Ramadan Blues

Ramadan Blues: Debates in Popular Islam duringRamadan in Amman, Jordan

Sarah A. Tobin, PhDFreie Universitt, Berlin

AbstractWithin the context of the contemporary Middle East and the post-Islamic

Resurgence, avoiding music has become associated with a rise in religiosity and nor-mative Islam. As a result, residents of Amman, Jordan actively avoid consumingmusic during Ramadan. A large-scale survey and ethnographic data, including par-ticipant observation with employees in an Islamic bank, confirm that avoiding musicis a public ethic of Ramadan that is temporally specific and in wide use during themonth. In this article, I argue that the tensions surrounding the debates of musicscompatibility with normative Islam are enacted in terms of a conflict between cul-tural and Islamic authenticities. These tensions are resolved temporarily duringRamadan through altered consumption in which one ethical, Islamic frameworkthat regards music as haram, or forbidden, eclipses another, more diverse culturalframework, and does so largely without inducing crisis or controversy. This isbecause the two realms are not articulating with each other; rather, claims of a nor-mative Islamic authenticity overwhelm the possibilities for a more diverse culturalauthenticity. Outside of Ramadan, however, these two competing authenticitiesoften spark tensions and conflicts between family members, neighbors, and cowork-ers. This article concludes by exploring the implications of ordering moralityfor religious life in this assertive, even illiberal fashion for diversity in belief andpractice.

Islamic practice during the holy month of Ramadan is often considered amatter between believers and Allah. At the same time, it is also a matterbetween believers and others in society, which is subject to a substantive shift inpublic ethics and morals. These public ethics and the morality at play duringRamadan are temporal, collaborative, and even assertive and illiberal. They are alsojustified as part of a normative real or authentic Islam. Certain norms of publicbehavior and of personal religious practice during Ramadan become amplified incommunion with the coworkers, friends, and family around whom one is sur-rounded and even over and above them as well. This results in a moral and ethicalstandardization, often bringing otherwise marginal or relatively unimportantdebates about elements of the normative or real Islam to the front and center.

Heightened piety is the larger, abstract notion exemplified by the month.Ramadan is considered a time for inner reflection, self-control, cultivating ones

bs_bs_banner

Digest of Middle East StudiesVolume 22, Number 2Pages 292316 2013 Policy Studies Organization. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

religious practice, and giving to the poor. Ones mind and body should be focusedon Allah. In addition to fasting, individuals pay careful attention to ensure they praythe required five times per day and try to pray more often, often in the taraweehprayer. Based upon the example of the Prophet Muhammad as reported in theSunnah, taraweeh prayers are extra, optional prayers, in an order and number pre-scribed each by the various schools or mathaahib, which take place during the monthof Ramadan. Known to be physically exhausting, the taraweeh prayers nightlycontain up to 40 series of prostrations. In addition to prayer, a popular belief is thateach night, one should recite a part of the Quran, culminating in a reading of theentire book over the course of the month. Personal comportment changes duringRamadan, as many avoid gossiping, slander, and backbiting. Men avoid looking atwomen lustfully, and women typically avoid wearing provocative clothes, cosmetics,and perfumes that would otherwise attract a man. There is a focus on charity andcharitable giving, with ones mandated charitable giving, zakat, due at the end of themonth. Additional charitable donations and gestures, such as giving money tobeggars on the street, known as sadaqa, are valued. It is commonly asserted that ifone dies during Ramadan, ascension to Jenna, or paradise, is expected. The monthends with Eid Al-Fitr, or the Little Feast, which often includes days off from workand time spent with family and friends.

According to Salamandra (2004), the religious precepts of Ramadanpraying,fasting, and repenting, as well as expressions of popular religiosityare the primaryfocuses of many anthropological studies of Ramadan authored prior to 1990. Inmore recent anthropological studies, however, the socially significant meanings ofthe month and the extra-religious meanings have begun to receive attention.Salamandra, for example, demonstrated that the cultural practices associated withRamadan serve to perpetuate social hierarchies rather than promote structural egali-tarianism. For Abu-Lughod (2005), Ramadan soap operas serve as a reflections ofand perpetuators for cultural knowledge of the nation-state in Egypt. Armbrust(2000a, 2000b) has taken on the commercialized aspects of Ramadan as both asignal of the penetration of capitalist modes for markets and for a mass consumer-ism that accompanies the secular rituals associated with the month in Egypt.

Ramadan also emerged as a period of time in which the tensions surroundingthe debates of musics compatibility with normative Islam are enacted in terms of aconflict between cultural and Islamic authenticities. These tensions are resolvedtemporarily through altered consumption in which one ethical frameworkanIslamically authentic frameworkthat regards music as haram eclipses another,more diverseculturally authenticframework, and does so without inducing crisisor controversy. This is because the two realms are not articulating with each other;rather, claims of a normative Islamic authenticity with regard to music duringRamadan overwhelm the possibilities for a more diverse cultural authenticity.

This article explores the relationship between alternative authenticities andaltered consumption, particularly of music, both during and outside of Ramadan.

Fall 2013

Tobin 293

Specifically, this article examines the role of temporality in these explicitly Islamicand Islamically derived practices. Furthermore, extra-Sharia and extra-religiousrationalities enhance the justifications of altered consumption practices as part ofIslamic piety during Ramadan, only some of which continue after Eid Al-Fitr at theconclusion of the month.This article concludes by exploring the important implica-tions of ordering morality for religious life in this assertive, even illiberal fashion, fordiversity in belief and practice.

Ramadan in Amman, JordanRegardless of ones personal religious belief, practice, or status, all people in Ammanare required to uphold Jordanian law, which prohibits public consumption of anykind during the daytime hours of the month of Ramadan. Smoking cigarettes,eating, or drinking on the street or in a public spaceall ways of breaking onesRamadan fastare all strictly illegal and enforced by local law. These strictlyimposed rules of law have had detrimental consequences for those who choose toviolate them. In one example from 2007, a 30-year-old man was rumored to have litup a cigarette on the street, then arrested and imprisoned. According to rumor, hedied that night in prison. Although it is not clear if this actually occurred, gossip andsuch discursive treatments further enhance the rule of law on this point and empha-size that dire consequences are in store for those that opt not to uphold the fast andthe law.

To further legislate an environment conducive to heightened Islamic piety, allalcohol sales are forbidden in the country during the month of Ramadan. Wheninterviewing a member of the Abu Jaber family, distributors of Amstel Beer, aboutthis, I was told that they are not legally allowed to sell alcohol during Ramadan.The informant indicated that it negatively impacts sales during the month ofRamadan. He also reported that alcohol sales the month before Ramadan arealways very good. This is because, typically, before the month begins, there is arush to stock up on alcohol to have on-hand throughout the Ramadan, particu-larly by Christians and also by some Muslims. The Christian Orthodox Club, forexample, is forbidden from selling alcohol during Ramadan. However, they are notforbidden from serving alcohol. As a result, they have developed a system bywhich one brings in ones own alcoholhard liquor, beer, or wineand then haveit served to you throughout the month. In a kind of legal fiction, the OrthodoxClub sells no alcohol, in adherence to the letter of the law. However, Christiansand others who want to feel as though they are having a night out, as they wouldoutside of Ramadan, are able to have alcohol served to them and to consume itwithout violating the law.

By default, businesses in the food industry are not allowed to serve food ordrink for public consumption during daytime hours unless they have a specialpermit to operate. Special permits are most frequently granted to businesses that

Digest of Middle East Studies

Ramadan Blues . . .294

have a large foreign, and presumably non-Muslim, clientele. If a business violatesthe terms of their Ramadan agreements, the government has been known to shutthem down for the remainder of the month. In Ramadan 2007, there was a rumorthat the Gloria Jeans Coffee shop next to the University of Jordan served coffee toforeign students without the special permit, resulting in the business being shutdown for the remainder of the month and in the arrest of the managers.

Four- and five-star hotel restaurants, along with a few other establishments thattypically cater to foreigners and tourists, have special licenses to operate food andalcohol services throughout the month, including offerings of daytime consumption.They are, however, closely regulated through special permit. Additionally, for thoseunable or unwilling to refrain from smoking, these same hotels provide a safe andlegal venue for lighting up. The Intercontinental Hotel in Amman was one suchspace. On my way to meet another American for lunch at a restaurant in the hotelrestaurant during Ramadan in 2008, I witnessed the hotel lounge full of Jordanianmen smoking cigarettes.

The legal requirements for adhering to the law and upholding this assertivemorality in play go beyond rumors of imprisonment and altered practices forserving alcohol and allowing smoking, and extend to all businesses that sell food ordrink. During Ramadan 2008, an American friend visiting from the United Statesand I picked up a few cupcakes to snack on during the afternoon. After we weretold that we could not sit in the caf to eat them, I asked the cashier, What dopregnant women do when they need to eat? Pregnant women, of course, areexempt from religious requirements for fasting. The employee answered that theysit in their cars. We, too, sat in my car to eat the cupcakes. Likewise, the StarbucksDrive-Thru was open, but one had to be careful not to drink when at a stoplight,under the watchful eye of the people in the neighboring car for fear of receivingdisparaging looks and comments. Individual choice in an enclosed, private space,even for those individuals who are not required to fast, is superseded by a dominantpublic ethic that frequently invokes line-of-sight as the threshold criteria for publicchastisement.

As the above examples indicate, the publicly recognized and authorized ethicsfor piety during Ramadan shift. The list of acceptable public practices extends wellbeyond prohibitions against alcohol sales, and eating, drinking, and smoking duringRamadan. In addition to those governable prohibitions, heightened social normsalter public behavior. Men and women refrain from touching each other in public;chewing gum; applying anything to the lips such as ChapStick or lipstick; dressingin a way that reveals or suggests ones shoulders, elbows, or legs; wearing cosmeticsand perfumes; and even carrying unopened food and drink. I was frequently advisedto wrap the water bottle I carried around in a black plastic bag, so as not to drawattention to a substance with which one could break a fast. Line-of-sight isinvoked here: the general rule is that if someone could struggle to maintain theirown fast by seeing someone else engage in the behavior or even remind them of the

Fall 2013

Tobin 295

behavior, if not illegal, it is in violation of public ethics to consume it within thepublic eye. Such kinds of ethics are usually discussed in terms of respect or ihtiram.That is, people of all religious faiths and kinds of personal practices are implored toadhere to keep their consumption out of sight out of respect for those fasting andout of respect for Islam.

This normativity of restraint by respectlegitimized by both the governmentand the publicis illustrative of a central tenet of Islamic ethics, the concept ofcommanding right and forbidding wrong, or Al-amr bil-maruf wal-nahy anal-munkar (Cook, 2000). In fact, Umar ibn al-Khattab has identified the com-manding of right and the forbidding of wrong as a primary tenet of Islam (Cook,2000, p. 71). The Prophet Muhammad said, Whoever sees a wrong, and is able toput it right with his hand, let him do so; if he cant, then with his tongue; if he cant,then in his heart, and that is the bare minimum of faith (Cook, 2000, p. 32, note 2;the references in the Sunnah and the accompanying isnad, or chains of transmission,on this are extensive).This injunction to put right the wrongs with a hand, a tongue,and then a heart, solidified in the second century, plays out in this case. The multi-layered support for these norms and ethics here include the hand of the govern-ment, the tongue of the public, and the heart of respect. That is, not only did oneneed to abide by the letter of the law and refrain from public consumption or bearthe repercussions by the hand of the government, one also had to avoid situationssuch as drinking in a car that would prompt a chastisement with a tongue, and fur-thermore, one had to adopt these behaviors with respect, or with an attitude ofheartfelt deference and support for these norms.

This sentiment serves to affirm that nonfasters must alter their public comport-ment to adhere to this legislated and normative sense of Ramadan ethics. In fact,Muslims in particular can and will be subjected to the injunction of commandingright and forbidding wrong. Normativity here is strong and clear: Muslims shouldbe fasting and, by extension, they should be promoting these public ethics of a nor-mative Islam. The injunction to command right and forbid wrong, as justified byrespect, on the part of nonpracticing Muslims and minorities, further gets to theencompassing and illiberal nature of this morality.

Even if behaviors in public or semipublic spaces are not, strictly speaking,illegal, the tenor for these highly normative Islamized public ethics is already inplace; the governmental regulations further produce and legitimize a morality andpublic ethic about proper comportment during the month. Statesociety collabora-tion enforcing certain Ramadan practices as real or authentically Islamic is over-whelming and permeates all public and semipublic spheres that one may encounter.Civil society theorists have discussed the important impacts of statesociety dynam-ics on public norms and ethics, particularly in the realm of democratization efforts(Hefner, 2000; Norton, 1995, 1996). In this instance, however, we see that the statesociety dynamic is overwhelmingly collaborative during Ramadan. Furthermore, thiscollaboration often carries illiberal ends.



Popular Music and the Real IslamIn addition to more central elements in contemporary, authentic Islamic practices ofReciting the Quran, keeping the fast, wearing the veil, avoiding alcohol, givingalms; not necessarily anything strictly political (Hefner, 2005, p. 21), music has alsoemerged as an important and controversial subject. Debates about the compatibilityof music with a contemporary normative, real, or authentic Islam are relatively mar-ginal outside of the month of Ramadan, as compared with the practices discussedabove. However, during Ramadan, debates about music become amplified and muchmore central to understanding an authentic Islamic practice.

The debates regarding whether or not music is forbidden, or haram, date backto discussions that derive from the sayings and traditions of the ProphetMuhammad, or the Hadith and Sunnah. According to these early sources,Muhammad himself witnessed a performance of Ethiopian dancers and musiciansusing a hand drum, or duff, in the mosque, even shielding his youngest wife,Aisha, with his cloak in order to witness the event. Aisha said, The Prophet wasscreening me with his rida (garment covering the upper part of the body) while Iwas looking at the Ethiopians who were playing in the courtyard of the mosque.(I continued watching) till I was satisfied. So you may deduce from this eventhow a little girl (who has not reached the age of puberty) who is eager to enjoyamusement should be treated in this respect, (cited in Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 7,Book 62, Hadith 163). This earliest example has also been used to justify the ideathat only music that uses the duff is acceptable. The Prophet said, What differen-tiates between the lawful and the unlawful is the duff, and the voice (singing) forthe wedding (cited in Sunan an-Nasai, Vol. 4, Book 26, Hadith 3371). Somescholars say that no instrument is acceptable. The Prophet said, From among myfollowers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, thewearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks, and the use of musical instru-ments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of amountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheepand ask them for something, but they will say to him, Return to us tomorrow.Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them,and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they willremain so till the Day of Resurrection (cited in Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 7, Book 69,Hadith 494). In fact, some go so far as to indicate that the musicians are fromSatan and music is an innovation in Islam (cf. Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 14,Hadith 2550; Sunan an-Nasai, Book 38, Hadith 4140).

Musical instruments are not the only ways in which music can be produced. Asfor singing, Imam Nawawi (n.d.) said, it is permissible to speak and to sing poetry,unless it satirizes someone, is obscene, or alludes to a particular woman(p. 152). In another instance, Aisha arranged a marriage and the Messenger ofAllah came and said, Have you taken the girl (to her husbands house)? She said,

Fall 2013

Tobin 297

Yes. He said, Have you sent someone with her to sing? She said, No. The Mes-senger of Allah said, The Ansar are people with romantic feelings. Why dont yousend someone with her to say, We have come to you, we have come to you, mayAllah bless you and us? (cited in Ibn Abbas, Vol. 3, Book 9,Hadith 1900). As thisHadith demonstrates, singing is, at times, endorsed during a holiday or other cel-ebration. Others have indicated that singing is never acceptable. According to Salamibn Miskin, quoting an old man who witnessed AbuWail in a wedding feast, said,They began to play, amuse and sing. He united the support of his hand round hisknees that were drawn up, and said, I heard Abdullah (ibn Masud) say: I heardMuhammad, the Apostle of Allah, say: Singing produces hypocrisy in the heart (cited in Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 42,Hadith 4909).

Some point to the exclusive male role in the call to prayer, or athaan, as a signthat women should not sing (cf. Saalim bin Ubayd Radiyallahu Anhu, Book 53,Hadith 379; Sahih al-Bukhari 664, Vol. 1, Book 11, Hadith 633), and that singingbelongs only to men and in Quranic recitation, or tajweed, as a means to avoidlusting after women by hearing their voices and, therefore, avoiding any hint ofharam practice (cf. Sunan Abi Dawud 941, Book 2, Hadith 0). There are frequentprohibitions against employing or trading in singing girls (cf. Abu Umamah, Vol. 3,Book 12,Hadith 2168). Singing is considered at times to be that kind of idle talk,which is mentioned in Quran 31:6, And among the people is the one who buys idletalk in order to lead them astray from the path of Allah by way of mockery. Forthose there will be a humiliating punishment.Others disagree: Aisha reported thatAbu Bakr came to see me and I had two girls with me from among the girls of theAnsar and they were singing what the Ansar recited to one another at the Battle ofBuath. They were not, however, singing girls. Upon this Abu Bakr said, What is(the playing of ) this wind instrument of Satan in the house of the Messenger ofAllah (may peace be upon him) and this too on Eid day? Upon this the Messengerof Allah (may peace be upon him) said, Abu Bakr, every people have a festival and itis our festival (so let them play on) (cited in Sahih Muslim, Book 2098). Ulti-mately, the Sharia scholars have never reached consensus on the permissibility ofmusic.

Those that permit music (including Hadith of A.H. al-Ghazali, al-Darani, andIbn al-Rajub; for a longer discussion, cf. Hirschkind, 2006) often cited the potentialfor enhancing piety and a closeness with Allah. Those that oppose music andsinging often point to musics dangerous ability to arouse unruly passions, stimulatesensual pleasures, and distract one from thoughts of God (Hirschkind, 2006, p. 35).Ultimately, the scholars point to a particular kind of agency on the part of music andthe predisposition of the listener: according to al-Darani, a ninth-century mystic,Music does not provoke in the heart that which is not there (Hirschkind, 2006,p. 35). During Ramadan, emphasis shifts to heightened levels of personal piety,and the threats to and fears of breaking ones fasta highly central tenet of contem-porary, normative Islamby way of illicit lyrics or unattended passions. Out of



respect for those that fast and for the religion itself, music during Ramadan is oftenlargely avoided.

Outside of Ramadan, however, Muslim-majority societies of the Middle Easthave not been willing to turn away from their historical engagements with music. Atthe same time as these textual and theological debates have occurred, music hasremained a salient element of popular culture in the Middle East, particularly for itsability to communicate cultural and symbolic messages. Traditional Arab music,tarab (lit. ecstasy or enchantment), was used in presenting music, poetry, the Quran,and in other traditional forms of verbal, melodic recitation (Hirschkind, 2006; Racy,2003; Shannon, 2003). Traditionally, the aim of the music involved improvisationfor the purposes of establishing emotive relationships between the listeners and theArab performers (El-Shawan, 1984). On the part of the audiences, listening was anactive experience with physical responses (Baily, 1988; El-Shawan, 1984; Racy,2003; Shannon, 2003).The responses ranged from deep and contemplative listeningto extroverted, acting out. Additionally, the lyrics most often served as metaphors fordivine encounters and included topics such as love, nature, various holidays and fes-tivities, and even intoxication.

Tarab music played an important role in the creation and maintenance of pan-Arab nationalism in the 1950s and 1960s. Thursday night radio broadcasts of UmmKalthoum, the quintessential tarab singer in 20th century Arabic music, were knownto clear people out of the streets and into their homes to listen (Danielson, 1987,19901991; Racy, 1982). In fact, during her Thursday night radio broadcasts, life inthe Arab world came to a stop (Danielson, 1987, p. 29). Umm Kalthoum, colloqui-ally referred to as The Voice of Egypt and The Arab Worlds most popularmodern singer captured the nation in the Thursday night concerts, following whichNasser would come on the broadcast and espouse his Pan-Arab agendas for theregion (Danielson, 1987). As one ethnographic vignette recorded, When a vocalistsings a beautiful phrase or a line . . . the audience doesnt just react with himtheyare prepared to do anything as a result of the tarab (Shannon, 2003, pp. 7677).Combined with the messages of Nasser for Pan-Arab nationalism, Umm Kalthoum,unabashedly pro-Nasser, contributed to the popularity of Pan-Arab nationalismby facilitating an emotive environment in which her voice of cultural authenticityand heritage brought Arabs together in political unity (Danielson, 1997; Stokes,1999).

Tarab has also played an important role throughout the region in exerting alocalized aesthetic, or Eastern spirit (ruh sharqiyya) and cultural authenticity(Shannon, 2003). Cultural authenticityas opposed to Islamic authenticity in thenormative formhas been defined in terms of the diverse emotions that the tarabbrings forth (Shannon, 2003) in the shared, Arab, historical background of thelisteners (Danielson, 19901991), and in the knowledge and recognition of thetradition of Quranic recitation in a musical form (Danielson, 1987). Regardless ofultimate definitions of authentic tarab music, the localized sensibility of cultural

Fall 2013

Tobin 299

authenticity has taken precedence over singular and unitary definitions, as elementshave changed dramatically since 1967 (Danielson, 1987, 19901991; El-Shawan,1984).

One way in which the elements have changed is through the development ofcontemporary, pop music, or shaabi music. Evolving from the tradition of tarab,shaabi music differs from tarab in some important ways and simultaneously main-tains the traditions of tarab in other ways. One similarity is the content of themusic. There are lyrics on shared topics such as love, nature, and intoxication.Additionally, there are popular songs by explicitly Islamic performers such as SamiYusuf. Sami Yusuf is an Azeri-British singer known for such songs as Al-Muallim (The Teacher) and Supplication, which appeared in the majormotion picture The Kite Runner. He is among the most pronounced of elitesthat bring an integrated and updated message to young people in Amman. Oneinformant indicated to me that Sami Yusuf is really a singer for the youngerpeople, in part becausealthough his message is of Islamhis presentation andperformance distances him from the bearded sheikhs that often hail from SaudiArabia. Singers such as these often maintain the tradition of Quranic recitationfound in tajwid and in a capella chants of Islamic beliefs, histories, and stories innashid (Eid Nashid ). These forms of music often elicit a physical response,including dancing (Gordon, 2003).

At the same time, new kinds of experiences have been created with Arabicmusic and the popular life (Gordon, 2003; Swedenburg, 2004). A large number ofsongs have emerged in political protest, often against Israel or as part of the ArabSpring. We Will Not Go Down by Michael Heart was a particularly popular onein light of the Israeli bombing of Gaza in 20082009. Tamer Hosni, a notableEgyptian pop singer, has seen his popularity rise and fall in recent years based on hisself-proclaimed, pro-Mubarak national political alliances. Despite political or eco-nomic inflections, both form and content in contemporary music are often measuredagainst some notions of a normative Islam, as part of the contemporary context ofthe post-Islamic resurgence. Although, at times, this renders cultural authenticityand Islamic authenticity in music pitted one against the other in contemporarydebates, they are typically in coexistence and most notably at odds during Ramadan.

To complicate this evolution of Islamic and localized cultural forms, music isnow mediated by new technologies such as music videos, the Internet, and cellphone ringers. This has created a new on-demand culture that did not exist previ-ously in the age of Umm Kalthoums radio shows (Gordon, 2003; Rasmussen,1996), and further complicates these debates and their resolutions. Authenticity ofmusic is no longer only measured in terms of form and content, but also in termsof mode of transmission. In this way, modernization proceeded using a variety ofindigenous models as a foundation, to which were added appealing sounds(Danielson, 1987, p. 35). In other words, as Arab music has become part of the con-temporary Middle East in a variety of fashions and forms, indigenous models of



tarab have remained, even as new forms adapt to make the music more appealing toa larger, more generalized, and Western-influenced audience. Shaabi music stillplays a role in exerting localized aesthetics and cultural knowledge as culturalauthenticity, which is directly challenged by understanding normative Islam duringRamadan.

There are, of course, those singers and musicians who attempt to bridge thedivide between cultural and Islamic authenticity. Sami Yusuf, the most prominentof these among Muslims around the world, sings Islamic nashids and commentaryon contemporary Islamic practices such as donning the hijab (one song is entitledFree). He discusses the Prophet in a song entitled Al-Muallim, and politicalevents such as the IsraeliPalestinian conflict in a song entitled, ForeverPalestine. There are many others in this genre that grows in popularity andvisibility. The popular Danish hip-hop group Outlandish has reached number oneon the music charts in multiple countries with their song, Aicha. Most of theyear, concerns about authenticity of these musicians do not dominate local discus-sions, and most of these musicians are able to integrate cultural and Islamicauthenticity with relatively little difficulty. During Ramadan, however, technicaldetails of lyrics, types and numbers of instruments, the emotive qualities of themusic, and their modes of transmission are highly scrutinized, and often rejectedin the name of authentic Islam. As survey and ethnographic data reveal, duringRamadan, public consensus in Amman, Jordan says that musiceven Islamizedpop musicis haram.

Is MusicHaram? Survey DataDuring Ramadan 2008, I conducted a survey of 475 respondents regardingRamadan practices and consumption patterns using snowball sampling. Of therespondents, 252 said they resided in Amman, including 14 different neighbor-hoods around West Amman. Seventy-six indicated they were from East Ammanand the surrounding areas. One hundred and three were students at the Universityof Jordan and Petra University, listing their universities as their homes, and 44were enlisted members of the Jordanian military who were working away from theirhomes.

In terms of the ages of respondents, 38% were between the ages of 18 and 40,as demonstrated in Fig. 1. The large number of respondents in the 1823 agerange (n = 180) is attributable to over 100 students surveyed at the University ofJordan and Petra University. As such, this survey does carry a slight youth bias.Although this is consistent with the larger demographic of Jordan where themedian age is 22.1 (CIA, 2013a), and 70% of people are under the age of 30(Save the Children, 2013), a survey of people over the age of 25 may produce dif-ferent results. Figure 1 demonstrates visually the breakdown of respondents byage.

Fall 2013

Tobin 301

Ages and Numbers of RespondentsIn the survey, I asked the following demographic questions:1. Are you Muslim? YES or NO

On a scale of 1 to 10, how religious do you consider yourself? (1 is the lowest and10 is the highest)1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. Male or Female? MALE or FEMALEIf femaledo you wear hijab? YES or NO

When combining the responses to these questions together, the results reflect that447 respondents were Muslim or 94% of survey respondents, 28 were non-Muslim,or 5.8%, which is reflective of non-Muslims in the larger population, which areapproximately 8% (CIA, 2013b). Two hundred and sixty-six males constituted 56%of the survey respondents, while 209 or 44% were females, of whom 61.7% wore thehijab. Though exact figures of what percentage of women in Amman wear theheadscarf are unknown, estimates place the overall numbers in Jordan at around60%, which is only slightly less than those reported by the survey. Overall, hijabiwomen constitute 27.2% of all respondents.

This gender demographic breakdown becomes most salient, however, whencombined with the responses to the question, On a scale of 1 to 10 how religiousdo you consider yourself? (1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest.) When comparedvisually, the results are surprisingly similar. Figure 2 demonstrates these.

Combined Self-Reported Gender,Hijab, and ReligiosityNotably, there is an overall percentage increase in respondents from lower numbersof self-reported religiosity of 1 and 2 to higher numbers, which peak at 5 or 6,

!!

"!#$#!!$

%!&$&!"$

$!

%$

%& %! %' %( &% &" &! &' &( "% "" "! "' "( #% #" #! #' #( !& !( )" '$ *&

Nu

mb

er o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Age of Respondents

Figure 1: Ages and numbers of respondents.



and then more gradually decline, until tapering off at between 5% and 10% ofrespondents in the 9 and 10 ranges. Regardless of reported gender and the presenceor absence of the hijab among women, the patterns are quite similar. The bell curveof these responses indicates that across demographic differences in gender, and evenwhile accounting for the donning of the womens headscarf, the spread of an under-standing of religiosity remain relatively similar.

It is particularly interesting to note that women who wear the headscarf viewthemselves as only marginally more religious than women who do not at the mid-range level of 5, with the largest gap between women with the headscarf and thosewithout at only 6%. That is, 21% of hijabi women reported their religiosity level of5, while 15% of non-hijabi women reported their religiosity at level 5. Inversely, atthe higher levels of self-reported religiosity of 9, 10% of non-hijabi womenresponded with a religiosity level of 9, while only 6% of hijabi women rated theirreligiosity the same level. This demonstrates that there are times when non-hijabiwomen consider themselves especially more religious than those that don theheadscarf. Nonetheless, both groups of women reflect the same bell curve pattern inself-reported religiosity as men, who do not have such a visual symbol for religiouslife as women do. Sixty percent of women in Amman wear the headscarf(McDermott, 2010), which is roughly the same rate as what Smith-Hefner (2007)discusses in Indonesia.

Combined, Figs. 1 and 2 demonstrate that the survey respondents aredespitesome predictable variability with a weight toward youthrelatively homogenous in

!"#$

%#"#$

%!"#$

"#$

&!"#$

'()*(+

,-.(

/01/2

(340

+5(+

,3

#"#$% & 6 7 ! 8 9 : ; %#

2-,(/01/2(40),(5/2(

?$/01/@A3

questions of self-reported religiosity. This indicates that the survey results wouldlikely approximate larger patterns in society. Furthermore, the results are consistentwith ethnographic data, which are discussed below.

When asked if Ramadan is more expensive than other months, 80.4%, or 382respondents indicated that Ramadan is more expensive; while 93 respondents, or18.5% indicated the oppositethat Ramadan is not more expensive than othermonths. Figure 3 demonstrates the self-reported breakdown of personal spendingboth during Ramadan and outside Ramadan in four common consumptive catego-ries of food, clothing, travel, and music/entertainment.

Self-Reported Spending and Activities Conducted during and outside theMonth of Ramadan

Consistent with a common complaint that food prices are high, and the growingtrend for Jordanians to prepare large, elaborate meals on a daily basis duringRamadan, spending on food is more than 30% higher during the monthof Ramadan, with 224.35 JOD (1 JOD = 1.41 USD = 316.33 USD) duringRamadan, and 170.81 JOD (240.84 USD) during other months. Spending onclothing, often a gift for children and family members, was almost 40% higher inRamadan (112 JOD, or 157.92 USD) than after the end of the month in Eidal-Fitr (80.31 JOD, or 113.24 USD). Spending on travel was significantly lowerduring Ramadan (59.79 JOD, or 84.30 USD; and 290.70 JOD, or 409.89 USD),as most people reported using the month to spend time with family. They alsoreported that travel days are not required fasting days, but must be made up laterwhen others are not fasting. As a result, most Jordanians preferred to fast withother family and friends during Ramadan, when it is easier. Spending in themusic/entertainment category showed a 20% decrease during Ramadan, from

290 70

!"#$##

224.35

290.70

%## ##

%"#$##

!##$##

112.00

59 79

170.81

80.3159 91

#$##

&"#$##

$##

59.79 49.98 59.91

#$##

"#$##

'()*(+,'-)'(./0+1234)5,-67(+8'94:;99C,*,;,(

Figure 3: Self-reported spending during and outside the month of Ramadan (in JOD).



59.91 JOD (84.47 USD) to 49.98 JOD (70.47 USD). This becomes a particularlysalient category later in the survey.

When asked, What kinds of things do you only buy during Ramadan?, therewere 653 references to food and drink, typically referencing the special holiday foodssuch as getayif, which is also colloquially known as qatayef and atayif. It is aRamadan sweet of a small pancake stuffed with walnuts and cinnamon or cheese.Also referenced was tamarhind, which is a sweet tamarind drink served duringRamadan. Both of these items are largely uncommon outside Ramadan. This ques-tion and the subsequent questions had blank spaces where the answers were free-listed. Therefore, there are more responses than responders, as one person may listthree or four items.The data account for all free-listed responses, rather than ascrib-ing one response to one person. There were 38 additional references to nonfooditems, which were also specific to the season, such as Ramadan lights andRamadan decorations. The purchasing of festive holiday food and nonfood itemsis relatively unreflective of whether one is fasting during Ramadan for reasons ofpersonal piety or not.

However, what did reflect an overt pursuit of heightened piety and religiositywere the responses to the questions, What kinds of things do you especially doduring Ramadan? And why? Figure 4 demonstrates the responses. They reflect abroad basis for explicitly religious responses with 291 references to prayers ofvarious kinds, 160 references to reading Quran, and 142 references to engagingin other forms of worship (ibada). At the same time, seasonal celebrations (106references) and nothing different (51 references) are not explicitly religious andmay reflect those that fast for nonreligious purposes and conform to the publicethics and expectations without engaging a personalized piety. They may alsoinclude responses of non-Muslims. Giving to charity had the fewest referencesat 44.

291!""

!#"

$""

$#"

160142

106

%""

%#"

51 44

"

#"

&'()*'+,-.,/('0-1+,2034+ 5*(4036,71'(3 89:*',.-';+,-., *=*?'(90-3+ @-9:036,40..*'*39,.'-;, A0/036,9-,B:('09)

Nu

mb

er o

f R

esp

on

ses

) 6C-'+:0DE'*=060-1+,

D1'+109+

6(3),-9:*',90;*

6 )

Figure 4: Things people especially do during Ramadan.

Fall 2013

Tobin 305

Things People Especially Do during RamadanA potential flaw in this survey is related to this point. When respondents are askedwhat they especially do during Ramadan, it is difficult to avoid a kind of surveybias that respondents may have reported what they should do during Ramadan. Thediscourses of normative Islam and normative piety are particularly powerful duringthe month of Ramadan. It is notable that 51 responses were in reference to nothingdifferent from any other time. Although these responses were free-listed, nothingdifferent from any other time would be a mutually exclusive response from theothers. Therefore, 51 responses of nothing different from any other time wouldreflect 51 responders. Even accounting for the 28 non-Muslims, there are still 23self-reported Muslims who are not engaging in any specific Ramadan behaviors orefforts, including those that would explicitly enhance their piety or those that visiblyadhere to public ethics during the month.

When asked what people never buy and especially avoid during Ramadan,the answers veer sharply in one direction: music. Again, this question and the subse-quent questions had blank spaces where the answers were free-listed. Therefore,there are more responses than responders, as one person may list three or four items.The data accounts for all free-listed responses, rather than ascribing one response toone person. Figure 5 shows the kinds of things that people never buy duringRamadan.

Things People Never Buy in RamadanIn Fig. 5, it becomes clear that media entertainment is the largest categoryof items that people are avoiding purchasing during the month of Ramadan, with112 references made to some sort of media entertainment. Following media

112

8681

!"

#"

$"

%""

%&"

28

137 6

2 1"

&"

'()*+,-./(0/+*.1(./

233)4 5673836,9:3;+773

?1(4

*()C

-DB(.4*E(,/8*.F4 G3.HI(6*F*3?4,J33K4

2*0(L30K4

G?1

;(0,3

>,I(4B3

.4(4

Figure 5: Things people never buy in Ramadan.



entertainment, certain types of salty foods and foods that make you thirsty wereavoided (n = 86), followed by alcohol and tobacco (n = 81). The remainder of thereferences numbered 28 (cosmetics and perfume) and less. Media entertainmentis clearly the most avoided category of good during Ramadan. Figure 6 breaks downthe category of media entertainment more specifically and examines what types ofmedia entertainment people never buy during Ramadan.

Media Entertainment Never Bought during RamadanOf all the references, music exceeds any other type of media not purchased duringRamadan by 80% (music n = 84; movies n = 17). Music is, by far, the primary typeof media entertainment and the single most common item that people never buyduring Ramadan. These results become compounded, because consuming it is thesecond most common item especially avoided during Ramadan, as demonstratedin Fig. 7.

Items Especially Avoided during RamadanIn Fig. 7, the most common behavior especially avoided during Ramadan is doingharam things (n = 90). After this vague and abstracted notion, listening to musicis the most common practice avoided during Ramadan, followed very closely bygossiping (n = 66 and n = 65, respectively). As Figs. 6 and 7 demonstrate, not onlydo people overwhelmingly avoid purchasing music, they also avoid specifically lis-tening to it. Avoiding consuming musicboth in its purchase and by listeningisthe largest commodity-based avoidance. The consumption of music is activelyavoided during Ramadan. The survey results confirm that consuming music is apublic ethic of Ramadan that is specific and marked during the month and one thatdiffers from other months. As such, it raises the question as to why, in localizedlogics, musicboth purchasing it and listening to itis avoided during Ramadan.

84!"

#"

$"

%"

&"

'"

("

17

4 3 2 2"

)"

*"+,-

./012

314/562

75/5

8,59: 82;9/5 8,59:1?965

Is MusicHaram? Ethnographic DataAfter I developed the results of this survey, I interviewed a number of people inAmman, Jordan, seeking an answer to the question. The most common responses Ireceived to this question included use of sarcasm, eye rolling, and statements thatrevealed an assumption that everyone returns to pre-Ramadan practices as soon asthe month is over. The cynical perception of these informants was that Ramadanprompted altered forms of consumption more generally, as demonstrated in differ-ences in food consumption and travel patterns above. At the same time, music spe-cifically, is one way in which the tensions surrounding the debates of musicscompatibility with normative Islam are resolved, at least temporarily, with alteredconsumption in Ramadan.

The aged debates regarding the appropriateness of music are amplified duringRamadan, and ethnographic stories abound as to how Ammanis deal with such amoral and ethical shift during the month. One particularly pious informant indi-cated that he utilizes new technologies and enjoys his iPod. However, he now calls itThe Islamic iPod, which has become fully Islamic by placing only Quranic reci-tation on it. Technology, it seems, was not an obstacle to enhanced piety, but in facthas helped facilitate the complete shift away from popular music during the month.I asked him if music is haram, and he responded that it is haram. He then asked meif I had seen the music videos and listened to lyrics of Haifa Wehbe and NancyAjram, who are popular Lebanese singers. He proceeded to discuss the ways inwhich these popular music artists dance, which prompts him to think about sex.This prompting of sexual feelings, he indicated, is what is haram. He went on todescribe the ways in which it took away from his focus on Allah, and indicatedthatas a resulthe finds the music to be disgusting.

I pushed him a bit on his response, which focused on music videos and sexuallyexplicit lyrics, and probed, What about Sami Yusuf? Or some of the other singerswho dont sing about that?To this, he responded that even Sami Yusuf uses instru-ments and rhythms that the others use. As a result, it fit his understanding of

!" !#!" !#

$%

&& &'

(#"%

!%

(%

'%

&%

)%

*%

$%

#%%

!"#

$%&'(

)'*%+,(

-+%+

"& "' "# #* #*%

#%

+,-./01234351067-./8

9-8:;.-./0:,0

?,88-@-./ 9A-./ B3:>7-./06C DE>,7,E F;-./0D./4A D./;4-./0?,G 9,,H-./03:0I,5;.

J-..-./

sexually enticing music that prompts the same forbidden feelings.To this informant,it did not matter that the lyrics were different. It was the instrumentation andrhythms that prompted his feelings.

This response that music is haram because it fills your head with impurethoughts, reminds one of impure things, or simply detracts from a focus on Allahwas a very common response. During Ramadan, in particular, the smallest technicaldetailsin this case, Sami Yusuf s choice of instruments and rhythmic sexinessare not ignored even if the lyrics are different. Another friend reiterated this pointwhen she discussed the ways in which music can often get stuck in ones head. Sheadded that, during Ramadan, it should be the Quran playing over in ones headrather than the sexified popular music. This, she indicated, would prompt one tofocus always and only on Allah.

In one of the more conservative neighborhoods of Amman, one known for ahigh number of Sufis and of foreigners studying the Quran and Islam under theguidance of a Western convert and established Sheikh, music is widely unpopularand morally regulated by the community throughout the year. Electronic music iswidely forbidden. For example, taxis turn off the radio when entering or exiting theneighborhood. Local convenience stores play Quranic recitations. Even the small,local womens-only gym keeps the music turned off. As for nonelectronic music,women will sometimes gather in a home to sing a capella in small, hand-drum orduff-led Islamic songs during the Eid holidays, weddings, and for other various cel-ebrations. During Ramadan, these gatherings are not held. I never heard of musicalgatherings for the men. The narrow interpretation of acceptable music by this Suficommunity differs from those found in other Sufi communities, such as those inSouth and Southeast Asia. The Qawwali music of some Sufis in India and Pakistan(Baily, 1988; Qureshi, 1986) is notably different, as is Sufism in Afghanistan (Baily,2011); and others such as found in Indonesia and Egypt (cf. Hirschkind, 2006;Rasmussen, 2010).

A story from this neighborhood that was often repeated among the non-Jordanian Sufi mureed, or followers of the Sheikh, was about the Sheikhs wife, also anon-Jordanian. One night, a few Jordanian neighbors were hosting a high-schoolgraduation party outside of the month of Ramadan. The family and their guestswere playing Arabic pop music loudly, and it could be heard some distance from thehouse. The Sheikhs wife went to the door of the neighbor, knocked, and thenadmonished the host by reiterating that music is haram. She then went on to repri-mand them by reminding them that they themselves turn music off duringRamadan, and that they knew better than to turn it back on for the graduation partyoutside of the month of Ramadan. It was then reported that the Sheikhs wife indi-cated that there is special place in hell for them for listening to the music. Then shesimply turned around and went home.

This story was often retold for two reasons. First, it was recounted as a way todescribe the personality of this particular Sheikhs wife as a brash, hard-line, and

Fall 2013

Tobin 309

uncompromising woman, which was frequently a topic for discussion in this com-munity. Second, and more to the point, it demonstrated the localized understandingof music both during and outside of Ramadan. It demonstrates the coexistence oftwo competing authenticities. First, for the foreign and austere Sufi community, theavoidance of music was something highly regulated as part and parcel of religiousobservance and practice. The norms of this religious and demographically largercommunity dictated the ethics of the public sphere in the neighborhood. Second, atthe same time, localized Jordanian ethics pointed to music as haram only duringRamadan, even in the presence of a more conservative demographic majority.Outside of Ramadan, musicin this neighborhood and othersis not somethingthat people avoid purchasing or listening to en masse. Though debates may abound,it is really only during Ramadan that this major shift in public ethics and, by exten-sion, personal practice extends to music. As such, this difference can raise conflictsbetween Islamic communities outside of Ramadan, which highlights the tensions atplay between an understanding of cultural authenticity and Islamic authenticity.During Ramadan, the tensions are resolved as diverse Islamic understandings shiftto reject music and adopt a stricter interpretation of an authentic Islamic practice.

It is not only the consumers of music that support this idea. I went to thedowntown area of Amman where most music and video sellers have shops. I askedemployees and owners if it was true that people avoided buying or listening to musicduring Ramadan. The employees and owners all agreed that, during Ramadan theirmusic sales dropped anywhere from 40% to 80%. Some said they close their storesfor days at a time because there are so few customers. However, as soon as Ramadanis over, many shopkeepers reported to me, then customers come back.They reportedthat the customers want to make sure they get caught up on all the music that cameout during Ramadan.

Authenticity, as justified in both cultural and Islamic terms, comes to the forehere. Islamic authenticity refuses to accept popular music, and the refusal is basedupon religiously informed justifications such as found in the Sunnah and Hadith,such as those described above. This perspective gains wide acceptance only duringthe month of Ramadan and through public ethics exerted during the month. Theunderstandings outside of Ramadan do not see popular music as interfering withones daily life or pursuits of piety, however piety plays out. As the example abovewith the Sheikhs wife shows, when the two competing authenticities come togetheroutside of Ramadan, a kind of uncertainty and rejectionrather than integration oreclipsingcan occur. An often cited example (Adely, 2007, p. 1670; Stratton, 2006)is that of the music video of Egyptian pop artist Haitham Said, Homa Malhombina ya Leil or They Have Nothing to do With us, Oh Night.1 In this video, ayoung, veiled woman is sitting on a bridge overlooking the Nile in Cairo, swaying tothe beat while being serenaded by a young, male Egyptian singer. Compared withmost other popular Arabic music videos, it is quite tame. There is no touchingbetween the male singer and the female being serenaded. She is not moving in a



provocative way, particularly when compared with other videos. Her hands and faceconstitute the only flesh shown. Other videos reveal far more skin, contain touchingand physical interactions, even include controversial themes such as tying up awoman, adulterous meetings, and spousal abuse. However, this video was, despite itsseeming wholesomeness, highly controversial. This is because, in essence, it broughttogether these two competing authenticities in one moment. The video was contro-versial because it tried to lay claim to both Islamic authenticity and cultural authen-ticity, which was widely rejected. By contrast, during Ramadan, Islamic authenticitysupplants cultural authenticity, and does so without inducing crisis or controversy;the two realms are not articulating with each other during Ramadan, one temporar-ily eclipses the other as part of practicing the real Islam.

This temporality, when one form of authenticity subsumes the other withregard to music, is also witnessed during the athaan, or call to prayer, both duringand outside of the month of Ramadan. Whenever the athaan sounds, the mostcommon response is to turn off whatever music is playing. When I asked whypeople did that, the most common response I received was that this was out ofrespect for Islam. It seemed a habitual practice, and if someone failed to turn off themusic in a caf or restaurant, often people would alert the waiters to do so, to whichthey would typically comply without hesitation, as part of the injunction tocommand right and forbid wrong.

There was a particular moment where, one Friday afternoon, I was sitting at therooftop pool at the all-womens gym I attended.Women were scantily clad in stringbikinis, smoking cigarettes, and gossiping. The music was playing loudly. As soon asthe athaan or azaan sounded from a neighboring mosque, the music was turned off,but everyone continued their other behaviors without interruptionbikinisremained on display, cigarettes were still smoked, and the gossiping continued. Thisphenomenon of temporal switching between authenticities is particularly notable inthe sphere of music.

Is MusicHaram? A Case Study at an Islamic BankAs I was processing these survey results and interviewing people about how music isperceived and used both during Ramadan and outside Ramadan, I asked theemployees at the Islamic bank to explain what music meant for their religious lives.Throughout the month-long discussion, which occurred outside of the month ofRamadan, I kept a record of the music that played in the office from one of theemployees computers. Here is one of the playlists in the office:1. Fairouz, a famous Lebanese singer often played in the mornings, unknown song2. Unrecognizable classical music without lyrics3. Air Supply, Making Love, Out of Nothin at All

Fall 2013

Tobin 311

4. Celine Dion, Falling into You5. Unrecognizable instrumental music, such as one would hear in an elevator6. Kenny G, Unknown Song7. Unrecognizable instrumental music, such as one would hear in an elevator8. Classical Arabic singer reminiscent of Um Kalthoum9. Unrecognizable instrumental music, such as one would hear in an elevator** At this point, the athaan sounded, and the employee turned off the music.** He turned it back on when the athaan was finished.10. Unknown artist and song; a Spanish language love song11. Christopher Cross, Sailing12. A 1980s remix and cover of I Cant Help Falling in Love with You13. Chris De Burgh in a cover of Crazy, originally by Patsy Cline14. Unknown artist, cover of Jackson 5s Ill Be There15. Luther Vandross, When I Need You16. Dolly Parton, Because I Love You and When You Tell Me that You Love

Me17. Josh Groban, unknown song18. Michael Bolton, Said I Loved You But I LiedThis playlist demonstrates that Jordanians in Ammanspecifically, professionalemployees of the Islamic bankare listening to English-language music and toArabic music of a wide variety, as well as to classical music and to elevator music.One style of music not represented here are the controversial Arabic tunes by HaifaWehbe and Nancy Ajram, who make up some of the most racy and scandalousmusic videos. Rather, this music selection tended to be predominantly sentimental,slow songs with lyrics that are more often oriented toward love than sex, andcontained rhythms conducive to a working environment. Additionally, as discussedabove, turning off music during the athaan is common practice both during andoutside Ramadan.

As this playlist went along, I was sitting with three employees in this officeZeinab, Nuh, and Ibrahim.2 We began talking about music:Zeinab: Do you know rai music from North Africa? I dont understandtheir Arabic, but you dont have to understand the Arabic to like themusic.



Author: Well, rai will keep you working [laughing, making hand gestures asthough beating a drum, referencing the beats of the music].

Nuh: Yeah, I used to listen to heavy metal. Now I listen to other stuff.Zeinab: Yeah, like Sami Yusuf.Ibrahim: Its all haram, anyway.Zeinab: Sami Yusuf bardu (also)?Nuh: No, Sami Yusuf is not haram. Hes mish mafrood (not decided or not in

consensus).Nuh then reached over and turned off the music. I turned to him and said, So thatsit? Musics haram?Then he reached over and turned it back on.

This office interaction demonstrates that there is a tentativeness with whichpeople enter this discussion, primarily because it draws attention to the competingauthenticities that existand are largely overlookedoutside of the month ofRamadan and create tensions between different variations of Islamic practices andpieties especially during Ramadan. Here, Ibrahim made his understanding that allmusic was haram clear, which prompted Nuh to turn it off. However, when I probedSo thats it? Musics haram? my question continued to push the discussion intowhat was likely an uncomfortable moment: the meeting of two competing authen-ticities. Rather than allowing an Islamic authenticity to prevail over a culturalauthenticity, which was a position taken by Zeinab, I pushed Nuh, whose hedgedposition that music is mish mafrood kept him from having to choose one oranother and declare music haram or not.

The working notion is that family, friends, and colleagues will turn off musicas a gesture of respect and to accommodate those who see it as haram, as wit-nessed both during the month of Ramadan in general, and also more specificallyin temporally bound cases such as the office setting or during the athaan. Thesame principle of commanding right and forbidding wrong by way of respectapplies when the athaan sounds, when your neighbor complains about your music,and when your office mate rejects it as morally and ethically forbidden. Evenat moments of competing authenticities, the assertive moralities and ethics ofa normative Islam can overwhelm otherwise diverse understandings justified asculturally authentic.

ConclusionRamadan is a temporal shift in legislated practices of Islam and public ethics thatdictate acceptable Islamic practice and, by extension, results in shifts in personalbehaviors across legal, civic, and public realms. As a result, Ramadan both restrictssome behaviors and also adds opportunities for increased commercialization,heightened and altered consumption in order to create an Islamically authenticRamadan. In fact, consumption is a primary means by which the practices

Fall 2013

Tobin 313

associated with Ramadan are embedded and entrenched in the social and culturallandscapes.

Such debates come to the fore with regard to music, where temporal adjust-ments are made to diminish tensions and accommodate the communitytheummahin commanding right and forbidding wrong. While the commanding ofright and the forbidding of wrong during Ramadan creates moralities and ethicsthat are assertive and even illiberal in their focus and outcomes, it does not create asingle, unitary pious response either in support of or in opposition to this context:ethics and moralities inevitably change back after Ramadan. The authenticRamadan experience is subject to not only the contextual constraints of the morali-ties and ethics at play, but also the myriad responses to those outcomes witnessedafter the Eid.

One of my informants summarized this shift in public ethics and practicesduring Ramadan. In her perspective, she prefers the moralities and ethics dictatedand enforced during Ramadan over those witnessed at other times of the year. Shewishes that they did not change back after the month is over. She said thatRamadan is a time when things change, citing that people fast and avoid music. Shewent on to underscore that Ramadan is the period of time in which she feels themost comfortable; she ultimately hopes people will stop listening to music alto-gether. She indicated that refraining during Ramadan is a way to build good habits,which she would like to see continue after Ramadan is over.

Though certain elements of society may be keen to see these ethics of Ramadancontinue beyond the month, the temporality of such kinds of accommodationspasses, the majoritarian ethics and moralities shift, and the piousin their diversecultural and Islamized formsgo back to listening to music or skipping prayers orany measure of shifts until the next Ramadan.

It is important here to highlight that such shifting and temporary forms ofconsumption represent a kind of flexibility and responsiveness in contemporaryIslam. This is particularly true in situations of illiberality in public moralities andethics: they often do not last beyond a liminal period of time and space. As such,these altered forms of consumption also represent a kind of help in the perfor-mance and constitution of certain types of agents. These shifts in ethics andmoralities are easier to sustain when they are conducted with friends, family, andcoworkers in shared, altered consumption. By doing it together, they can sustainsuch a shift.

It is in these moments that attempts to assert a normative Islama realIslamis addressed and confronted, and accommodated or rejected, and all within aconsidered temporal framework. The discourse of respect as part of the injunctionto command right and forbid wrong is one that carries a particularly powerfulweight during Ramadan. However, the limits of such kind of discursive power andjustifications are revealed at the end of Ramadan when the push to fast and prayends, or when the athaan is over and Michael Bolton is played once more.



Notes1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZqdkhStq-4&feature=related; For full lyrics and transla-

tion http://www.arabicmusictranslation.com/2007/12/haytham-said-they-have-nothing-to-do.html

2. All names of informants have been changed to protect anonymity.

ReferencesAbu-Lughod, L. (2005). Dramas of nationhood: The politics of television in Egypt. Chicago, IL:

University of Chicago Press.Adely, F. (2007). Is music Haram? Jordanian girls educating each other about nation, faith and

gender in school. The Teachers College Record, 109(7), 16631681.Armbrust, W. (2000a). Mass mediations: New approaches to popular culture in the Middle East and

beyond. Berkeley: University of California Press.Armbrust, W. (2000b). Introduction: Anxieties of scale. In W. Armbrust (Ed.), Mass mediations:

New approaches to popular culture in the Middle East and beyond (pp. 131). Berkeley: Univer-sity of California Press, Ltd.

Baily, J. (1988). Sufi music of India and Pakistan: Sound, context and meaning in Qawwali.Popular Music, 7(02), 223225.

Baily, J. (2011). Songs from Kabul: The spiritual music of Ustad Amir Mohammad. Burlington, VT:Ashgate Publishing Company.

Central Intelligence Agency. (2013a). The World Factbook, Field Listing: Median Age. RetrievedJanuary 10, 2013, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factBook/fields/2177.html

Central Intelligence Agency. (2013b). The World Factbook, Field Listing: Religions. RetrievedJanuary 10, 2013, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factBook/fields/2122.html

Cook, M. A. (2000). Commanding right and forbidding wrong in Islamic thought. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Danielson, V. (1987). The Quran and the Qasidah: Aspects of the popularity of the repertorysung by Umm Kulthum. Asian Music, 19(1), 2645.

Danielson, V. (19901991). Min Al-Mashayikh: A view of Egyptian musical tradition. AsianMusic, 22(1), 113127.

Danielson, V. (1997). The voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic song, and Egyptian society in thetwentieth century. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

El-Shawan, S. (1984). Traditional Arab music ensembles in Egypt since 1967: The continuity oftradition within a contemporary framework? Ethnomusicology, 28(2), 271288.

Gordon, J. (2003). Singing the pulse of the EgyptianArab street: Shaaban Abd Al-Rahim andthe geo-pop-politics of fast food. Popular Music, 22(1), 7388.

Hefner, R. W. (2000). Civil Islam: Muslims and democratization in Indonesia. Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press.

Hefner, R.W. (2005).Remaking Muslim politics: Pluralism, contestation, democratization. Princeton,NJ: Princeton University Press.

Fall 2013

Tobin 315

Hirschkind, C. (2006).The ethical soundscape: Cassette sermons and Islamic counterpublics. New York:Columbia University Press.

McDermott, N. (2010). Modernization of the Hijab in Amman, Jordan: A Symbol of Islam andModernity. Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. Paper 832.

Nawawi, I. (n.d.).Minhaj Al-Talibin wa Umdat Al-Muttaqin. Cairo 1338/1920. Reprint (p. 152).Cairo, Egypt: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi.

Norton, A. R. (1995). Civil society in the Middle East. Vol. 1. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill.Norton, A. R. (1996). Civil society in the Middle East. Vol. 2. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill.Qureshi, R. (1986). Sufi music of India and Pakistan: Sound, context, and meaning in Qawwali.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Racy, A. J. (1982). Musical aesthetics in present-day Cairo. Ethnomusicology, 26(3), 291406.Racy, A. J. (2003). Making music in the Arab world: The culture and artistry of tarab. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.Rasmussen, A. K. (1996). Theory and practice at the Arabic Org: Digital technology in contem-

porary Arab music performance. Popular Music, 15(3), Middle East Issue, 345365.Rasmussen, A. K. (2010). Women, the recited Quran, and Islamic music in Indonesia. Berkeley:

University of California Press.Salamandra, C. (2004). A new old Damascus: Authenticity and distinction in urban Syria. Blooming-

ton: Indiana University Press.Save the Children. (2013). Jordansave the children. Retrieved January 10, 2013, from http://

www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6153135/k.C3E2/Jordan.htmShannon, J. H. (2003). Emotion, performance, and temporality in Arab music: Reflections on

tarab. Cultural Anthropology, 18(1), 7298.Smith-Hefner, N. J. (2007). Javanese women and the veil in post-Soeharto Indonesia. The Journal

of Asian Studies, 66(2), 389420.Stokes, M. (1999). Review: The voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic song, and Egyptian

society in the twentieth century. Ethnomusicology, 43(1), 177179.Stratton, A. (2006).Muhajababes. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne University Publishing.Swedenburg, T. (2004). The Arab Wave in world music after 9/11. Anthropologica, 46(2), 177

188.



Ramadan Blues

Documents

Transcript of Ramadan Blues