9780975515716a - Slippery Stone - Islam's Stance On Music
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Slippery Stone - Islam's Stance on Music CoolnessofHind - Birmingham (Tuesday, November 18, 2008)
I am going to cut to the chase with this book. The moment I picked it up, I simply could not put it back down. It is quite simply an amazingly well written book. It is not merely a reference book which would sit on the shelf and only accessed when required, but rather a piece which keeps the reader's interest levels high throughtout the entire book.
The book is structured well, with each section flowing into the next. Near the beginning of the book, the author examines the impact of music on the Islamic world during the coloniolist incursions and the hugely detrimental effect it had on the Muslims world. The title 'Slippery Stone' is a theme which one can relate to throughout the whole book, however, for the person who believes music to be part and parcel of Islam will be in for a shock, for the very arguments which are used by those justifying instrument use (ie. to bring people closer to Islam), is turned on its head by the fact that the people who wished to legitmise the music (i.e. the colonialists) also used the same argument, but it eventually declined into the moral corruption that the Muslim world has yet to recover from. A mere glimpse into the past and the examination of the moral degradation of Muslims around the world as a result of music will be sufficient to caste extreme doubt as to the legitimacy of 'Islamic' music . And that is before one critically examines the proofs supposedly for and against music.
The author proceeds to academically parse through the various proofs which prohibit music and then deals with the criticisms of these proofs by the proponents of music in clear and succint manner. Then the arguments for music are examined. The author in no uncertain terms blows away the arguments, exposing the evidentiary and logical fallacies of the advocates, streamlining the sources of the legitmisers to two largely rejected Zahiri scholars and clarifying the abuse of statements made by such luminaries as Imam Al-Gazali Rahmatullah Alayh. Again this is done in an academic manner supporting his claims and arguments with appropriate quotes by prominent classical authorities in Islam.
The erroneous suppositions and claims of the orientalists who have contributed to an escalation in the supposed 'controvesy in Islam about music' are also dealt with in a like manner. It is amazing to note some of the quotes in the book by music sympathetic post-modenist Muslims. One of these Muslims states the importance of music in conveying a message and hows it is needed. Such quotes highlighted two things, which the author very lightly touched upon. The first is the inferiority-complex-ridden Muslims who apologetically try to box Islam into a Western ideology of life. From this point connects the second point. The height of western ethnocentrism is evident in the quotes of these Muslims and the orientalists. I.e. only western concept of how things should work is correct and best and all other things should conform to its ideal. Most of the quotes made are based upon this premise. As result the arguments are inherently flawed it assumes everything 'Western' is 'good', however what is 'best' is based on perspective and is most definitely not always true of Western systems or ideologies (one may look to the current financial crisis of the Western 'Superpowers' for proof).
The author then moves onto the tricky question of 'where to next?'
This heavily referenced book needs to be distributed in the masses to the public who take this issue lightly. Especially those who organise 'concerts' and facilitate Islamically prohibited things at their events. The whole atmosphere of such events carry the marks of ignorance and is hardly what one would call 'Islamic'. Credit must go to the author for expounding this subject and in age where the erroneous minority opinions are exploited at the expense of well established and recognised principles and eventually, morality itself: the trait of the Slippery Stone.
Undoubtedly a must buy. I pray Allah rewards Khalid Baig abundantly, in this Dunya and the hereafter for this sterling service he has rendered.
