Progressive_Islam

Islamic Music in Africa

As in many other Muslim lands, Sufism, the mystical side of Islam, spread widely in West Africa. One of its distinctive features was-and still is-music. Viewed as a means to bring an individual or a group closer to God, music is an integral part of Sufi life, following the injunction of the hadith "Adorn the Qur'an with your voices." Members of Sufi orders routinely chant the Qur'an and religious hymns. Supplications are also a genre, consisting of prayers chanted in an emotional way. Another genre is the high art of tilāwah, the recitation of the Qur'an performed by specialists who follow strict rules of pronunciation and intonation and always chant solo. Although Islamic traditions do not consider the recitation of the Qur'an and the call to prayer as singing, both are nevertheless melodic.

Strong trembling sounds, melisma (changing the note of a syllable while it is being sung), wavy intonations, elongated notes, long pauses between sentences, glissandos, and a certain nasality are characteristic features of reciting and singing in the Islamic world. Or as ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl described it, >"Middle Eastern singing is tense-sounding and has a harsh, throaty, nasal tone, with a certain flatness."1

Unsurprisingly, music was among the cultural exchanges that took place between North Africa and the western Sahel, defined here as the area stretching from Senegal/Gambia to northern Nigeria. Music in North Africa was distinctly different from music in the Middle East, having been influenced by the indigenous black populations living in the southern parts of the Maghreb and later by non-Muslim victims of the trans-Saharan slave trade. Often employed as musicians, these enslaved West Africans brought their music and rhythms to North Africa. In western Sahel, especially in the urban zones, Muslims adopted, adapted, and transformed the Islamic musical style. Much cross-fertilization occurred on both sides of the desert.

In the Muslim areas of West Africa, the lower caste of professional musicians attached to courts or wealthy families developed a repertoire of genealogies, praise songs, and epics. They sang solo -or sometimes in groups-in a declamatory style, with wavy inflections, melisma, humming, tremolo or vibrato, and throbbing or quavering effects. This style, centuries old, continues to be heard in contemporary music. Professional singers accompany themselves or are accompanied by musicians playing string instruments, such as lutes, one-string fiddles, the kora (a twenty-one-string harp), and balafons (xylophones)

Musicologist Gerhard Kubik places this model into the larger context of music in the Islamic world:

• Stylistically, the music played in the west African savanna hinterland, such as, for example, on certain stringed instruments, especially the long-necked lutes (xalam, garaya, etc.) and one-stringed fiddles (goge, goje, riti, etc.), is characterized by the predominance of pentatonic tuning patterns, the absence of the concept of asymmetric time-line patterns, a relatively simple motional structure lacking complex polyrhythm but using subtle off-beat accents, and a declamatory vocal style with wavy intonation, melisma, raspy voices, heterophony, and so on. Some of these characteristics are, of course, shared with the broader realm of Islamic music.2

Even when this type of music involves drums, it is clearly distinct from the music of the African coastal and forest areas. It is characterized by a strong reliance on drums, bells, rattles, polyrhythm, collective participation, and call-and-response, and is found in the southern parts of Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria, as well as West Central Africa from Gabon to Congo and Angola.

Instrumental Blues Style

In addition to the singing style, the instrumental dimension of the blues presents certain traits that some musicologists attribute to western Sahel. According to John Storm Roberts,

• The parallels between African savanna-belt string-playing and the techniques of many blues guitarists are remarkable. The big kora of Senegal and Guinea are played in a rhythmic-melodic style that uses constantly changing rhythms, often providing a ground bass overlaid with complex treble patterns, while vocal supplies a third rhythmic layer. Similar techniques can be found in hundreds of blues records. 37

But not all African-derived features of the blues can be traced back to this region. Kubik has outlined the areas from which he thinks other elements may come. The "intensity zone of monochord zithers and slider technique"-what became the slide guitar-can be found, he states, from southern Benin to Congo. And "areas with mouth-bows played with the stave directed towards the player's lips"-the American diddley bow and mouth-bow-are prevalent in Angola and Mozambique.38 In addition, Gioia proposes the interesting hypothesis that the repetition of the first line in many blues is an adaptation of call-and-response, the solo singer providing both the call and the response.39

Islamic Practices and the Blues

Musicologists such as Lomax, Kubik, Charters, Oliver, and others who found the roots of the blues in the West African Islamic belt envisioned this lineage as musical styles brought over by musicians. What they did not see is a direct link with specific Islamic practices that survived in the Americas, such as prayers, the recitation of the Qur'an, Sufi chants, and the call to prayer

In Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas, I have shown that Muslims continued to adhere, as best they could, given the circumstances, to their religion, its precepts, and its practices. Prayers, fasting, dietary restrictions, charity, literacy, and dress, for example, endured, secretly or openly. Slaveholders, travelers, and writers, as well as enslaved non-Muslims, witnessed and reported some of these manifestations of religious piety, without necessarily understanding them as such.

An incident that took place in Sierra Leone in the late 1780s illustrates what most likely occurred on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean:

• In the neighboring slave-yard, I saw a man about 35 years old in irons. He was a Mahometan, and could read and write Arabick. He was occasionally noisy; sometimes he would sing a melancholy song then he would utter an earnest prayer, and then would observe a dead silence.40

The melancholy song may have been the musical

recitation of the Qur'an or a Sufi chant: the young man calling on his faith's oral expression to assuage his despair. On American farms and plantations, Qur'anic recitations and Sufi chants, done solo or in small groups, would have sounded just like songs. And so too would the call to prayer, the adhan. The words of the adhan are the same everywhere, but each call has a distinctive sound, characteristic of each place. It will sound different in, say, Uzbekistan and Senegal. Perhaps the most striking holler in that regard came from Bama, the star singer of Parchman prison. Like the adhan, his "Levee Camp Holler," recorded by Lomax as late as 1947-a sign of the genre's longevity-could have floated from a minaret. It is almost an exact match to the call to prayer by a West African muezzin. It features the same ornamented notes, elongated syllables sung with wavy intonations, melismas, and pauses. When both pieces are juxtaposed, it is hard to distinguish when the call to prayer ends and the holler starts. It was most likely these audible expressions of Muslim faith, and not merely what the musicians brought over, that generated the distinctive African American music of the South.41

The blues is generally understood as a secular music of loss: lost women, lost jobs, regrets, and defeat. But it has a more profound, spiritual side: defying despair. In the 1950s, Ralph Ellison, while writing about flamenco-another Islamic-influenced music- remarked that the "blues voice mocks the despair stated explicitly in the lyric, and it expresses the great human joke directed against the universe, that joke which is the secret of all folklore and myth: that though we be dismembered daily we shall always rise up again."42For theologian James Cone, the blues is "a secular spiritual."43 In this spirituality, perhaps one may find an echo of one of the blues's roots in Islamic practices and music.

The blues is not African music; there is no traditional "African blues." Nor is it "Islamic music." The blues is an African American creation, born of American circumstances and various influences. What makes it unique is the prevalence of a number of Sahelian/ Islamic stylistic elements that became dominant due in part to historical events particular to American slavery. One, the Stono uprising, was an attack on the system in the pursuit of freedom. Another, the uprooting of a million people, was engineered to feed the monstrously violent development of slavery in the Deep South. Still another was the virtual re-enslavement of the post-Emancipation period. To resist the onslaught of these cruel historical circumstances, African Americans used all the cultural tools that best allowed them to express their suffering and hope, to comfort themselves, and to help them cope. Among these were the soulful tunes of the hollers and the blues. Though largely unrecognized, they are some of the most enduring contributions of West African Muslims to American culture.

I certainly get vibes like that from the video 😱

Islam's understanding of morality is rooted in three foundational blocks : Qur'an, Hadith, and Fiqh. To claim that Islam supports such a heinous act like grape would be a gross misunderstanding of the basics of how Islamic law operates. Here are some common claims levied against Islam, followed by a Fiqh rebuttal.

1. Claim #1 : Islam supports Concubinal grape.

Debunking :

Abu Abdullah al-Halimi, in Minhaj fi Shu'ab al-Iman vol 3, pg 267 :

"If a female slave is purchased and she dislikes to be touched, or slept with, then he may not touch her, lie with her, or have intercourse with her unless she agrees."

2. Claim #2 : Islam supports Marital grape.

Debunking :

Imam ash-Shafi'i - Kitab al-Umm, Vol 5, pg 203-205.

"As for intercourse, it is a domain of mutual pleasure, and no one is to be forced into it."

3. Claim #3 : Islam supports statutory grape.

Sub claim 3a) A girl betrothed into marriage by her father to a man, has no way to exit the marriage if she does not want it.

Debunking :

Ibn Abidin : Radd al-Muhtar Vol 6, Chapter on Kitab al-nikah,

"... And if the guardian acts unjustly, ie forces one (into marriage) contrary to marriageability or against her will, then after attaining regulatory maturity, she may approach the judge, who can annul the marriage if deemed unfit..."

Sub claim 3b) A girl without mental maturity can enter into a marriage.

Debunking :

Ibn Ashur, : Tahrir wa Tanwir on Tafsir 4:6

" It is not sufficient for the validity of marriage contract that a girl has only reached puberty. Rather her mental maturity (Rushd) is also required. Therefore it is not permissible for her to marry before she attains mental soundness so that she is capable of bearing the responsibilities of marriage. "

Sub claim 3c) the Qur'an in 65:4 permits marrying pre pubescent girls.

Debunking : Periods are part of Gonadal puberty. However, girls undergo Adrenal puberty first, marked with signs such as underarm hair.

Thus, there is no contradiction. Islam still requires girls to start puberty before they can enter into a marriage contract.

Al- Mughni by Ibn Qudamah :

"reaching puberty is a condition for the validity of the marriage contract, thus, the marriage of a minor who has not reached puberty is not valid".

By: u/AntiqueBrick7490

I often find myself wondering that, because to me, Mohammed just seems like what Jesus would've been if he lived in a completely different environment.

Jesus lived under the scrutiny of the Roman Empire, which was at that time, the strongest and mightiest power on Earth. He came as a teacher to the Jews, and made it very, very clear that his teachings were for the Jews only. He didn't engage in war or have any slaves because frankly, there was no reason to. That's not why he was sent.

On the other hand, Mohammed lived in the lawless, tribalistic deserts of Arabia. He first practiced pacifism in the same way Jesus did for 14 years, until it became necessary to confront aggression with the sword.

His outcome was different than Jesus', in the sense that he was more like Nobunaga: a warrior who united the feuding tribes of a lawless nation under one banner, and so rose from it one of the greatest civilizations on Earth (leading to the Islamic Golden Age).

Aside from that, when you look into the actual raw version of Christianity without the rose-colored lens, Jesus isn't as benevolent as people make him out to be. In fact, some may say he's way worse than Mohammed.

It really comes down to one main source: the Old Testament & Jesus' approval of it. I'm sure many of you are aware of the horrors of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, etc. and if you're not, feel free to read some of the passages online like Exodus 21 and Numbers 31.

But if you believe Jesus is God, that means you believe he was the God of the OT, which means he did things like approving the mass genocide of neighboring nations to Israel, allowing non-Hebrew slaves to be enslaved and beaten for life, etc. And of course, the Bible also states that God is the same today, yesterday and forever (13:8)

If you believe Jesus was the son of God or one in a trinity, that still doesn't make a difference since Jesus said "I and my father are one" (John 10:30) an spoke highly of the OT Law, even going as far as to mandate his followers to uphold it (Matthew 5:17-19, also the same sermon where he said love thy neighbor) and said scripture (referring to the OT and its laws) cannot be broken (John 10:35).

There are many more things Jesus said in the NT that heavily contradict his "loving and graceful" nature that mainstream media has made him out to be, Hebrews 10:26-29 is an example of Jesus condemning people to hell eternally just for sinning once after hearing the scripture, which isn't even found in the most extreme versions of Islam.

At the very least, Mohammed, even if we take his most brutalistic form as portrayed by media, is just another war general. Jesus on the other hand literally approves for people to be tortured eternally.

I really wonder why that's the case. Frankly, I see Islam and Christianity as the same religion. Both have good in them: promotion of charity, mercy, kindness, and tolerance. And bad: permissibility of slavery and war.

This question could also go on to another branch: why is Christianity sugarcoated to oblivion but not Islam? Usually, people see Christianity in the best possible light, but Islam in the worst.

Ulemas view the Quran as a book of not just synonyms, but synonyms of sex:

• When there is Nikah, they put sex (yes)
• When there is shahwah, they put sex
• When there is ta'tuna/bring, they put sex
• When there is bashirū, they put sex
• when there is taqrabū, they put sex (the only time they accept metaphors)
• When there is harth, they put sex
• When there is furūj, the put sex
• When there is alamin, they put sex (Q26:165)
• When they don't know what to do they put sex (Q36:55, read the tafsir on it)

They made every word in the Quran as a synonyms for sex! $%@!

'Generosity is a tree in Paradise whose branches stretch down to this world. Whoever is generous has taken hold of one of these branches and this branch will lead him to Paradise.'

Zina is obviously haraam as is anything that leads to Zina.

Free mixing does not lead to Zina, if anything it prevents Zina by ensuring people can find suitable spouses. Maybe it prevented Zina in the past, but not today!

Hyper segregation causes people to go underground for Zina.

Also consider the social ineptitude that develops due to gender segregation.

I’ll go even a step further and say going on coffee dates, dinner dates - all in public spheres - should be normalised

As The Title Says.

By: u/kaitolumiere

Hey everyone.

I finally finished my first volume of my manga, and it's available for purchase online!

I have been seeing more and more muslim manga artists pop up online I think it's great seeing the momentum.

Insha'allah we will be able to tell our own stories and motivate people to see the beauty of our faith!

If you like dark fantasy tales be sure to grab a copy!

May Allah bless u all 🤲🏻

If you are interested in a copy the purchase link is here:

Sacrifice Manga - mixam.com

(looks like outside the US shipping is high so I will be working to find a site that can ship for a lot less!)

The village of Arnum, part of Hemmingen, south of Hanover, Germany, witnessed a horrific crime on Friday morning, claiming the life of the young Algerian woman, Rahma Ayad (26 years old), after being subjected to fatal stab wounds inside her apartment.

Neighbors reported hearing screams for help, before the victim collapsed in front of a neighbor's apartment, covered in blood. The police arrested a 31-year-old German man living in the same building, after he was found covered in blood at the crime scene.

So far, no formal charges have been brought against him, but investigations are ongoing and include the possibility of a racist motive, especially after testimonies circulated indicating that the victim had been subjected to previous harassment by the same neighbor mainly about the fact that she's wearing the Hijab.

Rahma had moved from Oran to Germany to continue her nursing training, before her life ended tragically...

Source

There has been an increasing trend among many young Muslims who are upto the task of erecting a Caliphate, and if not Caliphate, then pushing for an Islamic brotherhood to recognize the status of Muslim Ummah.

But realistically it is not possible at all. I am not a nationalist at all, and dislike it, but its opposite ideology, globalism or internationalism is not possible either. Its a huge mistake to believe that erecting a Muslim Ummah magically solves the nationalistic conflicts of the Islamic world.

Say for instance, during the first world war, the British empire lured the Arab Muslims to fight against Ottomans in exchange for Arab nationalism/independence. However, they did not honor it fully as they forcefully created a Jewish land among the Arab nations (very cunning of the British empire to get rid of its own antisemitism).

On the other hand, after the Great War, Muslims in India were revolting against British empire in support of Ottoman Caliphate. However, the Caliphate was abolished not by the British, but by the Turks themselves. The Indian Muslims made an absolute disgrace of themselves. After failing with this movement, Maulana Azad had to resort to his own nationalism. Whereas, a guy like Jinnah could care less about what happens in a different part of Muslim world, and came out to be correct.

So, there is no point in supporting the Muslim Ummah at all, since you do not know which part of the Muslim world reacts to which events. However, that does not mean one cannot condemn the atrocities, such as Israeli atrocities. But, a Muslim ummah does not solve this issue.

“Indeed the cognition & knowing of Allah provides comfort in all terrors & frights. And it is the companion in all solitudes & loneliness & the light in all darkness & energy in all weaknesses & feeblenesses & the cure of all diseases & aliments".

By: u/Kooky-Union4830

A lot of the convoluted and often contradictory dogma has many Muslims questioning their faith.

Whatever your views, please keep things respectful.

One that doesn’t take Hadith written 200 years after the Prophet’s death too seriously, focuses on the basic tenets of the faith, emphasises one’s personal relationship with God and respects individual liberty?

By u/Major-Conference8574

Every fake religion says: “Just believe.”

But the Qur’an literally challenges: “Do they not reflect? Are their hearts locked?” (47:24)

If this was a lie… why would it dare you to THINK?

By: u/Terrible-Vanilla3843

the term she took off her hijab

all hijabis take it off at some point in the. day. well all took it off. but we didn’t leave in in our drawers or closets .no we wore it again the next day.
"she took it off" is weaponized to say "she rejected ur belief and religion and has embraced western life style. the colonizers and. Imperialist that keep talking about how shit ur religion is, win again. she chose them over you!!! " this is not reflecting btw. This is how many muslims understand it.
we need another term to describe it that doesn’t do praise to the west and attack to islam while making the girl sound like a kaffir.

how about:

she has her hijab in her drawer or on her desk.

edit: if you don’t understand what i am talking about then this is not addressed to you. if you know you know. thats it.