What will remain in Afghanistan are some vocal religious pieces
Taliban leaders have confirmed the government will ban music in public in Afghanistan, says Digital Music News.
Zabihullah Mujahid told the New York Times about how the group plans to govern Afghanistan. Music in public in the country was banned from 1996 to 2001 – while the Taliban was in power.
The same will happen soon.
“Music is forbidden in Islam, but we’re hoping that we can persuade people not to do such things instead of pressuring them.”
What will remain in Afghanistan are some vocal religious pieces that have no musical accompaniment.
Afghan radio and TV stations have been playing only Islamic songs since the Taliban takeover. It’s unclear whether the Taliban ordered the change, or if the stations made the change to avoid conflict with the new regime.
Afghan ethonomusicologist Ahmad Sarmast told Newsweek the Taliban attitude toward music has little to do with Islam. He said the move is uneducated, narrow, and almost illiterate people who are misinterpreting Islamic ideology.
He also said that there is nothing explicitly written against public music in the Holy Quran.
The Taliban’s interpretation is based on a controversial hadith – a report on the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
The hadith says “those who listen to music and songs in this world, on the Day of Judgement molten lead will be poured into their ears.”
But the hadith is not universally accepted as an authentic Islamic tract, and the Quran itself contains no direct references to the prohibition of music.
