Tuesday, June 30, 2015

"'Music Banned?' I thought you said, 'Music Band'!"

Music Banned
Memri

On June 23, 2015, Memri reported, "ISIS Decorates Streets With Anti-Musical Instruments Ads":
On June 22, 2015, the press office of ISIS's Tigris (Dijla) Province in Iraq published three pictures of public billboards. The first one warns against use of musical instruments and includes a Hadith which states: "Some groups from my nation will regard musical instrument as permissible."
Hmmm . . . "Some . . . will regard musical instrument as permissible." "Instrument," eh? Yeah, I can see the use of the singular "instrument" as a problem. But I doubt ISIS was making a grammatical point. Rather, ISIS was drawing attention to the fact that it considers music impermissible! Based on this hadith, apparently.

But what exactly does this hadith mean? Look again: "Some groups from my nation will regard musical instrument[s] as permissible." Sounds like a statement of fact to me. I see no clear rejection of music, not even an insinuation that music is forbidden. But perhaps ISIS wants to make a subtle point:
"Some groups from my nation will regard musical instruments as permissible, and other groups from my nation won't. We're one of those groups that won't. In fact, we're one of those groups that will kill you if you try. So, play it safe, not music! This has been a public service announcement of the ISIS Ministry of Silly Walks and Serious Consequences."
Actually, to be serious, I recognize that several hadith do forbid music, and this one probably does, too.

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