Voices of Islam (196 page)

Ibn al-Jawzi admits, however, that there are certain musical genres in which the emotional element does not enter and that, therefore, are legal, such as the songs of pilgrims traveling to Mecca, the songs of fighters for the faith, and the songs of camel drivers. He also recognized that in the pre- vious epoch in which the jurist Ibn Hanbal lived (ninth century
CE
), poems

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Voices of Art, Beauty, and Science

were sung that exalted only religious feeling and that, consequently, escaped interdiction. But such times, according to him, are over and the innovations introduced since then in music and poetry are such that these arts can only have a deleterious influence.

THE PHILOSOPHER-MUSICOLOGISTS

Although they must be regarded as admissible on the part of jurists concerned above all with the moral health of the common man and the collectivity, arguments of the sort made by Ibn al-Jawzi cannot be held as applying to those seekers of Truth who have sufficiently refined themselves so as not to fall into the trap of sensuality. These are people for whom music occupies an important place in the hierarchy of the arts and the sciences, and who consider and practice it as a discipline capable of elevating the human being above the gross world, of making one participate in the universal harmony. Such seekers have been numerous from early times in the Islamic world, which, thanks to them, can pride itself on an extremely fecund tradition of musical theory as well as of the practice of vocal and instrumental music. Among the theoreticians who thought and wrote about music, two clearly distinguishable schools can be recognized which sometimes converged, but more often, went along their separate paths, drawing on their own sources and applying different methods of investigation. They are, on the one side, the philosophers—
falasifa
or
hukama’
(the plural of
hakim,
‘‘sage’’)—and, on the other side, the mystics—
sufi
(the plural of
sufi
and the
‘arifun
or
‘urafa’
(alternative plurals of
‘arif,
‘‘gnostic’’).

To the philosopher-sages are linked the great thinkers whose names are forever inseparable from the history of Islamic philosophy: Ya‘qub al-Kindi (d. 866
CE
); Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes, d. 923
CE
); Abu Nasr al-Farabi (d. 950
CE
); whose
Great Book on Music
(
Kitab al-Musiqa al-Kabir
) achieved considerable fame; Abu ‘Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037
CE
); Ibn Bajja (Avempace, d. 1138
CE
) and Safˆı al-Din (d. 1293
CE
). Although they inher- ited the legacy of ancient Greece and resumed the Pythagorean, Aristotelian, Platonic, and Neo-Platonic philosophical discourses, they imprinted on them a unique and profoundly original mark, thus enriching the Greek tradition not only with numerous scientific developments but also with a whole school of thought based on the Qur’anic Revelation.
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The previously mentioned Ikhwan al-Safa’ also belonged to this group. Their ‘‘Epistle on Music’’ opens as follows: ‘‘After having completed the study of the theoretical spiritual arts, which are the
genera
of the sciences, and the study of the corporeal practical arts, which are the
genera
of the arts,
...
we propose in the present epistle entitled ‘Music’ to study the art which is made up of both the corporeal and the spiritual. It is the art of harmony (
ta’lif
), which can be defi as the function of proportions.’’
10

Music and Spirituality in Islam
63

Two ideas, therefore, impose themselves at the outset, the first being that music is composed of corporeal and spiritual elements, the second that it is based on proportions. Because of its dual composition, the art of music pos- sesses the special power of freeing matter in order to spiritualize it, and of materializing the spiritual in order to render it perceptible. This power comes also from the fact that music is a science of proportions, as the Ikhwan explain in another epistle (the sixth). After having shown by example how number, proportion, and numerical relationship are applied to all phenomena, they add, ‘‘All of these examples demonstrate the nobility of the science of pro- portion, which is music. This science is necessary for all the arts. Nevertheless, if it was connected with the name of music it is because music offers the best illustration of harmony.’’
11

According to the Ikhwan, that which characterizes music and distinguishes it from other arts is that the substance upon which it works (the soul of the listener), like the elements that it employs (notes and rhythms), are of a subtle nature and not corporeal. ‘‘Music leaves in the souls of those who listen to it diverse impressions similar to those left by the work of the artisan in the matter that is the substratum of his art.’’ The Ikhwan cite many examples of emotional states that melodies are capable of inspiring in man, such as regret and repentance for past mistakes, courage in battle, relief from suffering, and joyful excitation. Animals themselves are roused by hearing music; the camel quickens his step upon hearing the song of the camel- driver, the horse drinks more willingly when his master whistles a tune, and the gazelle allows herself to be approached at night by the hunter who hums a melody. Ibn Khurdadhbih (d. 912
CE
), who was educated in Baghdad by the inspired Ishaq al-Mawsili (d. 850
CE
),
12
made the following statement about music in a speech delivered at the court of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mu‘tamid, his protector and friend: ‘‘Music sharpens the intellect, softens the disposition, and agitates the soul. It gives cheer and courage to the heart, and high-mindedness to the debased
...
. It is to be preferred to speech, as health would be to sickness.’’
13

Not only does music stir the soul and the emotions, but it also ‘‘descends’’ into the body. From there comes its power to move the body and make it dance, and from there also come the therapeutic applications to which the classical treatises refer, notably those of al-Kindi and Ibn Sina. Besides this, music ‘‘rises’’ as far as the Spirit because it is itself a vibration of supernatural origin like the
kun
(the Arabic command, ‘‘Be!’’), the primordial
fi lux,
which from nothingness, from silence, and from darkness, existence was brought forth. Thus, the remark of Ibn Zayla (d. 1048
CE
), a disciple of Ibn Sina: ‘‘Sound produces an influence on the soul in two directions. One is on account of its special composition, i.e. its physical content, the other is on account of its being similar to the soul, i.e. its spiritual content.’’
14

Because of the power of its effects (
ta’thir
), the theosophical Ikhwan and most Sufi gave music the highest rank, for music sets souls in flights that

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Voices of Art, Beauty, and Science

are determined in measured proportion by the human receptacle in which souls are contained: ‘‘Know, my brethren, that the effects imprinted by the rhythms and melodies (
naghamat
) of the musician in the souls of listeners are of different types. In the same way, the pleasure that souls draw from these rhythms and the melodies and the manner in which they enjoy them are variable and diverse. All of this depends on the rank that each soul occu- pies in the domains of knowledge (
al-ma‘arif
) and on the nature of the good actions that make up the permanent object of one’s love. Therefore, each soul, while listening to descriptions that correspond to the object of one’s desires, and to melodies which are in accord with the object of one’s delight, rejoices, is exalted, and delights in the image that music makes of the beloved.’’
15

The Ikhwan al-Safa’ conclude their epistle on music with a justification of the most beautiful and the most perfect music, which is none other than the psalmody of sacred texts: ‘‘Tradition teaches that the sweetest melody that the inhabitants of Paradise have at their disposal and the most beautiful song they hear is the discourse of God, great be His praise.’’ It is thus that the word of God Most High states, ‘‘The greeting that will welcome them there will be, ‘Salvation!’ And the end of their invocation will be, ‘Praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds’ (Qur’an 10:10–11). It is said that Moses (may peace be upon him) was overcome with joy upon hearing the words of his Lord, and was overcome with happiness and rapture to the point of being unable to contain himself. He was overwhelmed by emotion and transported while listening to this serene melody. From that point on, he regarded all rhythms, all melodies, and all songs as insignificant.’’

SUFIS AND THE SPIRITUAL AUDITION (
AL-SAMA‘
)

To listen to music is, in the final analysis, to open oneself to an influence, to a vibration of supra-human origin that is ‘‘made sound’’ in order to awaken in us the echoes of a primordial state and to arouse in the heart a longing for union with its Essence. At the beginning of a long chapter in
Ihya’ ‘ulum al-din
(The Revival of the Sciences of Religion) that he consecrates to the laws governing the spiritual concert of song and ecstasy (
al-sama‘
), Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111
CE
) writes:

Hearts and inmost selves are treasuries of secrets and mines of jewels. Infolded in them are their jewels like as fire is infolded in iron and stone, and concealed like as water is concealed under dust and loam. There is no way to the extracting of their hidden things save by the flint and steel of listening to music and singing, and there is no entrance to the heart save by the antechamber of the ears. So musical tones, measured and pleasing, bring forth what is in it and make evident its beauties and defects. For when the heart is moved, there is made evident only that which it contains like a vessel drips only what is in it. And

Music and Spirituality in Islam
65

listening to music and singing is for the heart a true touchstone and a speaking standard; whenever the soul of the music and singing reaches the heart, then there stirs in the heart that which preponderates in it.
16

For the person in whom the desire for the good and the beautiful predom- inates, and who has an ear for music, music is a privileged tool for self- knowledge and inward improvement. Manifesting the latent possibilities of the individual, it permits one to observe, by its movements and reciprocal tonal interactions, potentialities of which one has not been aware until that moment. A sense of discrimination operates in the listener, which makes one perceive in the inmost heart, with an acuity in proportion to the quality of the music and to one’s own receptive capacity, zones of aspiration toward the Absolute, often in alternation with emotional attractions. This age-old doctrine, taught by the sages of Antiquity and elevated by generations of Sufi to the rank of a veritable alchemy of the soul, has been transmitted and maintained down to the present time. It is summarized by a sentence that the father of a contemporary Turkish musician who specializes in the songs of the Sufi brotherhoods inscribed on his tambourine: ‘‘This instrument increases both the love of the lover and the hypocrisy of the hypocrite.’’

The use of the spiritual concert (
sama‘
) as a technique for spiritual realiza- tion must necessarily surround itself with conditions and precautions that will guarantee its efficacy and that will overcome the wandering and misguidance of the passional soul (
nafs
). These conditions are generally the same as those demanded of candidates for the initiatic path (
al-tariqa
): moral and spiritual qualifi for the disciple, obedience to the spiritual master (
shaykh
or
pir
), service to one’s fellow adepts (
fuqara’
), and the strict observance of ritual practices particular to the order, as well as those of the Shari‘a. Most important, at the time of participation in sessions of spiritual concert, dervishes are enjoined to remain as sober as possible and to exteriorize their emotions only when they undergo an ecstatic rapture so great that it exceeds all control. Referring to the example of the Prophet Muhammad who, at the time of the first appearance of the Archangel of Revelation, could not master his emotions, Hujwiri excuses those beginners who show excitement in
sama‘:
‘‘You must not exceed the proper bounds until audition manifests its power. [However,] when it has become powerful you must not repel it but must follow it as it requires: if it agitates, you must be agitated, and if it calms, you must be calm
...
. The auditor must have enough perception to be capable of receiving the Divine infl e and of doing justice to it. When its might is manifested on his heart he must not endeavor to repel it, and when its force is broken he must not endeavour to attract it.’’
17

Al-Ghazali expresses a similar opinion in the
Ihya’:
‘‘The participant should remain seated, his head lowered as if he were deep in meditation, and avoid

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Voices of Art, Beauty, and Science

clapping his hands, dancing, or making any other movement designed to artificially induce ecstasy or to make a display of it
...
. But when ecstasy takes hold of him and causes him to make movements independent of his will, he is to be excused and must not be blamed.’’

However, the same master admits that it is certainly not blameworthy to imitate the attitudes and movements of an ecstatic if the intention is not to make a display of a state that one has not attained, but rather to put oneself into a frame of mind receptive to grace: ‘‘Know that ecstasy (
wajd
)
is
divided into that which attacks and that which is forced, and that which is called ‘the affectation of ecstasy’ (
tawajud
). Of this forced affectation of ecstasy there is that which is blameworthy, which is what aims at hypocrisy and at the manifestation of the Glorious States despite being destitute of them. And of it there is that which is praiseworthy, which leads to the invoking of the Glorious States and the gaining of them for oneself and bringing them to oneself by device. Therefore, the Apostle of God commanded him who did not weep at the reading of the Qur’an that he should force weeping and mourning; for the beginning of these States is sometimes forced while their ends thereafter are true.’’
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