Poetry and Islam..

Society Religion & Philosophy
1

I was going through the translation of Surah Ash-Shu’araa (Para:19) and i was moved by some of itz verses:

Urdu Translation:

"Kya mai tumhen btaun kis per shayaateen naazil hotay hain?
Wo hr jhoot gharnay waalay gunehgaar per naazil hotay hain.
Jo(shaytaanon ki taraf)kaan lagatay hain aur un kay akser jhootay hain*.
Aur shayiron ki paervy gumraah log kerte hain**.
Kya aap ne dekha nahi k bila-shubah woh (khayaal ki) hr waadi mai sar maartay phirtay hain?
Aur bila-shubha woh (aisi baatain) kehtay hain jo kerte nahi."*
(Verse:221-226)

**
English Translation:**

*Should I tell you on whom the devils (Satan) descend?
They descend upon every big slanderer and sinner.
The devils cast upon them their own hearings and most of them are liars.
And the misguided ones follow the poets.
Have you not seen, that they wander about in every valley?
And they say what they do not act.
*

Does that mean poetry is not allowed in Islam??:bummer:

what do u people understand by that??

2

Re: Poetry and Islam..

Mujhe yeh laga ke shair log pagal hotay hian :hmmm:

3

Re: Poetry and Islam..

its true, poetry is prohibited other than hamd and naat ofcourse.

4

Re: Poetry and Islam..

If you go and read verse 227, you will find that:

26:227. Except those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of Allah, and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked. And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!

If you read the last holy verse, it allows poetry, ("Except those......") with some conditions.

Islam does not give us absolute freedom, in this world that would be given in Paradise.

However, I would like to add here that using Kuffreyaa ash'aar in poetry is strictly permitted and considered haraam in our religion. There are many examples where the poets uses ash'aar in songs these days which falls under 'kuffreyya ash'aar' and people used to read/sing those songs frequently ...

Below are few examples:
(1)
Dil mein ho tum aankhoon mein tum bolo tumhein kaise chahon
Poora karun sajda karun jaise kaho waise chaahon

Is shair mein apni majazi mehboob ki pooja ki ijazat mangi gae hai jo ke **kufr* hai aur sajday ka bhi izn talab kia hai, gair-e-khuda ko sajda-e-tazeemi haraam aur sajda-e-ibadat kufr hai ...*

(2)
Tumhare siwa kuch na chaahat karenge ke jab tak jeyenge muhabbat karenge
Saza rab jo dega woh manzoor hogi bas ab tau tumhari ibadat karenge

Is shair ke misra-e-saani mein do sareeh kufreyaat hain ...
Allah (SWT) ke azaab ko halka jaana gaya
Gair-e-Khuda ki ibadat ke azm ka izhaar

(3)
Kis mausam mein Ya Rab tu ne yeh dil torra

Is misrah mein Allah (SWT) per aitraaz ka pehlu numaaya hai isleye **kufr* hai ...*

(4)
Kaise kaise ko diya hai aise waise ko diya hai
Ab tau chappar phaar maula apni jaibain jhaar maula

Is shair ke pehle misrah mein aitraaz ka pehlu numaaya hai jo ke **kufr* hai
Misrah-e-saani mein 'Chappar pharna aur jaibain jharna' agarchay muhawarattan bhi bola jata hai lekin Allah (SWT) ki shaan mein aisa bolna sakht mamnoo hai aur agar Allah (SWT) ko ajsaam ki tarah jism wala maan'na aur issay jaib wala libaas pehn'ne wala aitqaad kiya tau sareeh kufr hai ... Allah (SWT) jism aur jismaneyyat se Pak hai ...*

(5)
Duniya banaane walay duniya mein aa ke dekh
Sadmay sahay jo mein ne tu bhi utha ke dekh

Yeh shair kae kufreyyat ka majmoa hai, is mein Allah (SWT) per wazay aitraaz aur tauheen ki gae hai ...

(6)
Haseenoo ko aatay hain kya kya bahaanay
Khuda bhi na jane tau hum kaise jaanay

Muaaz-Allah ...
Is shair ke dosre misray mein kaha gaya hai "Khuda bhi na janay" aisa kehna **kufr* hai ...*

(7)
Tujh ko di surat pari si dil nahe tujh ko diya
Milta Khuda tau poochta yeh zulm tu ne kyon kiya

Is shair mein Muaaz-Allah, Allah (SWT) ko zalim kaha gaya aur us per aitraaz kiya gaya hai jo ke **kufr* hai ...*

*(8)
Meri nigaah mein kya ban ke aap rehtay hain
Qasam Khuda ki, khuda ban ke aap rehtay hain *

Is shair ke misrah-e-saani mein gair-khuda ko Khuda kaha gaya hai, yeh sareeh **kufr* hai ...*

(9)
Jab se tere naina mere nainoon se laagay ray
Tab se deewana huwa sab se begaana huwa
Rab bhi deewana laagay ray (Muaaz-Allah)

Is shair ke is hissay "Rab bhi deewana laagay ray" mein shayar ke daaway ke mutabiq us ko Allah (SWT) Muaaz-Allah deewana lag raha hai jo ke yakeenan Allah Pak ki shaan-e-Aali mein khulli gaali aur sareeh **kufr* hai ... Afsoos ke yeh song lab-e-aam per paaya jata hai aaj kal ...*

**(10)
Muhabbat ki qismat banaane se pehlay ... Zamanay ke maalik tu roya tau hoga
Muhabbat pe yeh zulm dhaanay se pehlay ... Zamanay ke maalik tu roya tau hoga

Tujhe bhi kisi se agar pyar hota ... Hamari tarah tu bhi qismat ko rota
Yeh ashkoon ke mailay lagane se pehlay ... Zamanay ke maalik tu roya tau hoga

Mere haal per yeh jo hanstay hain taaray ... Yeh taaray hain teri hansi ke nazaaray
Hansi mere gham ki urranay se pehlay ... Zamanay ke maalik tu roya tau hoga

Zamanay ke maalik yeh tujh se gilla hai ... Khushi hum ne maangi thee rona mila hai
Gilla mere lab pe bhi aane se pehlay ... Zamanay ke maalik tu roya tau hoga**
(Muaaz-Allah)

Mazkoora ash'aar Allah (SWT) ki tauheen se bharpoor hain ... In ash'aar mein kam-az-kam 5 khullay kufreyaat hain ...
*
i) Allah (SWT) ke leye rona mumkin maana gaya hai
ii) Allah (SWT) ko zaalim kaha gaya hai
iii) Allah (SWT) ko mehkoom maana gaya hai
iv) Allah (SWT) ko kisi ke ranj-o-gham aur be-basi per hansi uranay wala maana gaya hai
v) Allah (SWT) per aitraaz kia gaya hai*

Allah (SWT) hum sab ko apne imaan ki salaamati aur kuffreyaa kalimaat se mehfooz farmaye, Aameen !

5

Re: Poetry and Islam..

Then what about poety of Bulley Shah.Waris Shah,Allama Iqbal etc..:hmmm:

6

Re: Poetry and Islam..

agreed..anyone can see that this sort of poetry is not right from Islamic point of view...but what about that poetry which is not kuferyaa but still there is no truth in that like poetry of ahmed faraz,wassi shah,parveen shakir..

For example:

Abhi tou ishk mai aisa bhi haal hona hai
K ashk rokna tum se muhaal hona hai...

now there is nothing kuferyaa or shirkyaa aspect in it but still the poet is imagining everything and nothing of it is ture at all or we can say itz a lie..so it fulfills these two verses of Surah As-shuraa :

Have you not seen, that they wander about in every valley?
And they say what they do not act.

This is what i understand..

7

Re: Poetry and Islam..

You have to look at the context...

I believe this Section is Makkan and was revealed during our Nabi kareem's (peasce be upon him) stay in Makkah.

At the time when it was revealed many peots who were held in high regard by Arab society were part of the Boycott which had occured due to Abu Talib (May Allah be pleased with him) and his fellow clansmen supporting the Prophet.

Some of these famous poets made much fun of the Muslims and spread many lies and used to wage what we would call a propaganda war against the early Muslims.

It is highly likely that Allah then revealed the following verses to give the Muslims hope and advice, Poetry itself is not haram.

There is a famous event on the Victory and conquest of Makkah in which RasoolAllah sallalho alayhi wassalam permitted Hazrat Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) to sing verses from the Pulpit of Masjid Haram.

The verses were basically lampooning the leading Quraysh and made great fun of the defeated tribes who had been so harsh to the early Muslims.

If poetry were haraam i dont think RasoolAllah would have allowed his favourite poet to sing abuse at the enemies of Islam.

Poetry is acceptable so long as it is not against Islam or it's values...

What is haraam is if you sing poems or verse in praise of bad things or against good people or speak lies in poetry and talk of love when you dont mean it becuase that is obviously sinfull anyway in verse or not.

I hope i have helped clarify the matter however if there is a mistake in what i have said then i apologise for it and would like to say that while i am a devout believer and am headstrong, i am in no way qualified any better or worse than anyone else.

So if we have any Ulema on GS who can officially clarify the matter i too will stand by thier decision... However i hold that to the best of my knowledge my answer is perhaps correct for a layman anyhow.

8

Re: Poetry and Islam..

so basically the poetry of love is not right ??that is what is basically confusing me na…the poetry by parveen shakir or ahmed faraz is mostly the poetry of love..so is it not permitted ??

For example:

faqat is dar se hum ne sona chor diya
k wo khawabon mai bhi bichra tou mar jaen gay

OR

Haal poocha tha uss ne abhi..
Aur aansoo rawaa’n ho gaye!!!

OR

na jane kis liye
umeedwar baitha hoon
ek aisi raah pe jo
teri reh-guzar bhi nahi
bichud ke bhi mujhe
tujh se yeh budhgumani hai
ke meri yaad kabhi tho
tujhe bhi aani hai…

OR

Chalo kuch dinun k liye duniya chor chalte hain …
Suna hai log bohat yaad karty hain chale jany k bad

OR

Bohat kuch tujh se berh ker muyyassir tha, muyyassir hai..
Na jaanay phir b kiun teri zarurat kumm nahi hoti..!!!

this is basically poetry of love or judayi etc..so is it wrong to indulge into this?:hmmm:

9

Re: Poetry and Islam..

:smack: Double check the bit in vold sister…

You almost had me confused too… it’s very dualistic world we live in. I nor my faith is against poetry about love but one should refrain from making poetry that would shame love. The poets like Rumi, Waris Sha and so on all knew love for what it truly meant… sure they may have had thier personal ups and downs in life thats a different thing but thier refference was to true love.

Modern songs and poems also talk of love but the poets are not as sincere as those of bygone days nor are thier audience.

If one writes poetry and pours his hearts feeling out in a true and moving way then it’s hardly a sin is it?

But compare it with some poetry and verse we hear today and you shall see that love is more a material thing…

Most modern poets are trying to win ones virtue, for example… true poets try to win hearts.

A lot of verse can also be very offensive as well now Waris Sha never spoke of things in an offensive or vulgar manner like some poets do…

Thats the distinction i try to make here… It’s not love thats the problem, it’s the reason and truth behind it thats what is the problem…

If a poem is sincere then great but if it’s a rap verse just to have a good time… then in my view it’s haraam.