Connections in Middle Eastern Music and Religion - Research Paper Example

Connections in Middle Eastern Music and Religion Introduction Music plays a key role in religion. In ancient times, music was part of Pharaoic ritesas evidenced on tombs in Egypt. Religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all embrace music. Recitations and melodies have been extensively used in several religions and in some religions. Music is strongly linked to religious beliefs. In other words, religious music has been part and parcel of the religious society and their significance have been of notable concern in the Middle East. (Oman Centre for Traditional Music) Jewish religion and Music Theory Yiddish is the language used by members of the Jewish religion. Yiddish music is deeply rooted in the Jewish religion. Ancient stories are evidential of this. For instance, Moses and his sister in the Bible (Exodus 15) led the Israelites in songs after God delivered them from Egypt at the Red Sea. King David used to play harps and other music instruments. As a key part in the Jewish religion, synagogues had a professional chazzan. A chazzan was a skilled person in music and led them in prayer services that involved music. In Jewish religion, majority of the prayers were chanted or sung 1(Yiddish language and culture). The first application of music in Jewish religion was in the temple in Jerusalem. David, as the king, appointed Levites to lead the music ceremonies and the Ark of covenant when it was placed. The temple became the focal point in the spiritual life of the Israelites. Usage of responsorial psalms, lyres and harps were the order of the Jewish religion. By the time the second temple was build, flutes and trumpets were already in use. At around 70CE, the Second temple was torn down and music instruments were in use again in the state of mourning 2(Berlin, 520) The use of music in the Jewish theory made profound success as a means of attracting youths into the synagogues. This led to creation of folk, jazz and rock forms of music. Jewish women participated in music either as composers or cantors and brought new dimension on ancient view points of the Jewish religion. The role of sacred music led to greater flowering of the music theory, which had been initially thought to be immoral .Middle eastern Jewish folks majorly used the maqam system, which was Arabic classical music 3(Randel, 550). 4(Isaacson, 185) notes that when individuals think about Jewish music, what comes into their minds are hymns, holiday songs, and prayer settings that are associated with synagogues. Modern cantors acquire their nusach in sacred music schools from 19th and 20th century cantor educators such as Katchko and Baer. Word painting was carried out by cantor, who learned different modulates, one after another. Two cantors chanting similar prayers using the same nusach created contrasting emotional responses in formation of the song. They also employed the use of Scarbova or Misinai, that meant anonymous; unattributed folk melodies. These melodies were well versed by the members of the congregation and in fact believed to descend from Moses in Mount Sinai. Scarbova Is Latin for Sacred. Songs were the essence of tradition and culture and comfort of hearing them had strong ties to the Jewish religion. Traditionally Yiddish music was played by use of string instruments such as viola and fiddle as well as the tsimbl (bearing much resemblance to dulcimer). These were regarded as less noisy instruments and could not catch attention of Gentiles who were associated with hostility. The most common music style, Klezmer is characterized by squealing, wailing clarinets. Klezmer’s roots go back to cantoral compositions in the synagogues. This involved the use of simple tunes in a minor key with much ornamentations like sliding notes and fast vibrations. Sephardi referred to Jewish music whose origins are traced to Spain, North Africa and Turkey. Mizrahi is the music type from Eastern Mediterranean and Asia. 5(Oman Center For Traditional Music) Music was employed as a religious vehicle. It was used in religious rituals such as Hassidim and Sufis apart from using it in the communal worship. They were used to express the soul and inspire the hearts of people in worship of God. Siddur was a prayer book and had recitations that people referred to when singing. Mourning was signified by the absence of musical instruments. The Jewish music in the Middle East was also a symbol of innovativeness. The music was adaptive and was vibrantly incorporated in worship in synagogues and depicted communal experience. Jewish sacred music consists of habitual patterns and melodic development 6(Peretz, 6). Islam Music Theory Unlike in Jewish religion where the use of music in synagogues was embraced from ancient times, music in Islamic religion was in the contrary. Early scholars, quoting hadith, argued that some genres of music were seen as destructive in the worship of Allah. Musical cultures has been however interwoven in Islamic religion and extensively used to celebrate birth, marriages, as well as other festivals. Drums and flutes have been in use and recitations from the Qur’an with skillful use of rhythm and tonal variation. Many scholars allied to Islam such as Al-Farabi, a philosopher and Arab Mathematician, was a renowned music scientist. In his “The Great Book of Music,” he talked about music scales and intervals. Origins of Islamic music are derived from African, Asian and Mediterranean cultures. The interactions were brought about by ancient trading activities, migrations and travel 7(Nasr, 45). Musiqa is the Arab word for music. The role of sound in the Islam religion was very significant. The subject of music has been however controversial as some members of the Islam religion are resentful of intoxicating abilities of music of which they regard as “delivish”. Those who reject use of music in Islam worship refer to Qur’anic quotation in verse XXX 1:5 which says, “There are some men who buy diverting talks to lead astray from the way of God.” Their counterparts however, quote from verse XXXIX: 17-18 that points to singing, “So give good tidings to my servants who listen to al-qawl (the spoken word) and follow the fairest of it”. Verse XXXV: 1 also refers to “beautiful voice” (Music in the world of Islam) 8(Alves, 82) argues that there is no such thing as Islamic religious music, since the beliefs on dance and music has been in controversy in majority of Islamic believers. The most common music type is secular and in some instances such as after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and during Taliban administration in Afghanistan, music was banned. Musical tonations, articulation, pronunciation, use of pauses have been sternly administered in qira’ah or tiwah, which are Qur’an verses. In the present day, mu’adhdhin chant adhan over loudspeakers in mosques and believers are expected to respond. In Islamic history, the use of music was also therapeutic and extensively used by Muslim physicians. The aspect of music theologically was seen as dilution to the worship and the soul should remain free and divine. To some, spiritual music was also referred to as Al-Haqq, the music from God and music of the truth. It was in the interest of God and anyone contrary to this was considered as infidel. (Naer, 155) argues that spiritual music “possessed followers of intense love 9(Berlin, 78).” Forms of music in the Islamic religion included Qur’an chants, the call to prayers, and other melodious expression of voice. Recitations of poetry also used, having been heavily borrowed from ancient Greeks who were the fathers of civilization. The antagonistic relationship between advocates and critics exist because of diversified interpretations of the Quranic teachings on Islamic music. Advocates argue that music is not definitely forbidden and there exists no negative reference therein. They believe that the use of music draws them closer to God in contrast to critics’ ideologies. Islamic scholars for instance, Yusuf Qaradawi explains that musicality as opposed to the content and context of the song is the issue of controversy such as songs that refer to forbidden sexual mannerisms10 (Berglund, 161) Pre-Islamic Arabs used to listen to poetry and music. In early days if Islam, music was regarded a division of mathematics and philosophy. Connotations of music were studied. Al-Farabi’s life and performance in the court of Saif al Dawla Al-Hamdani of Aleppo showed that the power of music created a profound understanding. In the present day, an Islamic scholar Shaykh Ibrahim Ramadan protected the protesters who were arrested in Iran for defense of women who sang in public. He argued that the sultan only intervenes when individuals deviate from the judgment of God. He cites that of 80 hadiths to prove legality of Islamic religious music, 70 had insufficient evidence. Conclusion In the Jewish religion, spiritual music has been embraced without controversy and has been part of the religion. Singing and chanting has been evident from the synagogues and many musical instruments have been in use, such as flutes. A time of mourning has been characterized by less musical activities. Women as well as men have been involved. On the other hand, theologians and musicologist have been in controversy on whether the Qur’an permits use of music in Islamic worship. There has been no clear Quranic distinction and majority of Muslims are not for the ideology that music is permissible. Music therefore has over time shaped world religions, inclusive of Judaism and Islam, arising both controversy and beneficial incorporation. Different religions have a variety viewpoints regarding use of music in religious worship. Work cited Alves, William. Music of the Peoples of the World. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2012. Berglund, Jenny. Teaching Islam. Munster: Waxmann Verlag, 2010. Berlin, Adele. The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Isaacson, Michael. Jewish Music as Midrash: What Makes Music Jewish? New York: Michael Isaacson, 2007. Music in the world of Islam: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~blackrse/islam.html accessed 8th April 2014. Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islamic Art and Spirituality. New York: SUNY Press, 1987. Oman Center For Traditional Music: http://www.ethnomusicology.org/?Groups_SectionsRMS: accessed 8th April 2014 Peretz, Jeff. Middle East: Your Passport to a New World of Music. Van Nuys: Alfred Music Publishing, 2004. Randel, Don Michael. The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: Havard University Press, 2003. Yiddish language and culture: http://www.jewfaq.org/yiddish.htm : accessed 8th April 2014 Read More