Islamic Views on Music

Fitzroy Morrissey is a historian and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, where he teaches Arabic and Islamic Studies courses. A specialist on Sufism, modern Islamic thought, and Muslim-non-Muslim relations, his most recent book is A Short History of Islamic Thought (Head of Zeus 2021). The following is an edited summary of his remarks at the July 2022 Windsor Dialogue conference.

The status of music in Islam has long been controversial. Writing in the twelfth century, the Islamic jurist Ibn al-Jawzi observed that “people have talked on and on about singing (al-ghinaʾ): some have said that it is forbidden, others have deemed it to be permitted, while others have deemed it to be permitted but disliked.” These debates, which have covered the permissibility of both singing and musical instruments, and have featured some of the most important names in the history of Islamic thought, have gone on into the present day. They offer an illuminating perspective on the relationship between law and religion and freedom of religion in Islamic contexts.

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Impact of Music Participation on the Psychological Wellbeing of Refugees

Erin Bailey is a professor of Music Education at Brigham Young University. Her research, which is grounded in self-determination theory, focuses on the benefits of music participation on psychological wellbeing and mental health. The following is a revised summary of her remarks at the April and July Windsor Dialogue conferences.

Research on Music Participation and Refugees

Music participation is a broad umbrella term for purposeful interactions with music. Research on refugee participation in music generally falls into three main categories: (1) music therapy, (2) group music-making, and (3) music education. Therapeutic interactions include songwriting, group improvisation, or drum circles run by a professional music therapist. Music participation also includes community music-making, like community choirs or songwriting groups. Music education, such as programs in school environments, has been shown to nurture physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development.

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The Promotion of Music, Mental Health, and Preservation of Culture and Religion to International Agencies

Dr Sr Maryanne Loughry is a Sister of Mercy and has been associated with Jesuit Refugee Service Australia since 1986. She is a visiting research scholar at the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Boston College, and a research associate at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. The following is an edited summary of her remarks at the July 2022 Windsor Dialogue conference.

The 2022 AMAR Windsor Dialogue focused on the link between music, mental health, and the preservation of culture and religion. This topic had evolved from earlier dialogues addressing the persecution of the Yazidis, with a particular focus on religious persecution.

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