Why Beautiful Sound is a Part of Our Beautiful Faith
Why Beautiful Sound is a Part of Our Beautiful Faith
In science we are taught that what our ears hear are sound waves that consist of vibrating particles, and in the Quran, the faculty of hearing is mentioned first, before seeing. Our entire physical body is composed of cells that scientifically are always vibrating. Therefore that which we expose ourselves to via sound specifically directly affects our vibrational state, i.e, our entire existence.
Instruments emit sound vibrations whether that be one’s voice, a drum or piano, but they all emit a form of frequency to the receiver, which is the listener. This further impacts the listener’s heart because one’s heartbeat is affected by external sound as proved in the research study ‘Assessing hearing by measuring heartbeat’ by Stefan, et al.
In the 8th century, physicians recognized the significance of sound as a therapeutic tool. Within the Daar Al-Shifaas, renowned centers for healing encompassing physical, mental, and emotional ailments, there were concert halls attached, dedicated to sound therapy for the patients.
Since the time of the Prophet ﷺ, the lovers, the common folk, the poor, the rich, the women & the men would recite poems & songs in praise of Allah & His Most Beloved ﷺ. They were not stopped, or told it was ‘haram’ (impermissible).
It was narrated from Anas bin Malik in Sunan Ibn Majah that the Prophet ﷺ passed by some part of Al-Madinah and saw some girls playing their Daff and singing, saying: "We are girls from Banu Najjar what an excellent neighbor is Prophet Muhammad" The Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah knows that you are dear to me." This response of our Prophet ﷺ is proof of the immense importance of Love in Islam. In the Quran Allah tells Muhammad pbuh to tell us “if you love Allah, then follow me, so Allah will love you and forgive your sins” [Quran 3:31]. How can we follow Prophet Muhammad ﷺ if we do not love him? How can we love him if we do not remember him in the very sound of our heartbeat. How can we remember him in our heartbeat if we do not hear & recite his praise in a beautiful manner? For he himself ﷺ said “Allah is beautiful & He loves beauty.” [Sahih Muslim]
It was narrated Sayyidata Aisha (May Allah be well pleased with her) said: "The companions of the messenger of Allah ﷺ would sing (Yatanaashidun) and he would be smiling." In another Hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his famous collection of Prophetic traditions it says: "One hundred lines of poetry by Umayaah bin Abi S'alt were sung in front of the Prophet ﷺ. Every time the Prophet ﷺ heard a line he would say: "HAYHA" (more, more)."
Poetry, words of the heart, songs, nasheeds, love letters, instruments, asbab (a means), ishq, whatever you choose to name it, is nothing but the exact ingredient a heart needs to beat with true Love & that is when all other that is no good for you disintegrates out of your heart because you finally placed that which belonged in there all along. Do you not think that by beautifully praising the Messenger who was chosen to gift us with the Words of Our Lord, will further enlighten your connection to Him & His Book, The Blessed Quran? It is only through love can you truly connect to Allah, His Beloved ﷺ & all of His creation.
The tradition of playing the Daff (Arabic Drum) with recitation of poetry in praise of Allah & His Beloved Messenger ﷺ was practiced since the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and continues to date. Drumming Circles, both men and women have existed throughout the ages across various cultures and geographic locations. Drumming with the use of beautiful tunes of Prophetic Praise is perceived as a form of therapeutic healing through sound.
Allah created beautiful sounds from His Beauty & Love. It’s a shame for those who have been misinformed that this is a digression of faith. Famous & loved Mawlana Rumi had said “If words come from the heart, they will enter another heart. If they come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears.”
This is the power of the heart.
The power of melodies.
The power of vibration.
The power of reflection.
The power of the Creator of Sound
Hadiths on The Tradition of Females & Beautiful Sound
It was narrated from Anas bin Malik in Sunan Ibn Majah that the Prophet ﷺ passed by some part of Al-Madinah and saw some girls playing their Daff and singing, saying: "We are girls from Banu Najjar what an excellent neighbor is Prophet Muhammad" The Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah knows that you are dear to me." It was narrated that al-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwidh ibn 'Afra' said: "After the consummation of my marriage, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came and sat on my bed as far from me as you are sitting now, and our little girls started beating the daff and reciting verses mourning my father, who had been killed in the battle of Badr. One of them said, 'Among us is a Prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow.' On that the Prophet said, 'Omit this (saying) and keep on saying the verses which you had been saying before." (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4852). It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) entered upon her and there were two girls with her during the days of Mina beating the daff, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was covering himself with his garment. Abu Bakr rebuked them, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) uncovered his face and said, “Leave them alone, O Abu Bakr It was narrated that Buraydah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out on one of his military campaigns, and when he came back, a black slave woman came and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, I vowed that if Allaah brought you back safe and sound, I would beat the daff before you and sing. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “If you vowed that, then do it, otherwise do not do it.’” So she started to beat the daff, and Abu Bakr came in whilst she was doing so. Then ‘Ali came in whilst she was beating the daff
Reconnect
Heal
& feel
through Love
Islam is Love because Allah is The Most Loving. Everything if you just look around is all working for, doing everything and existing because of Love. All the trees that dance with the wind and birds that chirp. Everything good in this world is created for nothing but to heal our hearts, and what way is there to heal our hearts except through love & beauty and peace. That is what Islam is. Beauty, Love & Peace and if its doing anything else thats not those then its not Islam we are following. Even think about the human being from birth we come out crying. Why? Because we have been separated from our Beloved. Our Source. The One to whom we belong & to Him we return [2:156]. To heal our hearts because of this separation until we return back Home, we can only find peace in the rememberance of Him. Thats why the Quran even says “indeed only through the remembrance of God do hearts find peace.” And also why our Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts.” We must heal & feed our hearts with nothing but Love and once we do that we will find ourselves naturally back in love with Our Beloved.
How Praising The Most Praised Heals You
There is no better way to try becoming one with Love other than loving Allah’s Most Beloved. Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In the Quran it says “Say (O Muhammad to mankind): “If you (really) love Allah, then follow me (Muhammad), Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. How can we follow Muhammad ﷺ if we don’t love him? To try and love him we must begin to beautifully sing our hearts in praise of him bcz Allah commands us to in the Quran: “Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send blessings on him, and salute him with beautiful praise” [33:56]. My advice/the method that worked for me was connecting my heart through the way of beautiful sound, which is apart of our beautiful religion. Poets of the past from the Prophet’s time used to compose thousands & thousands of lines of poetry in praise of Allah & The Prophet ﷺ. It was these same poems that are so potent & rich with love that are sung by muslims all over the world thousands of years later. The famous “Mawlaya sali wa salim da iman abadan” is one of the famous ones that was a poem written by Imam Busairi who was a real immense lover of Allah’s Beloved. It was through this way of sound, praising the Prophet that he was healed from his great sickness. This is the miracle of Qasida Burda (the whole book of poems he wrote) and saw a dream of The Prophet. The story is beautiful and you can read more about it on the website. But yes, the realest method is to drench your heart in the ocean of love through beautiful sound, art, poetry. Praise him ﷺ in the method you find most aligned with your heart. Write it, read it, sing it, play it, paint, draw it. Follow your heart for it knows the way to fall in love. Find the melody that speaks to your heart below
Qasida Burda with English Translation Books:
A Liftetime Keep
The Burdah of Busairi (Leather)
The Mantle Adorned
by Shaykh Hakim Murad
A Hijazi Gift of Love
translated by Sidi Mostafa Azzam
Breezes of The Elect
A beautiful complete book with Mawlid Diya-Lami, Qasida Burda AND abundant amount of classicaly rich Poetry & Qasidas of love
Salawaat
[sending peace & blessings]
upon Beloved Muhammad ﷺ
Divine Command
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
“Allah and His angels send Salawat on the Prophet ﷺ O you who believe! Send your Salawat upon him and salute him with all respect”
[The Quran 33:56]
Immense Rewards Poured Onto You
مَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيَّ صَلاَةً صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ بِهَا عَشْراً
"Whoever sends Selawat upon me once, will be blessed for it by Allah ten times."
[Sahih Muslim]
من صلَّى عليَّ صلاةً واحدةً صلَّى اللَّهُ عليهِ عشرَ صلواتٍ، وحُطَّت عنهُ عَشرُ خطيئاتٍ، ورُفِعَت لَهُ عشرُ درجاتٍ
“Whoever sends Selawat upon me once, will be blessed by it tenfold, erased by it ten sins, and raised by it ten degrees in status”
[Sunan An-Nasa’i]
Closeness in Paradise
The Beloved Prophet ﷺ said:
"The person closest to me on the Day of Resurrection
is the one who sent the most Salawat upon me."
[Sunan At-Tirmizi]
"You will be with whom you love"
[Sahih]
Increases the chance of a prayer to be accepted
إِنَّ الدُّعَاءَ مَوْقُوفٌ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ لاَ يَصْعَدُ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ حَتَّى تُصَلِّيَ عَلَى نَبِيِّكَ صلى الله عليه وسلم
"Indeed the supplication stops between the heavens and the earth. Nothing of it is raised up until you send Selawat upon your Prophet."
[Sunan At-Tirmizi]
Qasida Burda - The Poem of The Mantle
[The Most Recited Poem in The World]
Awing Incredible Backstory of Qasida Burda
The writer Hazrat Imam Al-Busairi R.A had become paralysed. His doctors and physicians gave up all hope of his recovery. Eventually in this state of complete helplessness and despair he composed this poem expressing the grandeur and excellence of Sayyidina Rasuluallah Sallallhu Alayhi Wasallam. Using this as his sole means of asking Allah Ta'alaa to cure him from his illness. He isolated himself in a quiet place one Thursday night and with complete devotion, concentration and sincerity/ began reciting this poem. While reciting it sleep overcame him. He had a vision of Sayyidina. Rasuluallah Sallallhu Alayhi Wasallam. He told Sayyidina Rasuluallah Sallallhu Alayhi Wasallam of his illness whereupon Sayidina Rasuluallah Sallallhu Alahi Wasallam passed his blessed hand over Imam Busairi's body. Through the barakat and blessing of Sayyidina, Rasuluallah Sallallhu Alayhi Wasallam Allah Ta'alaa granted him complete cure from his paralysis. When he awoke he found a scarf or shawl on his body which he had seen Sayyidina Rasuluallah Sallallhu Alayhi Wasallam place on his paralysed limbs. This resulted in the poem being named "Qasidah Burdah" (The Poem of the Scarf). In the morning when due to some necessity. he went to the bazaar, a pious dervish greeted him with salaam and requested him to recite the qasidah which he had composed in praise of Sayyidina Rasuluallah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam The poet said that I have composed many poems in praise of Rasuluallah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam, which one do you wish to hear? The dervish replied: 'The one which begins with, A-min Tazak-kurin (i.e. Qasidah Burdah)". Upon this request the poet became wonder struck and said, "I take an oath that no one knows about this poem. Tell me the truth, from whom did you hear about it?" The dervish replied, "I take an oath by Allah that I heard it from you last night when in a dream you had recited it to Sayyidina Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam, whereupon Sayyidina Rasuluallah Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam became attentive towards you and because of its blessings Allah Ta'alaa granted you complete cure from your ailment".
All 10 Chapters Recited Beautifully
Qasida Burda Explained by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad
Mawlid al-Diya al-Lami
Shimmering Light
The Resplendent Illumination
Backstory
The Shimmering Light Mawlid (Arabic: مولد الضياء اللامع; Mawlid al-Diya al-Lami; also translated as ‘The Resplendent Illumination’) is a popular Mawlid text authored by the lordly gnostic al-Habib Umar bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafiz. Habib Umar is a descendent of the Prophet ﷺ and was born and raised in Tarim, Yemen. He teaches Traditional Islamic Sciences at an institute in Tarim which he established over two decades ago called Dar al-Mustafa. He also travels around the world and guides people to Allah. The poem summaries the account of the birth of the Prophet ﷺ, how he was raised ﷺ, and his life ﷺ. It is traditionally recited on Thursday nights throughout the world.
Entire Mawlid Al-Diya al Lami Recited Beautifully
Tala’Al-Badru - The Full Moon
Talaʽ al-Badru ʽAlaynā is the traditional Islamic poem that the Ansar sang to welcome our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ upon his arrival to Medina after being forced to leave his hometown of Mecca.
Salat al-Badriyya
Salat al-Badriyya is a poem composed by Indonesian scholar and poet Shaykh Ali Mansur Siddiq Bashaiban X (d. 1391/1971) in praise of the Prophet ﷺ and the companions martyred in the Battle of Badr.
Ya RasoolAllah Ya Nabi
