Kuwait Times

Published Date: November 09, 2009
By Badrya Darwish

No more do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do... guys if you feel like singing, the only place to do it now is in the bathroom after our dear parliament's non-surprising move, because nothing surprises us in our parliament anymore. MP Mohammad Hayef Al-Mutairi threatened to grill the prime minister over music lessons. Hayef wants music teaching to be banned from schools as he says it is not Islamic to study music.

The man has made his own new fatwa (religious edict), thus the whole of Kuwait should not teach or deal with anything called music. Unprecedented, I never even heard Egypt's Al-Azhar, the highest-ranking Islamic institution in the world, considering a ban on teaching music in schools.

Wouldn't it be scary... just imagine if the parliament passes Hayef's bill on banning music, just imagine the results... no more music in schools. Next there will be no more music or CDs anywhere, including banning shops from selling or trading in musical instruments, such as pianos, ouds, drums, etc.

Imagine TV stations on air without musical backgrounds... and even news broadcasts. Even the most serious program comes usually with a musical intro at the beginning or some sort of a beat that suits the occasion, whether it is a tragedy, a drama or a comedy. What about radios, can they come on air without music or any kinds of songs? Imagine movies without any tones.

Will even Hayef himself enjoy any kind of movie without any musical background? Let us imagine he only watches serious movies or documentaries, don't they also come with music? By the way, war and battles have their own music too - whether in real life or in movies - every army has a band. What about national anthems... should we stop that also?

No more concerts. Everybody should go home. What about singers? Kuwaiti traditional singers - are they haram? Should they be banned too? Close FMs, even close AMs and shut down all satellite stations. Close cinema houses... even theaters come with music. Should we also close them?

Even birds sing on trees... should we ban them too? Let's just ban everything and live in a desert tent without music or any means of advancement, knowledge, arts or whatever... or feelings. But I am sorry Hayef, I forgot even desert people and shepherds often play on a flute. What about the rababa, the traditional bedouin instrument? Honestly I love the rababa. Cut it short, Hayef!
Have a good musical day guys.