Do you listen to music or play an instrument?

Perspectives

Hi there. I'm Roman Catholic. I decided I'd look into Islam as I was fed up of the fox/sky news version and wanted to learn what is it you guys actually believe. I went to this site: http://www.chatislamonline.org/en/ which basically is about telling non-Muslims what being Muslim is really about.
I remember I heard Muslims weren't allowed to listen to music so I asked the assistant about this.
They basically said Music is not allowed nor is the playing of a musical instrument. As regards concerts, this would encourage 'free mixing' so no to that to. I asked, if there is no free mixing then how could you ever date people and finally find someone to marry. They said, you can see your future wife, but only with a chaperon.
I was totally shocked. I mean, no music and no concerts. Dating with a chaperon. hahahaha I mean Cat Stevens is Muslim. I know one girl who's Muslim, has a beer and goes to concerts. Was this person who told me that really strict or from a middle Eastern country do you think?
I can't imagine life without music, sounds so bizarre. They also said, Mozart or Beethoven wouldn't be considered important haha

Tom Dunne

Perspectives wrote: »

Hi there. I'm Roman Catholic. I decided I'd look into Islam as I was fed up of the fox/sky news version and wanted to learn what is it you guys actually believe. I went to this site: http://www.chatislamonline.org/en/ which basically is about telling non-Muslims what being Muslim is really about.
I remember I heard Muslims weren't allowed to listen to music so I asked the assistant about this.
They basically said Music is not allowed nor is the playing of a musical instrument. As regards concerts, this would encourage 'free mixing' so no to that to. I asked, if there is no free mixing then how could you ever date people and finally find someone to marry. They said, you can see your future wife, but only with a chaperon.
I was totally shocked. I mean, no music and no concerts. Dating with a chaperon. hahahaha I mean Cat Stevens is Muslim. I know one girl who's Muslim, has a beer and goes to concerts. Was this person who told me that really strict or from a middle Eastern country do you think?
I can't imagine life without music, sounds so bizarre. They also said, Mozart or Beethoven wouldn't be considered important haha

I think for every thing that is haram (forbidden), you will find a Muslim that indulges in it.

There is an Arab Idol TV program which is very popular in the Middle East. The very fact that it even exists should answer your question about music.

As for finding a wife/husband, yes, generally they are arranged marriages in the Middle East, but again, there are exceptions. The concept of dating as we know it does not really exist.

Geomy

Is listening to the birdsong in the dawn also forbidden, or the Islamic call to prayer forbidden ?

There's plenty of Muslim's into the tunes and mix and mingle with the crowd. ..

confusedquark

I played the tin whistle when I was a young lad

I do listen to all sorts of music, as do most Muslims I know - do also know a very small handful who don't listen to music on religious grounds. Strictly speaking, I think the tambourine is the only instrument that's permitted. But listening to music is certainly not perceived to be in the same category as drinking alcohol, gambling, eating pork etc.

As regards dating and marrying - I (an Irish-born and bred Muslim) met my wife (a British-born and bred Muslim) only with chaperones present. We also talked a fair bit over the phone and online (that wasn't chaperoned!). I suppose the theory we go by is that you can be going out with someone for years and still not really know them properly until you're living together, so we have a few meetings with someone your family considers suitable (some mosques also offer services to get families together), say special prayers to ask God to guide us with our decision, and then take a leap of faith - it works most of the time. There are plenty of "love marriages" as well, where a boy and girl meet at uni/work etc and then get the consent of their parents.

Incidentally, these type of arranged marriages were common enough in Ireland in the past century, and are still very prevalent in many other religions and cultures in the world today.