What Does the Qur'an Say About Music?
LOVE
Listening to music or enjoying a song happens to be one of the major signs of God.
Why did the Lord make the sounds of the instruments, the melody, the voice and lyrics so appealing to you? Have you ever thought how your brain interprets those sounds as beautiful, or romantic, while some other sounds as un-appealing? God has wired your brain to be able to appreciate sounds of certain nature, such as the sounds of your favorite songs. What does He wish to show you? Why did He create this mechanism in you? And why did He give people the ability to play and orchestrate such tunes and bless them with voices to sing, that in turn delights your mind and arouses feelings such as romance, optimism or love?
To the majority of people who do not think about the purpose of their lives deeply enough, they simply enjoy the blessings that falls their way and fail to identify them; they lack consciousness. The secrets of such questions are all revealed in the Qur'an.
The secret revealed in the Qur'an is that one should not only enjoy, one also needs to identify blessings. Certainly, if we could not hear, there would be no music to enjoy.
Adding to the ability to hear, is the ability to interpret and have emotions to sounds of musical instruments and voices. These sounds are stimulants that arouse a variety of emotions, such as hope, acceptance, feelings of love / romance. The sense of hearing is not sufficient to enjoy the song, we need to be programmed to find such sounds pleasurable, and this feature had been programmed in humans (God says in the Qur'an, He has given us "hearing, sight and understanding").
The lyrics in a song express emotions in our spoken language. Languages are extremely complex ways of communication, but as humans we can decode them instantly.
"By the Most-Merciful One, Who taught the Qur'an. Who created man, and taught him eloquent speech". (Qur'an 55:1-4)
Yet, there are many different languages all able to express the same thing. This is another bounty of God - differences in languages:
"And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know." (Qur'an 30:22)
When a lyric of a poem is melodiously sung, we find that the meanings within it sounds so much more powerful than when simply read out. This is a designed phenomenon, therefore, we can say that listening to a song is indeed a miracle of God! These are some of the blessings of God that we cannot easily point out, but are surrounded by them. God says:
"And (He has created) horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and use for show; and He has created (other) things of which you have no knowledge." (Qur'an 16:8)
God wants you to identify His blessings, each time you listen to a song and feel happy, romantic, excited or calm, turn to God in His remembrance - thinking about His favor on you:
"Worship God and be among the thankful." (Qur'an 39:66)
"Those who are mindful of their Lord will have Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, forever: hospitality from God. What is with God is better for those who are truly good." (Qur'an 3:198)
In everything that delights our mind, we must remember God and feel awe of Him.
Listening to a romantic song can entice feelings of love for your spouse. The ability you had to hear, the processes He designed that achieved that feeling in you through that song is astonishing and deserves your gratitude. Indeed, the fact that He created spouses for you to love is a big favor to begin with. Thriving in good while failing to surrender our gratitude to God is a sin. Imagine a hand extending out blessings, and we keep taking from it without ever expending a thought to where it comes from.
The true believer loves God sincerely in return for all the blessings He gives:
"If you tried to number God's blessings, you could never count them. God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Qur'an 16:18)
Music can increase a believer's love for their Creator, to have good conduct, worship God and learn from the Qur'an. The good feelings aroused in us should be turned into ways to thank God. Just as Prophet Solomon states in the Qur'an:
"And he (Solomon) said: 'Truly do I love the love of good, with a view to remember my Lord." (Qur'an 38:32)
PRAISING THE CREATOR
Music is a pure form of chemical reaction of the mind which involves release of hormones such as dopamine. It gives the listener a "feel good" chemical. Studies reveal that from birth, humans are wired to enjoy music, though it is not fully understood how.
A believer is one who fills their life with the constant gratitude and remembrance of God.
FALSE PROHIBITIONS
Many fanatical Muslims and their self-appointed scholars claim that music is impermissible because of a blatant misinterpretation of verses 31:6, 17:64. However, if one actually reads these verses with its context, it's very clear that none of these verses say a word about prohibiting music. Ironically, 31:6 actually speaks against those that follow "baseless hadiths".
"Among the people, there are those who accept baseless hadiths (الْحَدِيثِ) to mislead from the path of God without knowledge, and they take it as entertainment. They will have a humiliating retribution." (Qur'an 31:6)
"Lead to destruction those whom thou canst among them, with thy voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises to them." But Satan promises them nothing but deceit." (Qur'an 17:64)
Say, "Who prohibited the nice things God has created for His creatures, and the good provisions?" Say,"Such provisions are to be enjoyed in this life by those who believe. Moreover, the good provisions will be exclusively theirs on the Day of resurrection." We thus explain the revelations for people who know." (Qur'an 7:32)
Say "Do you see that which God has provided for you, you make some of it Unlawful (Haram) and some of it Lawful (Halal)?" Say "Did God allow you to do this? Or do you tell lies about God?"(Qur'an 10:59)
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