Song on the Wall in Palestine by Mais Shalash

[AceOfHearts]

Assalamu alaikum,

Another great nasheed by Mais Shalash:



I think the translation is on the right, click on "More info" to expand.

[Zainab_M]

Great song.  I got to see the translations too.  Thanks my brother.  I recall you had posted a couple of more songs of Mys Shalash on this board in the past which too were great.  She's one of the few ladies in the Muslim world who's speaking out thru the entertainment media.  Does she belong to Palestine or some other part of Middle-East?

[AceOfHearts]

Great song.  I got to see the translations too.  Thanks my brother.  I recall you had posted a couple of more songs of Mys Shalash on this board in the past which too were great.  She's one of the few ladies in the Muslim world who's speaking out thru the entertainment media.  Does she belong to Palestine or some other part of Middle-East?

Peace be to you dear sister Zeynab,

Yes she is one of the very few Muslim women who performs her songs. She is originally Palestinian but lives in Jordan. She has been guests in concerts and the like in the Middle East performing nasheeds mainly about Palestine.

There is a very large Nasheed / entertainment event that takes place in London every year called the Global Peace and Unity Event which is organised by Islam Channel (UK based channel). It is a very big event with tens of thousands of Muslims attending. They usually invite singers from the Middle East (many of whom the Muslims of the west have never heard of) to come and perform. As you might have guessed, they are all men. I have been trying to get Mys over here for the event by making requests to Islam Channel etc. This year its happening in October. Its not fair why her talents should go unnoticed because she is a woman.

I know we are of slightly differing opinions regarding a Verse of the Qur'an. I believe the particular Verse which the Sunni Muslims like to quote to show that Muslim women cant sing is not refering to softening of the voice, but rather being soft with the words being uttered, not the voice. And 'those with the a disease in their hearts' are the hypocrites. And it is addressing the wives of the Prophet basically telling them to not give into the hypocrites with their words (its not even telling the wives of the Prophet to not sing). I am pretty convinced of this my self dear sister, especially as I have crossed check the arabic terms used in the Verse with many other Verses which gives consistent results. For example the word "qawl" means the words/speach being spoken and not voice, and the expression "fee quloobihim Maradh" (in their their hearts is a disease) has consistantly been used to refer to the Hypocrites in several Verses without a single exception in any Verse. 

What is important is that whatever view we hold comes from sincerity in following Allah's Book and to seek His good pleasure and approval, I have not doubt about you in this regard. I do hope that being believers, we can come to common understanding with Verses that we study.

Take care sister and speak to you soon. 

[Zainab_M]

Thanks for the info my brother.  Yes, it's very unfortunate to learn that Mys Shalash is excluded from such gatherings as held in London, simply because they don't want a woman to sing.  I appreciate your efforts for trying to invite her.  She surely deserves that invitation.  Actually I've always been of the view that the Quraan does not disallow anyone from singing neither does it disallow listening to or playing music.  The Quraan does not anywhere suggest that even remotely.  This concept has crept only from Hadith.  Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens, also said the same in one of his tv interviews and has taken up the guitar for singing many nasheeds and hamds after converting to Islam.  Of course, he never sings in the style or the kind of songs he used to prior to becoming Muslim.  And that's the most important point.  What basically matters is modesty and decent intentions.  If one sings respectable songs on the stage in a dignified manner, before a decent crowd and dressed modestly, be it man or woman, it's perfect alright according to the Quraanic values.  Merely making one's voice heard through a song is certainly not Haram.  It's the sort of vulgarity and obscene stage performance by western rock stars that's completely Haram .. this type of performance is Haram for men and women alike. 

As for the Quraanic dictate telling the Prophet's wives not to be soft of speech, personally I'm sure it has nothing to do with songs.  That's very obvious.  It simply refers to talking in a formal manner and avoiding an unnecessarily gentle tone or even a condescending tone that might be mistaken by others as an attempt to be verbally intimate.  This is what I understand and I think u too meant much the same.  Of course Allah knows best.

Thanks again dear brother.  If you have any luck in convincing those folks into inviting Mys this coming October, do let me know

[N. Truth Seeker]

Thank u for this posting brother.  very entertaining video with a great cause.

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks for the info my brother.  Yes, it's very unfortunate to learn that Mys Shalash is excluded from such gatherings as held in London, simply because they don't want a woman to sing.  I appreciate your efforts for trying to invite her.  She surely deserves that invitation.  Actually I've always been of the view that the Quraan does not disallow anyone from singing neither does it disallow listening to or playing music.  The Quraan does not anywhere suggest that even remotely.  This concept has crept only from Hadith.  Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens, also said the same in one of his tv interviews and has taken up the guitar for singing many nasheeds and hamds after converting to Islam.  Of course, he never sings in the style or the kind of songs he used to prior to becoming Muslim.  And that's the most important point.  What basically matters is modesty and decent intentions.  If one sings respectable songs on the stage in a dignified manner, before a decent crowd and dressed modestly, be it man or woman, it's perfect alright according to the Quraanic values.  Merely making one's voice heard through a song is certainly not Haram.  It's the sort of vulgarity and obscene stage performance by western rock stars that's completely Haram .. this type of performance is Haram for men and women alike. 

As for the Quraanic dictate telling the Prophet's wives not to be soft of speech, personally I'm sure it has nothing to do with songs.  That's very obvious.  It simply refers to talking in a formal manner and avoiding an unnecessarily gentle tone or even a condescending tone that might be mistaken by others as an attempt to be verbally intimate.  This is what I understand and I think u too meant much the same.  Of course Allah knows best.

Thanks again dear brother.  If you have any luck in convincing those folks into inviting Mys this coming October, do let me know

Dear sister Zeynab,

Thank you for this response. I have been meaning to write back for a while now. You are right, the Qur'an does not disallow music or singing anywhere. And you are also right in saying that men and women are both permitted to sing so long as it conforms to the greater Qur'anic morality.

Thanks again dear brother.  If you have any luck in convincing those folks into inviting Mys this coming October, do let me know

There is some good news. First of all, it was not just me who was working to ensure that she gets the same recognition as male singers, 'ameen' and me have been working together.

There is big event for women only happening in London on the 28th of June called "Urban Muslim Women" to which Mais Shalash has been invited. This came as a very big yet pleasent surprise to us as we would not have expected anyone in the UK to invite her even into a women only event. Islam Channel is one of its sponsors. We think our 'campaign' has something to do with it, but only Allah knows the extent to which we made a difference. The website for this event is http://www.urbanmuslimwoman.co.uk and then if you click on 'Performers' on the right, you will see her there and notice she is the only performer that has been listed. We really wanted to see her perform. Unfortunately, we wont be allowed to this single gender event. But yet we are very happy that she has been invited into the UK, we think for the very first time. (The Urban Muslim Women page seems to state that she has performed in London before, though we did not find any evidence ourselves. If she did, it may have been in unofficial small family/arab gatherings).

An even bigger event than Urban Muslim Women is the Global Peace and Unity Event on October 25th and 26th, which I have mentioned. This one is not single gender like this one, its a family event. Performers have not been announced yet so there is 'hope' so to speak. Since this is meant to be an "Islamic" event, you can see the kind of obstacle that needs to be overcome in order for her to get an invitation. She performs in mixed gathering elsewhere so she does not have problems with attending GPU in this regard by the least. Hence we started this petition to show that there is a big demand for her to perform in GPU and generally in the UK/west.

By way of supporting her, inshaAllah, we also hope we are helping Muslim women at a greater level to gain equal opportunities in finding success in this field as the men find (very easily).

As for the Quraanic dictate telling the Prophet's wives not to be soft of speech, personally I'm sure it has nothing to do with songs.  That's very obvious.  It simply refers to talking in a formal manner and avoiding an unnecessarily gentle tone or even a condescending tone that might be mistaken by others as an attempt to be verbally intimate.  This is what I understand and I think u too meant much the same.  Of course Allah knows best.

I did not mean that. Basically, the word for 'voice' is not used in that Qur'anic Verse but the word for "words", "speech" is. This means the words one is speaking and not the tone of the voice. Thats the first point. The second point is "those with a disease in their hearts" is a term that according to my research so far, I have noted it being used upto 7 times in the Qur'an (there is probably more) and it can be seen that it is consistently used to refer to hypocrites. Therefore, we conclude that this Verse is telling the wives of the Prophet to not give into the hypocrites, just like elsewhere Allah tells the Prophet not to give into the hyprocrites. So what I am saying is that the verse has nothing to so with being unnecessarily "gentle" in tone or "condescending". What I am saying is very different to what you are saying above.

Take care dear sister.

[Zainab_M]

Alhamdulilah brother .. I honestly pray to Allah that you succeed in your efforts and this hardworking lady gets a chance to implement her talents and inspire all Muslims to understand a good cause.  It will greatly help to promote justice for the downtrodden Palestinians who have had far more than their share of suffering at the hands of the imperialistic Zionists.  Every mission must have a noble purpose.  Here, the purpose of the performer and as well as those who're trying to help her is truly admirable.  May Allah grant success to all of you, ameen.


As for the following .. though my basic outlook conforms with yours, it does carry slight differences, in that, according to my understanding of the Quraan I wouldn't fixate my thoughts on specific lines as much as you have.

I did not mean that. Basically, the word for 'voice' is not used in that Qur'anic Verse but the word for "words", "speech" is. This means the words one is speaking and not the tone of the voice. Thats the first point.

Even if it means "words" and not "tone," it does positively refer not to use unduly "soft words" which basically implies to flirtatious terms while conversing.  Moreover, as it's commonly practiced and thus easy to discern, the kind of words we use while communicating with each other (whether verbal or in writing), more often than not determines our tone as well.  Hence, a clear link between the choice of words and tone of speech is an unavoidable fact of human behaviour.

The second point is "those with a disease in their hearts" is a term that according to my research so far, I have noted it being used upto 7 times in the Qur'an (there is probably more) and it can be seen that it is consistently used to refer to hypocrites.

Yes, I know, you clarified this aspect earlier on this board in quite a lengthy discussion.  Like I stated then as I do now, my study of the Quraan says to keep that term "disease of the heart" more flexible.  This also makes it more widely and appropriately applicable for all times to come .. and indeed the Noble Quraan is a Book ready for reference for every generation, not just for the people of 7th century Arabia.  Indeed, the presence of people with twisted intents constitutes an ongoing process that was, are and will be found in every generation.  Also, even if a person really believes in Allah, they can stray away from Allah's values tremendously in the course of their daily lives concerning other aspects, and certaily many do.  Thus, the morals of such persons is incomplete in Allah's sight as He has made it abundantly clear that for Salvation one requires to "believe and do good works."  Obvioulsy such people cannot be blindly complimented only because they believe.  They still have a problem regarding morals and proper conduct, which for all practical purposes, is much at par with the concept of "disease of the heart."

Therefore, we conclude that this Verse is telling the wives of the Prophet to not give into the hypocrites, just like elsewhere Allah tells the Prophet not to give into the hyprocrites. So what I am saying is that the verse has nothing to so with being unnecessarily "gentle" in tone or "condescending". What I am saying is very different to what you are saying above.

Dear brother, you are greatly right but not entirely.  I see a part of your logic as apparently fallacious.

The strategy of the 'Munafiqs' was a specific one.  They were truly detestable in the sight of Allah and Allah has made this very clear in various Chapters of the Noble Quraan.  Also, after a while there were quite a few personalities in Medinah who's adherence to the strategy of the Munafiqs or Hypocrites became well-known, while there were other Hypocrites who were still obscure and thus still more dangerous.  Surely, Allah warned the Prophet (pbuh) and the believers against them. Your explanation that Allah also warned the wives of the Prophet (pbuh) against such people is totally correct.  But the point where we differ is, in my opinion and in a case like this one, the Hypocrites would be one of the groups of misguided people against whom Allah is warning the women of the Household.  It goes without saying, anyone can be attracted to a woman's charm which might include her style of talking, which again could comprise of the kind of words she uses in her conversation. 

What if a true believer, who wasn't a 'Hypocrite' but someone who had genuinely pledged allegience to the Prophet .... yet fell into some kind of temptation allowing his heart to stray by getting attracted to a wife of the Prophet as one would get attracted to the opposite gender?  Just because he wasn't a 'Hypocrite' by definition but a 'Sahabah' -- should the Prophet's wife ignore Allah's warning and not guard her modesty from him?  Or, just because this person was a 'Sahabah' by definition, he isn't supposed to carry a 'disease of the heart' even if he makes a pass at a wife of the Prophet?

In my opinion, 'disease of the heart' includes your interpretation but carries a still wider meaning.  It would include those indulging in all gross violations of the rules of Allah which began with the Hypcrites and idolaters in their rejection of Faith in their own different ways .. plus, anyone who indulges in any brazen violation that's categorically been condemned by Allah.  All such ones are obviously persons with diseased hearts.  Their violations cannot be ignored or replaced with better terms simply because they are not specifically 'hypocrites' of the Prophet's (pbuh) time.  And even if you do that, I'm sure in the sight of Allah it won't make any difference.  Intentional transgressors have evil hearts.  I take that as a direct reference to having a 'diseased heart.'

And only Allah knows the final interpretation of every word / phrase of the Noble Quraan.