While authorities in Iran are ready to imprison those defending the right of women to sing in public, a renowned Islamic scholar, Shaykh Ibrahim Ramadan Al-Mardini from the Beirut Studies and Documentation Center in Lebanon, is ready to defend the viewpoint that the Qur'an gives no basis for banning music nor distinguish between male and female music.

Al-Mardini questions the sources invoked to ban music in Islam: “There is no Qur’anic text banning music”, he insists:
“In Islam the Sultan only intervenes when humans deviate from God’s judgement; the sultan and faqih [jurists] are symbiotic”. And for example, 80 hadiths have been used to prove music unlawful but of these 70 were dhaif [weak] or very weak.

“On balance censorship,” Mardini notes critically, “exists to preserve regimes.”

Mardini says that he completely rejects censorship, arguing that it is not the mission of the faqih [jurist] to condemn things; his job is merely to guide the faithful. Mardini points out that Islamic fundamentalism does not have a religion. A fatwa is no good unless it develops. It must not be static. The faqih has to be flexible. The faqih must be with the times and understand them.

He stated this at a recent Freemuse conference on 'Freedom of Expression in Music', held in Beirut in October 2005. During a session dealing with “Conservative interpretations of music in Islam – the theoretical perspective” the Shaykh said that “a music culture is necessary for people to develop themselves”.
He added that “any limitation on the arts is the opposite of what the religion calls for” - and added that “music doesn’t know male or female”, and that it is not for religious scholars to control people but to guide them.

“The individual has to rule his/here own life through their own judgement”, the Shaykh Ibrahim Ramadan Al-Mardini said, and noted that Islamic scholars in the former century often had a very good knowledge of culture and art, and that “culture is something owned by everyone, and not something that a few persons should decide upon.”

Mardini argued that “culture is something owned by everyone, and not something that a few persons should decide upon” and pointed out that Islamic scholars in the last century often had a very good knowledge of culture and art. In Islam tradition reading was traditionally accompanied by music.The ‘ulama interpret the rules and correct people when they go astray. When justifying music Mardini quoted the Prophet saying to one of his Companions, “You came with a very good ear”. The mufti [Shari’a judge] is entrusted with disclosing the judgements of God, basing his views on the Qur’an, the Hadith and the Sunna. Music is not banned in Islam; strong counter evidence exists showing that it is allowed.

Shaikh Ibrahim Ramadan Al-Mardini works at the Beirut Studies and Documentation Centre in Lebanon and as a religious scholar he gave his perspective on Music an Islam at the Beirut conference.


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