Bliss is Sin

Religious fundamentalists, no matter what religion they adhere to, have one trait in common: they don't want human beings to enjoy their lives. Music, dance, fine arts – in fact, anything which can bring even the slightest degree of entertainment to common folks is synonymous to "sin" in their "prudish" diction. Taking lives of other people for the "glory of true faith" is, however, a perfectly "virtuous" deed in the eyes of these anti-music, anti-pleasure, anti-love, anti-life bigots.

In 2004, these self-styled custodians of "public morality" of "the land of the pure" forced Punjab Textbook Board to expunge a chapter about life of Caliph Umar from class X Urdu textbook. The chapter had some passages about Caliph's taste for music. Although the source of these passages was Shibli Nomani's famous book, "Al-Farooq", yet the "moral" brigade was insistent that the stuff "desecrated" the character of the Caliph and could have a "corrupting" effect on the minds of students.

To my utter surprise, I found some articles about music on the website of Aramco World. Bear in mind, Aramco World is the magazine of Saudi Aramco, the fountainhead of Saudi oil wealth, and nothing can get published in it without "clearance" from the heavily censorious Saudi authorities.

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197603/the.world.of.islam-its.music.htm

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199406/exploring.flamenco.s.arab.roots.htm

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199901/days.of.song.and.dance.htm


An excerpt from the first article:

"Muslims of the golden age of Islamic music—from the eighth to the 10th century—were well aware of the artistic importance of their invention. Greek treatises on musical theory were part of the ambitious translation programs of the early caliphs, but soon Islamic philosophers and mathematicians were composing their own treatises along Islamic lines. In the brilliant culture of Baghdad under the Abassid caliphs, a deep knowledge of music was considered essential cultural equipment for any educated man, and the musicians themselves were expected to be men of wide cultivation and were highly rewarded. The theory and practice of music were discussed and codified, performances criticized and instruments improved in a manner resembling that of 17th-century Venice or 18th-century Vienna."

Ah !!!!! Those good old days !!!!