Community Personal Development Reflections Youth

The Chorus to Your Soul

by Ashley Marshall

48700851_0d1b64ac1b_oYou’re in the car, laughing and chatting with your friends, just cruising down the clear freeway, when the radio station starts playing your favorite song. You all start singing word for word, hitting all the high notes with your best karaoke skills.

How many moments like these can we remember? How many of our “all time favorite” songs have we sung, memorized and rocked out to, knowing and repeating every word from the beginning to the end?

The answer is countless. We’ve all sung along senselessly to those chart-toppers the radio refuses to stop playing. If we were asked to name all the songs we know off the top of our heads including artist, title, and a few chorus lines we could probably list several of them with ease. But if someone asked us to name various surahs (chapters) from Al-Quran and three ayats (verses) from each, how many of us would struggle to name even half the number of songs we know? And what would we say if that person who was asking us was none other than our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?

We can truly make far more beneficial use of all that memory space given to us by our One Creator. Not only are we squandering away valuable time listening to today’s music, but many of us are not even aware of the vulgarity in the music we listen to. All that’s needed is a nice beat with a catchy chorus to keep us hooked. So in essence we’re uttering empty words that creep into our daily lives, affect our hearts, and steer us away from what’s really important, the path of becoming better Muslim brothers and sisters. It may seem like only a few minutes of our lives in passing but imagine if we listened to just two four-minute songs everyday for a week straight. That’s about an hour per week that we’ve lost which we could spend at a weekly Qur’an study. And this is just two songs a day!

So take this time right now to benefit yourselves, make the Qur’an the true chorus to your soul. Our time in this life is limited and we never know when it will come to an end. None of us are truly ready for death, but we can all make the effort to prepare for it and the hereafter. Jaabir radi Allahu `anhu (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “I heard the Prophet ﷺ saying: “Every slave will be resurrected in the state upon which he died” [Muslim]. Do we really want to leave this world and return to stand forth Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala—exalted is He— with “Rah Rah Rah” stuck in our hearts?

The benefits of learning and listening to the Qur’an are far greater than anything we could possibly gain from music in this life. Aisha radi Allahu `anha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,

“Verily the one who recites the Qur’an beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have twice that reward,” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Talk about an incentive to learn! Not only will we be rewarded for reciting the beautiful words of Allah (swt) but we are rewarded for our struggle to gain knowledge and fill our hearts with Qur’an.

The years of our youth are the most valuable, so let us make the most of them by starting today. The next time you’re zoned out with your headphones in your ears, take them out and recite a surah (chapter of the Quran) or two. Read a couple hadiths (a report of the sayings or actions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by his companions.), or just take the time out to say alhamdulillah (all praise is due to Allah). Remember that the smallest consistent actions are counted, so even if it’s only 5 minutes of your day that you set aside you will be making a difference in your life and benefitting yourself on the path to becoming a righteous young Muslim.

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  • Massive Jezaki Allahu khayran for this article. Subhan Allah so ridiculously true– “That’s about an hour per week that we’ve lost which we could spend at a weekly Qur’an study. And this is just two songs a day!”

    Subhan Allah, so many people shy away from even reading an ayah a day. An ayah a day=30 ayaat after 30 days! Better than 0…which is unfortunately often the answer of many of us when asked how often we read the Quran 🙁

    May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala make us Companions of the Qur’an, ameen

    Barak Allahu feeki for this reminder

  • Salam

    Excellent article, without any doubt, listening to the Quran is better than listening to music, no doubt. But, and this is one thing I have never understood when people try and compare music and the Quran, you cannot equate the two. The majority of people listen to music either to unwind, to relax, or just in the background. You CANNOT listen to the Quran in this casual way. We are supposed to listen to the Quran with full concentration. We are NOT supposed to listen to the Quran just to have something ambient in the background. Some restaurants do this, and it is wrong, it is an insult to the Quran. I occasionally listen to classical/instrumental music when I work just to help me keep going (let’s not get into the haram/halal of music here). Believe me, I would LOVE to have the Quran in the background instead, but that is not how the Quran is supposed to be listened to. Listening to the Quran is an act of worship which requires khushu. Listening to music requires no khushu.

    And Allah knows best. Would love to hear what anyone thinks of my view, I may be completely wrong!

    • so like,if the restaurants or other shops actually used quranic recitation to attract customers esp Muslim..?does they provide any fatwa regarding this particular issue?

  • @realist

    Assalaamu Alaikum

    “Allah has commanded us that we be ‘attentive’ when listening to the Qur’an. Full attentiveness is something few have throughout, even when doing nothing else but listening.

    What is minimally sought, however, is to:

    a) trying one’s reasonable best to pay attention,

    b) avoid mentally busying yourself completely with other things (e.g. reading a book or article while listening to the Qur’an).

    [al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya (1.317), Ghunyat al-Mustamli Sharh Munyat al-Musalla (quoted in al-Mawsu`a al-Fiqhiyya), Hashiyat al-Tahtawi `ala Maraqi al-Falah]

    Thus, it is permitted to recite and listen to the Qur’an if one is doing housework, taking care of the children, driving, walking, or performing other worldly activities, if the above conditions of basic attentiveness are generally fulfilled.”

    There is a difference between realism and calling the people towards defeatism.

  • Profoundly true, and what an excellent reminder. This behavior is so commonly practiced by all of us. InshaAllah we can all learn from this. Jazaky Allahu Kheir =)

  • Assalamu Alaikam

    to all of you brothers and sisters out there, let me clarify with a hadith that musical instruments are indeed, haraam. and what better way is there to clarify anything than by verses of the Quran or a saying of the Prophet(SAW)? i used to listen to music before, thinking all those people out there that say music is haram were being a little extreme and that maybe listening to songs without any vulgarity might be okay. but then i came across this:

    The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:
    “Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments…” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari ta’leeqan, no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi. See al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 91).

    this obviously tells us that there are some people who permit this, but it is actually on the contrary. i.e. the above mentioned things are not allowed. i hope this will clear up any doubts on the matter inshaAllah. surely a hadith of the Prophet(SAW) cannot be argued about.

    may He keep us all on the right path. Aameen.

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