.
In reaction to
reports the Islamic militants are already extracting vengeance against those
who resisted them, Mujahid said the group wants to "build the future and
forget what happened in the past."
The
prohibition on music, despite the insurgent group representative's claims that
people won't be "pressured" to abide by the rule, has left Afghans
wondering what other laws from the Taliban's 1990 emirate will be enforced.
"It is a
totally uneducated and almost illiterate people who are misinterpreting
Islamic ideology,"Dr.
Ahmad Sarmast, the Afghani-Australian founder and
director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, said in quotes by
Digital Music News.
"There is
nothing explicitly written against music in the Holy Quran," Sarmast said, pointing out that the Taliban's
interpretation is based on a controversial "hadith," a report on the
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
In 2014, a
suicide bomber attacked a French cultural center in Kabul during an orchestral
performance. One died and scores were seriously hurt. Sarmast
was the target of the attack.
The Taliban
claimed responsibility for the attack. The group said it hated that Sarmast was bringing music to the country's youth.
Houthis borrow a page of ISIS fanaticism as
they ban song and music in Sana’a
Yemeni artists push back against Houthi
censorship attempts by organising campaigns to celebrate
the country’s authentic music and song.
Tuesday 29/06/2021
Arab Weekly
ADEN - Yemeni activists have launched a
counter-offensive to celebrate Yemeni music in defiance of the decision by the
Houthi militias to ban music and songs at social functions in the areas under
their control, based on religious fatwas criminalising
popular art in a practice similar to that of Islamic State (ISIS) extremists.
The Yemeni ministry of information, culture and
tourism joined the activists’ campaign and announced the adoption of the first
of July of each year as Yemen’s Song Day.
The ministry called for celebrations on this
day in Yemeni governorates. It also invited “artists, poets, writers,
journalists, broadcasters, activists and all groups of people in all governorates
to participate in the celebration of the Yemeni Song Day … with the aim of
promoting Yemeni culture and Yemeni heritage.”
Commenting on the campaign launched by Yemeni
activists, the Yemeni government’s Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism
Muammar al-Eryani tweeted, “In response to the
initiative launched by a number of artists, intellectuals and activists, in
order to strengthen the Yemeni identity and protect Yemeni heritage and art, in
the face of the fierce campaign waged by the Houthi militias against art, the
ministry of information, culture and tourism, announces that July 1 of every
year will be celebrated as Yemen’s Song Day.”
During the past few days, Yemeni journalists
and intellectuals posted on social media a copy of an official document by the
Houthi authorities, containing instructions that prevent male and female
artists from attending weddings and other social functions held in Sana’a and
other areas under the control of the Iran-backed militias.
The document issued by the Houthi governor of
Sana’a, Abdul Basit al-Hadi, confirmed that
directives were issued to heads of directorates and local councils to “curtail
the phenomenon of artists and artists performing at events and weddings by
promoting Quranic awareness within the community.”
The decision is just part of measures and
practices enforced by the Houthi militias in their areas of control, which
include the closure of public places, such as cafes and restaurants, detention
and arrest of activists and artists on moral charges and restricting artistic
and creative activities, through measures that
Yemeni media and activists likened to ISIS practices in Iraq and Syria during
the period of the extremist group’s control of large swathes of the two Middle
East countries.
The representative of the Yemeni House of
Representatives Ahmed Seif Hashid, said that “when
singing is prohibited in Sana’a, this means that Sana’a is no longer the
capital of all Yemenis.
“It is the right of citizens in other regions
and indeed in all of Yemen, to resist the group’s project, which seeks to snuff
out pluralism and diversity and impose its presence by force on everyone,” Hashid said in a post on his official Facebook account.
He added, “What happens from time to time in
trying to impose the group’s prohibitions reflects persistent attempts to
impose this obscurantist project by force, in a way that intimidates all
Yemenis and makes them more terrified of this group’s future intentions.
“This adds to this group’s catastrophic failure
in building the state and achieving citizen rights and to its drive to
eliminate political and intellectual pluralism.”
The anti-Houthi Yemeni MP considered that the
decision to ban singing is “an intense expression of economic and political
failure” that will end “in abysmal failure at all levels.”
Talking to The Arab Weekly about the reasons
for the Houthi cultural and social measures, Yemeni
writer and poet Ahmed Abbas said that they go back to the cultural and
ideological roots of the Houthis, who are no less fundamentalist and fanatical
than other groups known for their cultural totalitarianism, such as ISIS and
the Taliban.
Abbas pointed out that there are other reasons
that may explain the Houthi behaviour, including
their’ desire to divert the attention of Yemeni society, especially the youth,
in the areas under Houthi control towards the norms of behaviour
sought by the group’s cultural and media machine. This seeks to transform young
people into human bombs by brainwashing them into joining the Houthi war
project under fallacious concepts of sacrifice and religious devotion.
Abbas pointed out that recently Yemenis,
especially young people, in Houthi-controlled areas have shown increasing aversion
to Houthi-held events such as the so-called “cultural courses”. This
rejection may explain the Houthis’ growing concern that young people may be
attracted to song and music that are part of Yemen’s authentic cultural legacy
heritage.
Yemen has recently seen a wave of departures by
contemporary Yemeni singers, especially from the younger generation, who have
left the Houthi-controlled areas and emigrated outside Yemen, to flee the
restrictions imposed by the militant group.
Clerics Oppose
Music, Dance at Pashtun Village Weddings
October 09,
2020
By Anisa Ajmal
Gandhara
Hard-line
Muslim clerics in a conservative northwestern Pakistani village have announced
a boycott of music and dance at weddings.
Clerics
representing three major Islamic sects this week announced that they will not
administer marriage ceremonies in Ghondi, a large
village in Khyber district on the Afghan border, if celebrations include music
and dance. The district, named after the historic Khyber Pass in northwestern
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, was a hotbed of sectarian tensions and Islamist
militants a few years ago.
The
announcement is part of a wider morality campaign in which clerics,
conservative activists, and even government organizations have banned music,
television advertisements, TV shows, and mobile phone apps in the name of
battling vulgarity and immorality across Pakistan. On October 9, Islamabad
decided to block social media App TikTok for failing
to filter out "immoral" content.
Rights
campaigners and liberal activists, however, have opposed such bans because they
violate basic freedoms enshrined in the country’s laws.
Islamist
clerics in Ghondi see things very differently. “The
Ulema have decided to act against vulgarity because our area has suffered
tragedies and calamities,” Maulana Dilawar Darwesh, a senior cleric, told Radio Mashaal
while alluding to Khyber’s recent troubled past when attacks by Islamist
militants and the military operations against them killed thousands and forced
hundreds of thousands into displacement.
“People
complained to us because they were sick of the noise at night and the dance
performances by transgender people during weddings,” he said. “Our decision is
not arbitrary. On the contrary, we acted for peace and reforming the society.”
The decision
this week says clerics from the Deobandi, Brelvi, and
Panjpiri subsects within the larger Sunni
denomination have decided not to administer Nikah or the ritual Islamic
marriage ceremony that ties a couple into a wedlock if the wedding celebration
includes music and dance, particularly by transgender performers.
Jalil Afridi,
a local activist, says that while he doesn’t oppose the initiative, he is
surprised no one outside the religious circles among Ghondi’s
estimated 70,000 residents was consulted before the announcement.
“This
announcement was very sudden,” he told Radio Mashaal.
“They should have prepared the locals for such news.” Afridi says Nikah usually
precedes other wedding ceremonies and celebrations. “I wonder how they will
enforce this,” he said.
Amirzada Khan, a local journalist, says that in
recent decades clerics from the three Sunni subsects have consistently opposed
each other in Ghondi with their differences sometimes
resulting in theological disputes leading them to question each other’s faith.
“When they don’t even like interacting with one another and avoid praying in
each other’s mosques, how long can they remain united behind this initiative?”
he asked.
Lawyer
Shahabuddin Khattak, a rights campaigner in the
nearby city of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s capital, says Pakistani law
protects the freedom of speech and artistic expression.
“The current
laws do not prohibit anyone from celebrating weddings with music or songs,” he
told Radio Mashaal. “In fact, our constitution and
laws protect the freedom to hold such celebrations. So
preventing people from holding celebrations is a form of extremism, which our
government needs to curb.”
Jawad Ali, a
local government administrator, says the Ghondi
clerics have not informed them of the boycott. “It is everyone’s personal
choice whether they want music at their weddings or not,” he said.
Local media
reports indicate that in March 2019 the local administration in Jamrud, a major
town in Khyber near Ghondi, banned transgenders from
dance performances at weddings.
British soul
singer denied access to the Islamic Republic on Thursday
Iran DEPORTS
Joss Stone because authorities were terrified she
might try to sing: Pop star says she was booted out of the country in Instagram
video
Stone was
travelling to Iran's Kish Island which is an economic free zone
In
ultra-conservative Iran, solo performances by women are prohibited
PUBLISHED: 03:52
EDT, 4 July 2019
Soul singer
Joss Stone says she was 'detained' and 'deported' by Iranian authorities after
they blacklisted her, fearing that she might perform a public show which is
illegal for females in the country.
The 'Soul
Sessions' artist had arrived in the Islamic Republic as part of a worldwide
concert tour, though she didn't plan to perform there.
Posting on
Instagram, Stone appears in a video wearing a white headscarf saying: 'Well, we
got to Iran, we got detained and
then we got deported.'
She told her
fans that while she knew it was illegal to perform, she still wanted to see
Iran.
She described
the authorities that met her on arrival at Iran's Kish Island as professional
throughout their interaction.
'These people
are genuinely nice kind people that felt bad that they couldn't override the
system,' she wrote in a caption.
Under Iranian
law, women cannot perform solo concerts, though women do play in ensemble bands
and orchestras.
It's unclear
what Stone planned to otherwise do in Iran, though her Instagram post described
her desire to show 'the positives of our globe.'
Iranian
newspapers reported Stone's Instagram comments on Thursday, though there was no
immediate government comment on her claims.
Stone earlier
posted images of herself boarding a flight to Iran's Kish Island in the Persian
Gulf, which is an economic free zone that allows travel by all
nationalities.
In March this
year, Stone performed in Syria for an audience of 70 people, largely made up of
a Kurdish militia's foreign fighters.
Her journeys
in these unlikely locations is part of her Total
World Tour where she aims to play in every country.
Speaking of
performing in Syria, she said: 'It was very different – we have played 174
countries and that was unique. But I'm really happy to be here.'
She has also
visited Saudi Arabia where she ran into criticism from her fans for supporting
the decision to wear the Niqab - a full face covering veil worn by some Muslim
women.
She told her
fans that 'The women here are strong and exercising their choice to be free,
wear what they want and do what they want,' she wrote on her Instagram.
Her opinions
were met with uproar from fans, with one saying: 'The niqab is not a symbol of
a free, powerful woman, it is one of oppression. Western liberal progressives
and feminists are falsely portraying it as something beautiful and powerful.'
Stone first
came to fame in 2003 as a small-town teenager with a big, soulful voice,
showcased on her best-selling debut album 'The Soul Sessions' and hit singles
including 'Fell In Love With A Boy.'
Elders 'ban'
musical gatherings in Landi Kotal
Ali Akbar | Abdullah Malik
Updated September 08, 2017
Dawn
Seminary organisers in the town of Landi Kotal in the Federally
Administered Tribal Area on Friday allegedly announced a ban on musical
gatherings in the area, sources in the political administration told DawnNews.
Syed Mohammad Ilyas Banuri alias Khan Lala and Syed
Muhammad Ibrahim alias Bacha Jan, organisers of the
Khanqah-e-Binoria seminary, allegedly announced the
restriction on musical gatherings in the Shinwari Ashkhel area, the sources said.
The organisers warned that the houses of those either
holding musical gatherings or in possession of musical instruments would be
burnt, the sources claimed.
According to sources, a few days ago, the organisers
of the seminary had allegedly ransacked weddings in the area and seized musical
instruments being played there.
Today, after Friday prayers and in the presence of hundreds of people, the men
allegedly burnt the instruments, the sources said.
Niaz Mohammad, an assistant political agent, told DawnNews
that the administration has summoned Khan Lala after taking notice of the incident."We will ask him [Khan Lala] what capacity he
made such statements in when there is a political administration available. If
something objectionable is happening, then it is up to the administration to
take action not an individual."
His piano
burned, musician joins migrant tide
Rana Moussaoui
Sep. 21, 2015
Agence France Presse
BEIRUT: Three
years of siege, famine and bombing of his Damascus refugee camp didn’t kill
celebrated musician Aeham al-Ahmad, but something
died inside him the day militants burned his beloved piano in front of his
eyes. It was then that Ahmad, whose music had brought consolation, even a bit
of joy, to Yarmouk camp’s beleaguered residents, decided to join thousands of
others and seek refuge in Europe.
“They burned
it in April, on my birthday. It was my most cherished possession,” Ahmad told
AFP, which is following his odyssey online, step-by-step. “The piano wasn’t
just an instrument. It was like the death of a friend.”
For
27-year-old Ahmad, whose songs of hope amid the rubble of Syria’s largest
Palestinian camp became a social media sensation last year, “it was a very
painful moment.”
Since Syria’s
civil war struck Yarmouk in 2013, the once-thriving neighborhood saw its
population dwindle from 150,000 Palestinians and Syrians to barely 18,000
people.
The camp was
caught up in fighting among government forces, rebels, and extremists and
suffered a devastating siege by the Syrian army. About 200 people died from
malnutrition and a lack of medicines.
Ahmad became a
symbol of hope, helping Yarmouk’s people – particularly its children – forget
for a moment the brutal war raging around them with every note he played.
“The days when
I felt the most helpless were when I had money, but I could not get milk for my
year-old baby Kinan, or when my older son Ahmad would
ask me for a biscuit,” he said.
“It was the worst
feeling.”
But after ISIS
militants attacked the camp in April, Ahmad’s gentle, tentative ray of light
was engulfed in flames. He was in a pickup truck, trying to move his piano to
nearby Yalda, where his wife and two boys were
living, when he was stopped at a militant checkpoint.
“Don’t you
know that music is haram [forbidden by Islam],” a gunman asked, before torching
his beloved instrument.
Ahmad had
stayed in Yarmouk until the day ISIS reduced his battered but precious upright
piano to ashes: “That’s when I decided to leave.”
He would make
for Germany, from where he would then try to get his family out of Syria.
He began the
dangerous journey out of Damascus “as rockets rained down,” heading north
through the provinces of Homs, Hama, and Idlib until he reached the Turkish
border.
“At every
step, I would meet another trafficker of human flesh,” he recalled.
With the help
of smugglers, he avoided Turkey’s increasingly watchful security forces by
crawling through barriers of barbed wire and spending nights sleeping fitfully
in dark forests.
With other
Syrian men, women and children, Ahmad trekked through mountainous terrain to
reach the Turkish coast.
“Once, we went
24 hours without eating a thing; the children were so hungry they would cry. It
was horrible,” Ahmad said.
On Sept. 10,
he began posting pictures on Facebook to document his journey.
The first was
of his emaciated face. When he was in Yarmouk, he weighed a mere 45 kilos.
When he
finally arrived in Izmir on the Mediterranean, Turkey’s second port, Ahmad was
shocked to see refugees “sleeping on sidewalks as they couldn’t afford a hotel
room.”
A trafficker
arranged for him to spend the night in an apartment “full of rats and insects.”
Then, he and
some 70 others were crammed into a tiny van heading to the coastline, where
they would take a dinghy to the Greek island of Lesbos. They each paid
smugglers $1,250, as thousands of others had done, knowing they might not
survive. Suddenly gripped with fear, Ahmad took to his Facebook travel journal,
“Diaries of a Traveller in the Sea.”
“Dearest
Mediterranean, I am Aeham and would like to safely
ride your waves,” he posted Monday.
When the first
rays of sunlight struck the sea at dawn Thursday, Ahmad found himself on a
Greek beach. Tapping along on his knees, he sang a tragic tune about the “death
haunting” his country: “Tragedy has crossed the seas/Syria implores its
displaced children to return.”
Dreaming, like
so many others, of reaching Germany, Ahmad made his way to Macedonia, then
Serbia, and was on his way to Zagreb Saturday night “if they let me in.”
“It has been
nonstop,” he told AFP. “I haven’t slept for the past three days; I am
exhausted. I hope I will reach my destination soon.”
“I want to
play in the streets of Berlin like I played in the streets of Yarmouk,” he
said.
But his dream
doesn’t end there.
“I would love
to play in the most famous orchestras, touring around the world and conveying
the suffering of those that are besieged in [Yarmouk] and of all the civilians
still in Syria.”
Karachi
enforces ban on music in public transport
AFP
2-24-2014
KARACHI: Traffic
police in Karachi said Thursday they have launched a campaign to stop music
being played in public transport due to complaints from women.
The
authorities denied the move was in response to a reported warning from the
Taliban, who consider music sinful according to their interpretation of Islam.
“No there was
no threat to the traffic police from anyone, it is entirely baseless,” Arif Hanif, Karachi traffic police chief AFP.
“We only got
complaints from the women commuters and nothing else,” Hanif said.
“And the
campaign is aimed at the implementation of the law as the rules prohibit
playing music in public transport,” he said.
The congested
roads of the chaotic city of 20 million are plied by a variety of public
transport vehicles including buses, rickshaws and taxis.
Drivers caught
playing music will be fined and music players will be confiscated under the
crackdown.
Jihad Watch
January 29, 2013
It is amazing
that the whole audience doesn't erupt into laughter when the clownish Islamic
supremacist Aslan emits these howlers. Sharia in reality is marked by a
remarkable uniformity: the four Sunni madhahib agree
on about 75% of all rulings. Whenever and wherever we see Sharia implemented,
it looks essentially the same. Changes and variations come in when Sharia
provisions are relaxed or dropped altogether, as in secular Turkey -- but that
is not some different version of Sharia, it is no Sharia at all.
Mali Islamic
supremacists move to ban music, just as they have in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Mali and Afghanistan are separated by immense distance and differences of
language and culture. But Sharia in both is markedly similar.
Hadith Qudsi 19:5: "The Prophet said that Allah commanded him
to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of
ignorance." (The Hadith Qudsi, or holy Hadith,
are those in which Muhammad transmits the words of Allah, although those words
are not in the Qur'an.)
Muhammad also said:
(1) "Allah
Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded
me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the
affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance."
(2) "On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears
of whoever sits listening to a songstress."
(3) "Song makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water does herbage."
(4) "This
community will experience the swallowing up of some people by the earth,
metamorphosis of some into animals, and being rained upon with stones."
Someone asked, "When will this be, O Messenger of Allah?" and he
said, "When songstresses and musical instruments appear and wine is held
to be lawful."
(5) "There will be peoples of my Community who will hold fornication,
silk, wine, and musical instruments to be lawful ...." -- 'Umdat al-Salik r40.0
Mali musicians
forced out by Islamic rebels
CBC News
Posted: Jan 27, 2013
As Islamic
radicals clamp down on much of Mali, the rich musical culture of the country is
threatened.
There are
reports of instruments being broken and music being banned in the north, except
the singing of verses of the Qur'an.
Canada is
weighing whether to extend its mission in Mali, as French and African troops
move into the nation to push back Islamic rebels who have taken the north of
the country.
Many musicians
have fled the country and are in refugee camps in bordering Burkina Faso.
In any case,
the conflict has robbed most of them of their livelihood, as they can no longer
play at weddings and festivals.
Ibrahima Diabaté, a Malian
musician now living in Montreal, says he’s afraid his homeland’s vibrant
musical culture is being destroyed.
"Seeing
my country in this situation is really hard for me. It's unbelievable," he
told CBC News.
A group of 40
of the Mali’s top artists, led by singer Fatoumata
Diawara, have recorded a song and video, title Mali-Ko, that is a plea for
peace.
"People are
looking up to musicians for a sense of direction," Diawara said,
highlighting the importance of music to the people of Mali.
Even the
acclaimed Festival in the Desert, an annual celebration of Tuareg culture that
usually is held outside of Bamako, is going into exile this year.
Last year,
U2's Bono played at the festival alongside the well-known band Tinariwen and Indo-Canadian singer Kiran Ahluwalia also had
a spot.
"I
immediately felt the warmth of the audience,” she said. “It was a very very hospitable crowd. The arts are a major life
nourishment. And that part of life is no longer being nourished."
Instead the festival is in exile, with caravans of
performers heading to a spot in Burkina Faso to catch up with fellow musicians
forced out of the country.
Somali
stations air animal noises to protest extremists' music ban
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 13, 2010
(CNN) -- Roars, growls and galloping hooves replaced music Tuesday on some of
Mogadishu's radio stations in a protest of a ban on music imposed by Islamic
extremists.
Radio Shabelle, along with the stations Tusmo and Hornafrik, were responding to threats from Muslim militant
groups that believe music is un-Islamic and want it prohibited.
Mogadishu's 14 private radio stations stopped playing music Tuesday after
Hizbul al-Islam, an Islamic extremist group, issued a 10-day ultimatum. The
threat was backed by the main militant group al-Shabaab, which has been linked
to al Qaeda.
A statement from the National Union of Somali Journalists said several stations
received calls, warning them that there would be consequences if they failed to
comply with the ban within 10 days.
But the three stations decided to broadcast the noises instead of music. Radio
Shabelle announcers could be heard speaking on air, backed by the sounds of
hooves, ocean waves, gunfire -- even the roars and growls of big cats.
A radio station director, who could not be identified because of safety
concerns, said the stations were unhappy about the ban but were forced to
comply "because of fear for our lives."
A Somali journalist, who also asked not to be identified, said there is
widespread fear that this marks the beginning of a wider plot by extremists to
silence independent media. He fears that female journalists may become the next
target.
Hizbul al-Islam is one of many rebel groups operating in the country. The group
has a complicated relationship with al-Shabaab; between them, the two groups
control much of Mogadishu, and several radio stations are in neighborhoods
under their control.
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991. Islamic militant groups are
fighting the government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic
law, or Sharia.
CAT STEVENS -
DEATH OF A MUSICIAN
Exploring Cat
Stevens' wild Muslim world
By Bill
DeYoung
The Patriot
Ledger
May 22nd, 2000
Curiosity killed Cat Stevens
A singer, songwriter and guitarist whose simple melodies were artfully aligned with
lyrics both whimsical and mysterious, he'd clawed out a niche for himself in
the early 1970s with a string of hits including "Wild World," "Moonshadow" and "Peace Train." He had eight
gold albums in a row.
The British-born son of a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother, Stevens'
dark, exotic good looks made him stand out, and women everywhere found him
irresistible.
Still, it wasn't enough. Admired and coddled, but troubled inside, Stevens
began investigating the Koran, the Islamic holy book, and within its pages he
found the answers he felt he'd been looking for. In 1977, he pronounced himself
a Muslim, took on the name Yusuf Islam ("Joseph Rescued" [sic]) and
eventually entered into an arranged marriage. He auctioned off his guitars,
pianos and awards and bid good riddance to the secular world.
"I was always extremely committed to whatever I did," Islam said.
"And sometimes I had to close my mind to everything else in order to
achieve my goal. I did that when I was a songwriter. I almost didn't listen to
anybody else's music, because I thought it might influence me, and I'd end up
copying them.
"And I did it when I entered my spiritual discovery of Islam. It made me
think only about just that, and I didn't want to think about anything
else."
Reminiscing on the telephone from his London office, Islam, now 52, said those
last years as Cat Stevens were marked by half-finished spiritual quests and
indecision. The Koran -- a gift from his brother David -- was the answer.
"I'd had many dreams of walking away," he said. "But only when I
had enough knowledge of where I wanted to go could I do it."
Steven Demetri Georgiou was born in London's West End, where his musical
interests included Russian choral music, traditional Greek folk songs, musical
theater, the blues and rock 'n' roll. "All that formed the tapestry of my
background," he said. "But one of the songs that really stuck out for
me was 'Up on the Roof.' That just brought to life what I used to do. We used
to climb those roofs in that part of London. And out came this song, I couldn't
believe it was a direct reflection of my life. And my interests.
"One of my all-time favorite figures was Ledbelly;
he had such a story to tell. And his words were real. They smacked of reality.
That, I liked.
"When Dylan came along and started poetically putting in the ideas of
freedom and a new lifestyle, it was just an inspiration. It all came together
at once."
He was 19 when a record producer signed him up, changed his name and made him a
pop star with "Matthew and Son" and "The First Cut is the
Deepest," heavily orchestrated takes on songs he had written. He opened
for Engelbert Humperdinck and Jimi Hendrix, before a
bout with tuberculosis put him in the hospital for a year, his career all but
over.
In 1970, Stevens re-emerged with "Mona Bone Jakon,"
an all-acoustic, introspective set of songs that sounded nothing like his teen
hits. "I'd just come out of a very dark phase, and that of course gave me
a great understanding that I was not immortal," he said, "that life
meant hard knocks as well.
"I was coming out of that with some kind of sense of my destiny, but not
really knowing exactly which direction it was going to take. But I had a great
optimism, I think."
With the smash albums "Tea For The Tillerman"
and "Teaser and the Firecat," Cat Stevens'
new style of what he called "gentle folksinging"
crossed the Atlantic; he was the dark-eyed, hypnotic European equivalent of
James Taylor, who came to prominence at the same time.
Cat Stevens' songs frequently referred to God and a hunger for spiritual
balance. "It was just under the surface," he said. "The nature
behind the artist is not really changeable. There are those perceptions, those
insights which are privately known and sometimes come out poetically, and in
colors, music and sound, and in emotions.
"They're difficult to interpret when you're experiencing them, but from
this perspective now, they're easier to see, and more clear."
He points to the songs "Miles From Nowhere,"
"On the Road to Find Out" and "Sitting" as examples.
He tried Buddhism, Taoism and even numerology, changing his religious
convictions as quickly as he took on and discarded musical styles. "I was
always looking for something different," he said. "And like many
people, I used to get bored quickly. And if I got a little bit tired with
myself, or with my clothes, or with the songs, I'd try something
different."
He moved to Brazil in the mid-'70s, to escape Britain's crippling tax laws, and
his love of the polyrhythms of South America gave his music a harder, more
syncopated edge. "I was balancing between many different demands," he
explains. "One was my artistic expectation of myself, and from that point
of view I was always trying to go past new boundaries."
His audience, however, did not follow, and by the time of the last Cat Stevens
album, 1978's "Back To Earth," his sales had
fallen sharply.
His earlier material remains in demand; this week, MCA Records will issue
re-mastered CDs of "Mona," "Tea" and "Teaser,"
with the rest of the Cat Stevens catalog to follow later in the year. Islam is
helping to assemble a box set for release this fall.
The father of five children, Islam is the chairman of the Islamic Schools
Trust, which he set up in 1983. He runs the Islamia primary and secondary
schools for boys and girls in London, and recently issued a children's CD,
"A Is For Allah," which blends a spoken-word
explanation of the Islamic alphabet with a capella
singing (Western musical instruments are frowned upon in Islam).
Islam was internationally vilified when he appeared to support Iran's 1989
fatwa, or sentence of death, on author Salmon Rushdie, whose book "Satanic
Verses" Muslim leaders consider blasphemous.
He won't discuss the matter any more; however, in a
statement issued at the time, Islam said he'd been misquoted. While he
supports the Muslim idea of supreme punishment for blasphemy, he said, he
didn't think it was right to hunt someone down and kill them.
"I've always been fairly misunderstood," he said. "And life's
been a struggle to explain myself."
Only in the last year or so has he felt comfortable discussing Cat Stevens
again. "I see the value more these days in the kind of heritage which I've
left in the music and lyrics," he said.
"I can separate in my own mind that which is good and that which is bad,
and not only that, but so many people still gain value from those songs. I'm
always receiving letters from fans and people who my music has touched.
Recently, there was a letter from someone who said literally they were on the
verge of suicide, and then they listened to one of my songs and it changed
them. And that's really positive."
TEHRAN, Iran
(AP) -- Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from
Iran's radio and TV stations, reviving one of the harshest cultural decrees
from the early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Songs such as
George Michael's "Careless Whisper," Eric Clapton's "Rush"
and the Eagles' "Hotel California" have regularly accompanied Iranian
broadcasts, as do tunes by saxophonist Kenny G.
But the
official IRAN Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of Iran's
Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October
ruling by the council to ban Western music.
"Blocking
indecent and Western music from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is
required," according to a statement on the council's official Web site.
Ahmadinejad's
order means broadcasters must execute the decree and prepare a report on its
implementation within six months, according to the newspaper.
"This is
terrible," said Iranian guitarist Babak Riahipour,
whose music was played occasionally on state radio and TV. "The decision
shows a lack of knowledge and experience."
Music was
outlawed as un-Islamic by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini soon after the
revolution. But as the fervor of the revolution started to fade, light
classical music was allowed on radio and television. Some public concerts
reappeared in the late 1980s.
Western music,
films and clothing are widely available in Iran, and hip-hop can be heard on
Tehran's streets, blaring from car speakers or from music shops. Bootleg videos
and DVDs of films banned by the state are widely available on the black market.
After eight
years of reformist-led rule in Iran, Ahmadinejad won office in August on a
platform of reverting to ultraconservative principles promoted by the
revolution.
Since then,
Ahmadinejad has jettisoned Iran's moderation in foreign policy and pursued a
purge in the government, replacing pragmatic veterans with former military
commanders and inexperienced religious hard-liners.
He also has
issued stinging criticisms of Israel, called for the Jewish state to be
"wiped off the map" and described the Nazi Holocaust as a
"myth." (Full story)
International concerns
are high over Iran's nuclear program, with the United States accusing Tehran of
pursuing an atomic weapons program. Iran denies the claims.
During his
presidential campaign, Ahmadinejad also promised to confront what he called the
Western cultural invasion and promote Islamic values.
The latest
media ban also includes censorship of content of films.
"Supervision
of content from films, TV series and their voice-overs is emphasized in order
to support spiritual cinema and to eliminate triteness and violence," the
council said in a statement on its Web site explaining its October ruling.
The council
has also issued a ban on foreign movies that promote "arrogant
powers," an apparent reference to the United States.
The Associated
Press.
Minstrels are
not part of our true Muslim culture
January 5,
2006
In response to Gadija Sity-Taliep's
letter "Disgusting sights ruin our new year tradition" (Cape Points,
December 29) about the real truth behind the carnival:
The coons are really a front for drug dealers and caters for the cartels. It
has become a breeding ground for drug deals. It is not an "important part
of Islamic culture".
In response to "Closet minstrel" by Zane Ibrahim (Cape Argus December
30): Mr Ibrahim claims to be a Muslim and states that
nowhere in Islam does it prohibit joy!
On that point he is correct - Islam does not prohibit joy, but the expression
of joy can take many forms. Islam's version of joy is, for example, a child
mastering the recital of our Glorious Qur'an or a child getting married or
whatever action will please Allah (God).
All our expressions of joy start and end with the recital of a Duah (pleading with God to bless the undertaking) - not
painting our faces and behaving like lunatics.
Please allow me to explain the simple tenets of Islam. Islam is built on five
principles: to believe in One God and our prophet Mogamat
(peace be upon him) and the Quran; to pray five times a day; to give to
charity; to fast for 30 days in the month of Ramadaan; to visit Mecca for pilgrimage.
The first four are compulsory and the fifth one becomes obligatory if you have
the means (financially).
A Muslim's life should be based on the Qur'an and the teachings of our beloved
prophet Mogamat. Nowhere have I heard or seen proof
that our beloved prophet painted his face and danced in the street because of
joy.
Anything that detracts from being a good Muslim is frowned upon by all the
scholars of Islam.
Just one thing, Mr Ibrahim: - where do the coons (the
Muslim ones) get the the time to perform Salaah
(prayers)? There is no way that a Muslim who is part of the coons and runs up
and down the streets with a painted face can perform his prayers on time.
I challenge anyone from the coon board to state publicly that all their Muslim
members stop their performances and go to pray during the prayer hours.
You shall forever be the receivers of charities instead of being the providers
if you continue to act like lunatics!
Concerned
Muslim
Cape Town
Spanish group loses award after Muslim outcry over song
Wednesday 8 March 2006
Judeoscope.ca - Yussef Qaradhawi’s Islam Online reports that a song allegedly
insulting Muslims won the first prize of an annual festival held in the
independent Spanish enclave Sebta in Morocco.
Local Muslims and political parties have succesfully called for the withdrawal of the prize.
"The Democratic Party in Sebta
[which groups many Spanish Muslims of Moroccan origin] is planning a legal
action against the festival’s organizers for the racism displayed in the song’s
lyrics," party head Mohamad Ali told IslamOnline.net Wednesday, March 8.
The lyrics, says Islam Online, describes Muslims as
"animals" and "bastards."
However, speaking to the Spanish daily El Plural, the song’s
authors, Los Polluelos con pelos
en los güevos, deny it is
racist and blasted the lack of understanding on the part of Muslims. "We
did not intended to insult collectively Muslims, but a
part whose attitude we do not share" said Jorge Pérez, author of the
lyrics and added "We call animals all those who kill in the name of
religion and if a Christian killed in the name of Christ, we would consider him
to be an animal as well".
MUSLIM EXTREMISTS BREAK UP CONCERT
5 June 2006
Ten young men donning
long beards, short pants and white hats broke up a concert of the Balkanika orchestra.
NOVI PAZAR
The hooligans were dressed like members of the vehabit
movement. They climbed up onto the stage and threw around the instruments that
were set up for the musicians to play. One of the young men toko
the microphone and told those attending the concert: “Brothers, go home, they
are working against Islam here. This is Satan’s work.”
He then threw the microphone, which was damaged, as were the speakers, mixing
board and some of the lighting.
Four police officers were present at the concert in Novi Pazar
and used force to get the youths off of the stage and stop them from coming
back. The concert was organised by the Novi Pazar municipality and the Serbia Culture and Sport
Ministry.
About a half hour later, a group of about 50 Novi Pazar
football supporters, upset over the team’s loss to Mladosti
from Apatin, started throwing stones at the stage
where the concert was supposed to be held. Earlier, the game was stopped for an
hour after the Novi Pazar fans hit referee Nikola Maljković in the head with a rock.
The police have yet to comment on the two incidents, though further public concerts
in the region will probably all be cancelled.
The vehabit is a radical Islamic group founded in
Saudi Arabia. It is hard to give an estimate on how many supporters the group
has in the Sandžak area, but what is sure is that the
numbers have increased greatly in recent years.