Tuesday 27 May 2008

Do Kuwaitis sing?


It struck me the other day in church when we were singing some hymns of worship to God that as far as I know there is no singing in a mosque meeting. Is this true? Is singing forbidden in Islam or is it simply not part of the worship?


Is there any hadith that talks about music and singing and what do they say?


I would love to know.


From a music lover.


9 comments:

Delicately Realistic said...

LOL

We do have a sort of Islamic 'hyms' if u want to call them that...but they are not sung at mosque. you will find them on islamic tv channels and radio stations and distributed on tapes and cds. But come on....doesnt athan qualify as a sort of singing?

Anonymous said...

We don't sing during prayers, no. Its not forbidden to sing in general in Islam. and we do have Islamic songs, but they're not your conventional type of songs, they're a bit different, with specific kinds of instruments.

Anonymous said...

you should make the comments section a bit friendlier, I hate that I can't enter my name and URL instead of this open ID thing.

revq8 said...

Thank you delicately realistic and somecontrast.com. I know that the are songs which are sung on the Hajj hourney and that they are reigious music concerts in the Urdu language but the music I hear in Kuwait seems to be more of a chanting style than anything else and that it is outside of the mosque rather in it.

I take your comments about posting comments. how do I make it more user friendly?

Anonymous said...

I'm really not familiar with blogspot but it shouldn't be hard to find once you sign in and go through your blog's setting.

Ann said...

The ritual prayers that are conducted in the mosque have a certain format, and singing is not a part of it. As some mentioned, there are Islamic songs, called "nasheed" in Arabic; you can find many on the Internet, including some in English. (Dawud Wharnsby Ali has some nice ones. Also Sami Yusuf, although some of his songs have music. And Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens.)

There are different opinions, but most Islamic scholars say that music is prohibited, except for drums.

If you're interested in music, you might be interested in finding out about the science of tajweed, which deals with the rules of reciting Quran. It is very thorough, and there are very specific rules - maybe like there are in music - about how to form the sounds (you study where the sound comes from - e.g., the lips, tongue, throat, etc.), how many counts to hold a sound for (depending on the letter and the letters that come before or after it), etc.

For a beautiful recitation of Quran, listen to the Kuwaiti Sheikh Mishari Al-Afasy. You can hear his recitation (and others'), and see and/or hear English interpretations of the meanings, at www.quranexplorer.com. (There are a lot of options that allow you to set it the way you want.)

Intlxpatr said...

The call to prayer sounds to me like singing (when the right muezzin does it) but I am told that it would be scandelous to sing the call to prayer, that it is chanted. What is cool is that Kuwait is the only place I know where the call to prayer must be done live - other places I have lived have used recordings.

Cool post, RevQ8

revq8 said...

Thank Ann, I will check out the Kuait sheikh recordings. Intlxpatr is right - some of the calls to prayers are very melodious. There seems to be quite a diversity and styles and I like that.

malcatelim said...

I remember walking round the old fort in Shajah one evening when the call to prayer was sounded from the nearby King Fiesal Mosque. As it echoed around the coutyard another mosgue "tuned in" and the combined chants made a beautiful melodious and deeply moving sound. It "called me" to pray, even as a Christian, and as I stood there I said a quiet prayer for all who heard it.
Retired at Elim