by BASHIR GOTH
‘Whoever says that all music is prohibited let him also claim that the songs of birds are prohibited.’ – Imam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali
While Daesh was burning the Jordanian pilot alive, Boko Haram creating killing fields in the villages and towns of Nigeria and neighbouring countries, and Al Shabab executing Somali women by firing squads for committing no other crime than being the weakest and most defenseless members of society, a group of Somali Mullahs itched to do something equally dramatic but fortunately less earthshaking; due to circumstances, however, they could find no better cause than waging a jihad against Somali music in North America and Europe.
It seems these Mullahs, most of whom live in the West and enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to them by the secular laws of their adopted countries, could not see the barbaric and heinous crimes committed in the name of Islam by the terrorist groups as repulsive actions that deserve their wrath and condemnation, but instead found their noble duty in strangulating Somali music. In what seems to be a well-defined division of labor, they assumed the role of the fifth column of Al Shabab by carrying out covert operations of spiritual purification while the terrorist militias were doing the physical slaughtering. Their aim is to obliterate the collective memory of the Somali people and the most treasured common heritage of all Somalis and indeed humanity at large: their voice.
The sinister campaign of these Mullahs came to light when the legendary singer Hibo Mohamed Nuura announced in an interview with the BBC Somali Service that she had decided to quit music as she was convinced by Somali Ulema that music was haram (prohibited) in Islam. She declared that she disowned her musical heritage and career that had spanned nearly 50 years, during which she had become one of the most respected and most admired female singers of the Somali people. She also made an appeal to her fans not to listen to her music; seemingly oblivious to the fact that her music is a national heritage; is the collective product of song writers, musicians, public resources and the audience who engage with it and endow it with its real value and longevity.
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