In search of harmony

Old vs. new

Living in the small peninsula for over 50,000 years, Qataris, and Arabs across the Gulf region, seem hard-pressed to accept certain types of cultural change. Western music is considered by some to be controversial because, in Arab hearts, it is their own classical Arabic music that is truly worthy of being performed and celebrated in public.

Arabic musical instruments such as the oud and the qanun, akin to the lute and zither in Western music, originated in the 8^th to 10^th centuries during the golden age of Islamic civilization, whose empire impacted world music. For example, the word “guitar” is thought to be derived from the Arabic word qithara. This was what Arabs called Greek and Byzantine instruments, like their own stringed kaithaar, which resembles the modern guitar.

Arab instruments, especially the oud, are still widely used today in Qatar and neighboring Gulf states, which are heavily influenced by Bedouin culture. Pop music produced in the region is infused with tribal rhythms and sounds, from that of the popular Saudi musician Mohammed Abdu, dubbed “the artist of Arabs,” to the up-and-coming Qatari artist Fahad Al-Kubaisi.

Mohammed Abu Hindi, 58, a native of Qatar, has worked in the Qatar National Museum for 36 years, currently as deputy director of oral history. “Here in Qatar, we also listen to Arabic music from Egypt, Iraq and some of the Gulf, and we like them very much,” said Abu Hindi, attired in the traditional Qatari thobe and gutra, or keffiyeh. His COVID mask extended the national theme, imprinted with the Qatari flag and the slogan “I love Qatar.”

Abu Hindi’s favorite singer is Umm Kulthum, the legendary Egyptian songstress known as the voice of Egypt. “This is the best singer in the Arab world,” he said, not hesitating with his superlative praise. But when asked about current modern music, his enthusiasm turned to disdain.

“If my son asks to learn [modern] music, I will refuse,” Abu Hindi said, because he believes that it lacks valuable content. “If you listen to modern music, there are no [meaningful] words, nothing. Before, when you listened to music, you could concentrate on the words and the sound, but now people’s focus is not on the pure music itself anymore.”

Resistance such as that of Abu Hindi to modern music may be linked to animosity toward the rising popularity of Western music in the Gulf region, reflecting the impacts of globalized cultural influences. Lyrics that directly reference or even suggest sexual imagery clash with conservative Arab social mores. Packed concerts attended by young males and females in close physical proximity raise related concerns.

Canadian guitarist Bryan Adams performed the first concert of Western music in Qatar in November 2005, and since then the number of Western concerts in Doha has steadily increased, with internationally known artists Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Maluma and Marshmello appearing before welcoming crowds in 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trend has set off alarm bells among traditionalists like Abu Hindi. “The young generation here is not educated enough about our culture, and they are losing the link with the past,” he said.

Resources and religion

That such changes in the development of Arab music may occur in the short term give pause to Rami Chahin, 47, a Syrian-German composer, music theorist and musicologist. Having earned a bachelor’s degree in music in Damascus, a master’s in classical music composition in Japan and in 2016 his Ph.D. in musicology in Germany, Chahin has developed broad musical expertise. Currently living in Oldenburg, he is a member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and his many projects to promote Arab music include one to increase the quantity of Arab music for children and another to produce avant-garde Arab music.

“The development of music needs a lot of research,” Chahin said, as well as lyric production, performance and support for the research itself. “In the Arab world, we don’t have any of these things. Many countries in the Arab world have existed [been independent] for merely decades, so concentration is on how to boost the economy instead of raising education and awareness.” By contrast, Chahin says, European music scholars and musicians have ample opportunities for funding.

Further, Chahin questions the expertise behind current Arab music research. “Most essays I read are not written in a methodical way,” he said, but rather focus on technical aspects such as tuning systems and notation and tend to be descriptive rather than analytical. Taken together, the lack of human resources, focused research and funding impede the development of music in the Arab world, Chahin maintains.

 “Music is the reflection, the mirror of society,” he said. “If the society is not developed, the music won’t develop, and if you brought developing music to an undeveloped society, this society would not take it seriously.”

Certain religious interpretations also affect discourse about development, practice and appreciation of music in the Arab world. According to Asma Ahmad, 38, a private tutor of  Quran and hadith (reports of the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) studies in Doha, Islam specifies not only what is allowed in music, such as what instruments are permissible, but also what aspects of music are considered haram, or not allowed.

“There are some who say instruments are not haram, and there are some who say they are,” said Ahmad, a native of Egypt who came to Qatar in 2017 with her husband when he found a position as an imam. “If we follow the sunnah [the ways of the Prophet], it is said that instruments are haram. The only time instruments are allowed is during the two eids [religious holidays]. Music without instruments, however, is allowed to be listened to during the two eids, during war and possibly within travel.”

 The emotions associated with music are also haram, making explicit lyrics connoting romance or denoting profanity expressly forbidden, Ahmad said. “People end up caring more and having more sentimentality toward music than the Quran, which is not permissible,” she noted. However, an even greater offense is the inappropriate extent of devotion that people pay to the artists. “This is considered profoundly sinful. It is unacceptable to put people on such high pedestals and praise them religiously. They are not the best, especially since their profession is not halal” or permissible, she asserted.

With religious music that incorporates instruments interpreted by many to be prohibited, the same logic applies to popular music, Ahmad said. “Music is not suddenly tolerated because the language changed. Therefore, if someone dislikes Western music because of its sinfulness, they should also dislike Arabic music. It is extremely hypocritical to think otherwise.”

The prohibition against concerts is based on perception of them as vehicles for even greater wrongs. “There is no respect toward religion in a concert, as the music does not stop when the adhan [call to prayer] starts,” Ahmad explained. “There is also no segregation [by gender] in concerts, which is notably concerning when the concertgoers often stand so close.” Concerts are so sinful, she said, that “everyone involved in the creation of the event, from those who market it, to even the bank officials who might finance it, acted sinfully.” However, she added, it is not haram to listen to music unintentionally, such as in a shop or similar public setting.

Within these boundaries, Ahmad believes that the faithful, while not submitting to peer pressure, should also not compare themselves to others or think their religious practices make them better than other people. Reflection rather than judgment is key. “We should look inward to ourselves and always try to do what is right, and not look outward and try to copy or be influenced by others.”