MUSIC & ITS EFFECTS
"Music (Al-Ghina)"
In traditions, prevelance of music has been mentioned as one of the signs before the re-appearance of , Imam Mahdi al-Hujjah (aj).
"And you shall see that music will be so prevalent that no one will dissuade others nor will he find in himself the need to do so. And you shall see that music would be openly played even in the two sanctuaries (the city of Makkah and Madinah)".
This is evident in our present age where obscene music is openly played in the markets, on the streets, in shops and houses and even in the cars and no one bothers to forbid or prevent it !
One of the adverse effects of music that it gives a boost to emotions and arouses lust and sensual powers beyond natural limit and also dominates over ones 'Aql i.e. intellect.
Music is also known to have adverse effects on the physiques of man. Quoting from "Taseere Mousiqee bar Asaab", the Late Ayatullah Abdulhussein Dasti Ghayb writes in his book "Gunahan-e-Kabeera" as follows:
Expert doctors, scientists and biologists have defined two types of nerves, the principle nerves and the arterial nerves. The Principle nerves stretch from the neck to all vital organs. The Arterial nerves spread from the main nerves to all parts of the body. The secondary nerves are connected to outward parts of the body and convey the messages to the brain. When the veins enlarge, the blood pressure decreases. Due to the shrivelling of blood vessels, the blood pressure increases. When the blood pressure varies at different parts of the body, it affects the health.
When the secondary nerves work they produce heat whereas the functioning of the central nerves produces the opposite effect. It is due to these nerves that feelings of sloth, sleep, thoughtlessness, forgetfulness, grief, sorrow, fainting, unconciousness and even death occur. Obviously, when music can affect various nerves, it can give rise to various maladies. Mental diseases as well as physical ailments can occur. These mental effects can destroy man's reasoning capacity. It is for this reason that one who listens to music is unable to perform work that can be accomplished by a sane person.
Music creates vibrations in the body and these are conveyed to all the parts of the body through the nervous system. As a result of this, indigestion occurs. Music affects the heart in such a way that the heartbeats become irregular. The blood pressure goes awry. All such ailments make a person permanently ill. Consequently, even modern medical science, inspite of its astonishing progress, fails in such a situation. Sometimes, the music is so intense that the listeners lose their sanity. They become dumb and various kinds of mental diseases occur. In places where music is more prevalent, we find that there are more neurotic illnesses…..
The late Ayatullah then adds:
Dr.Adlen writes against music, "Even though it seems pleasant, the effect of music is profound upon the nervous system. Especially, when the temperature is high, the ill effect of music is more. This is the reason that ill effects of music are more in the hot areas. The American people are so disgusted with the bane of music that they have united to demand from the senate a permanent ban on music. It is a pity that the whole world clearly perceives the evils of music and yet adopts music as entertainment."
Lastly, it would not be out of place to quote the Late Ayatullah Seyyid Abul-Qasim al-Khui from his book "al-Masaa-ilush Shar'iyyah":
The prohibition of intentionally listening and giving ear to haraam songs and music has come in the holy tradition.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "And the person with the (sin of) song (al-Ghinaa) will be raised (on the day of resurrection) blind, deaf and dumb. The person with (the sin of) adultery, of wood-wind, and of drum will also be raised in the same way".
He (saw) has also said:
"Whoever listens to the entertainment (song and music), lead will be melted inside his ear on the day of Judgement".
It is also reported from him (saw):
"Singing and music are enchantment for adultery".
Simply put, it is a way that leads to adultery as already explained in the previous supplement.