MUSIC AND ITS EFFECTS [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

MUSIC AND ITS
EFFECTS

By: A. H. Sheriff

F O R E W O R D

Nowadays, people are getting more and more involved in Music and for them, it has become a
part of their daily life. Their mind has become so saddled with tension, and tempo of life
is so fast that they seem to accept high blood pressure and nervous breakdown as the
unavoidable side effects of modern civilization. It is a pity that they do not pause to
think the adverse effects of music on their physical and mental health.

I have endeavoured to present in this booklet the scientific and spiritual points of views
on music and dance etc. These observations have been quoted from various books of Persian,
Urdu and English languages.

I
am very grateful to Maulana Seyyid Saeed Akhtar Rizvi, the Chief Missionary of the Bilal
Muslim Mission of Tanzania for editing and scrutinizing this effort of mine

I
hope this booklet will help the readers in understanding the philosophy of the rule of
Islam which forbids music.

A.H. Sherriff

1/5/1983

1) WHAT IS MUSIC

Music,
according to the New National Dictionary, means "Art of combining sounds or sequences
of notes into harmonious patterns pleasing to the ear and satisfying to the emotions;
melody"

According
to the Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary, this combining of sounds is "for reproduction
by the voice or various kinds of musical instruments in rhythmic, melodious and harmonious
form so as to express thought or feeling and affect the emotion;" and the word is
also used for the "sound so produced," and for ‘written or printed score of
musical compositions." Not so technically, it is also used for "pleasant sound,
e.g., song of a bird, murmur of a stream, cry of hounds."

In
Islam music is called Ghina, and in Shia sheriat is counted as one of the ‘great
sins’. At first, it may seem unrealistic to ban every "pleasant sound"; but
there is no need to be alarmed. The Sheriat has defined ‘Ghina’ in a different
way. In Islam, vocal music means: "Prolongation and vibration of sound with variation
of the pitch to such an extent that people may say that ‘he/she is
singing’."

It
is evident from the above definition that the sheriat does not forbid ‘pleasant
sounds’; but if someone recites any thing with prolongation of sound and variation of
pitch so much so that a common man thinks that he/she is singing, then and only then it
will be ‘Ghina’ and sin.

And
it makes no difference whether the thing recited was the Qur’an, religious poem or
love song.

(2) ORIGIN
OF MUSIC

No
doubt music is one of the most ancient methods of merrymaking and enjoyment, of expressing
feelings and emotions. It is called ‘international language’, because it
encompasses the whole world and does not know any geographical or political boundary.

Let
us find out what is the reason for its worldwide prevalence. We have it on the authority
of Imam Jafer Sadique (a.s) that when Hadhrat Adam (a.s) died, his infamous son Cain
(Quabil) and Satan were very happy. Both gathered at a place and invented some musical
instruments to celebrate the death of Hadhrat Adam (a.s). And in the words of Imam (a.s),
all such musical things which people now use for merrymaking have originated from that.
(Wasael-us-Shia; Babu Tahrim-e-lstimal-il-Malahi).

So,
religion and anthropology both agree that musk is a very ancient thing; and therefore, no
wonder it has spread widely with the spread of the human race. But how dare a sensible
‘child of Adam ‘ especially if he is a Muslim) "enjoy" music, which is
an invention of Satan and Cain, the rebellious and disloyal son of Adam ?

Here
one may ask: But what is the harm in music ? Why it has been forbidden in Islam ?

The
answer is that music does have harmful effects on nervous system and is the cause of many
ailments including ulcer, diabetes and madness. It creates imbalance in human faculties,
retards spiritual development, and lowers the ethical values.

For
details, read the following chapters.

(3) EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON NERVOUS
SYSTEM

Before
explaining its effects on nerves it is necessary to briefly describe an intricate and
awe-inspiring part of the nervous system itself. These details are quoted here from the
"Foundation of Biology" (by William D. McElory & Carl P. Swanson and others;
published by Prentice-Hall, Inc; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersyy U.S.A. 1968) and "How
your Nervous System Works" (by J.D. Ratcliff; Reader’s Digest — Book of
Human Body) :-

"Many
reflexes that help control the internal environment involve a special part of the nervous
system (ANS). This system consists of nerves making up the motor pathway to the heart,
stomach, intestine and other internal organs These nerves are not under voluntary control;
that is, you can not make your heart beat faster on command."

"The
two major divisions of the automatic nervous system are called the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous systems."

Sympathetic
nerves leave the middle regions of the spinal cord

"Parasympathetic
nerves leave the central nervous system from the upper regions where they travel in
cranial nerves (i.e., 12 pairs of nerves attached to the brain and serving head and neck),
and from the lowermost regions of the spinal cord where they travel in spinal nerves.

"Most
internal organs of your body are supplied with both parasympathetic and sympathetic nerve
fibres."

"In
general, these two types of nerves work in opposite ways. For example, impulses travelling
along sympathetic nerve fibres toward the heart increase your heart-beat rate, whereas
impulses travelling along the parasympathetic nerves leading to the heart disease its
rate.

"When
we examine the effects of sympathetic stimulation of various organs, a pattern begins to
emerge. We find that sympathetic stimulation causes a number of events:

1.
Widening of air passage leading to the lungs;

2.
Constriction or narrowing of blood vessel in the skin and in the intestinal tract,
resulting in blood being shifted from the digestive organs and skin to the muscles;

3.
A general slowing down of movements in the intestinal tract;

4
An increase in the force and rate of heart-beat:

5.
Release of the blood sugar from the liver;

6.
Release of the harmones adrenaline.

All
of these activities prepare the human being for emergencies such as running or fighting.
The widening of air passages makes it easier for the human being to beathe faster and get
more oxygen. Blood is shifted from regions where it will not be needed during the
emergency (the intestinal tract, for example) to skeletal and heart muscle which will need
oxygen and blood sugar.

The
heart beats faster and stronger so that blood circulates through the muscles at a higher
rate. Blood sugar is released from storage in the liver into the blood stream where it
will be available to supply muscles with energy.

In
short, sympathetic stimulation prepares the man for emergencies, and in this process,
increases the blood pressure, retards the function of digestive system and increases the
sugar contents of the blood.

The
function of Parasympathetic nerves system is opposite to the sympathetic system "It
widens the veins, releases noradrenalin hormones and generally retards activities.

"The
two nervous systems run parallel to each other and in co-operation from one part of the
body to another. The co-operation of the two systems is essential for maintaining the
equilibrium of the body, which in turn has a great bearing and effect on the physical and
mental health of man.

Should
at any time there be a lack of co-operation between these two systems, physical or mental
disorders could arise resulting in one disease or another."

Some
actions or movements outside human body can adversely affect the natural equilibrium of
these two systems. One of those things is music.

A
brisk and lively musical programme, particularly if it is accompanied by musical
instruments, disturbs this equilibrium of the various systems; digestion is badly
affected; palpitation of the heart is increased; blood pressure goes high and abnormal
secretion of hormones leaves a lasting bad effect upon general health.

Music
stimulates mostly the sympathetic nervous system; and it may create insomnia (lack of
sleep); it may cause tempers to flareup; sudden laughter or nonsensical talks are amongst
its possible effects. It may even lead to mania (a kind of madness)..

Such
people may be seen to move their hands and feet in dancing pattern even when not listening
to music.

Dr.
Vollf Adler, who was a professor in the Columbia University, found out that a best
melodious record of music can badly harm the nerves of a human body; and the warmer the
weather the more the harm. He proved that music upsets the nervous systems unnaturally,
and causes considerable fatigue.

This
research of Dr. Adler had a widespread effect on many Americans; many stopped listening to
music altogether. The belief that music was harmful for a progressive nation like U.S.A.,
reached a stage when a member of the Senate proposed a resolution to ban the music in the
country. Relevant proofs and arguments were put before the Senate. But in a nation steeped
in lust and materialism, not many senators could be found to vote for that resolution.

(Illustre
Dimanche; No. 630; Paris; as quoted in, "Falsafa-e-Tahrim-e-Musiqui", published
by the institution "Dar Rah-e-Haqq", Qum, Iran)

(4) SOME OTHER AILMENTS AND MUSIC

It
is an accepted fact that mental tension creates many ailments. Excitement and tension are
like a fire which destroys the natural functions of human body.

And
it has already been shown that music creates excitement and tension.

Not
only madness and nervous breakdown, but even ulcers and heart diseases are caused by
mental tension.

It
has been mentioned earlier that music releases the harmone ‘adernalin’ in
abnormal quantity. This harmone clots the bloodvessels, and finally leads to heart attack.
This relation between excessive release of adernalin and heartattack was discovered in
France in 1957. (Falsafa-e-Tahrim-e-Musiqui).

Professor
Celie experimented by injecting adernalin into a monkey. Its skin became paralysed and the
animal suffered a heartattack (Ibid).

Dale
Carnegie quotes Dr. Joseph Montagu to have said that stomach ulcer is caused by mental
tension and violent anger. (Ibid).

Many
of the presentday common diseases are the legacy of our socalled civilization which
creates tension and exhausts the tolerance of physical and mental faculbes. One of the
main causes of this tension and exhaustion is music. The ailments, which are caused by
such condition, are diabetes, rheumatism, and even the birth of deformed or disabled
children. (Ibid).

Concentration
on listening to musical concerts or Jazz bands at times causes such violent tension that
mental stability is thrown out of window.

The
daily ‘Kayhan’ (Tehran), in its issue No 6626, published a news of the Reuter
Agency: About 50,000 youths had gathered in Melbourne (Australia) for a musical concert.
The concert overwhelmed them so much that they started assaulting each other with fists
and knives. Many were seriously injured; some girls were molested The police was called in
and with much difficulty controlled the situation. The point to ponder is this: The youths
were so much excited that they did not know what they were doing.