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RELIGION
Most frequently requested article on this topic
The burning music question in Islam
About religious music prohibition: Is music allowed or is it not allowed in Islam? Can we get a straight answer?
Articles and news stories concerning music and religious issues
(most recent first):
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| Iran: Prohibition of music in holy city |
| In a speech in official Friday praying on 11 May 2007 the Imam of Mashhad banned practicing of music and ordered to close all of the music institutes in the holy city |
| 15 May 2007 |
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| Iran: Six musicians arrested |
| Authorities in Iran have reportedly detained at least six members of underground music bands and shut down their studios, Radio Farda reported |
| 24 April 2007 |
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| Pakistan: Music and video shop blown away |
| "Close within three days � or you will be blown away." This threat by the religious extremists became reality when a video centre was blown away on 13 March 2007 |
| 15 March 2007 |
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| Jason Carter |
| Video interview with musician Jason Carter about his experience of music censorship and music prohibition in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East |
| 22 January 2007 |
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| Iraq: 75 singers killed |
| The Iraqi Artist's Association said that nearly 80 percent of the country's singers have fled the country and that at least 75 singers had been killed since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 |
| 29 November 2006 |
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| Eritrea: Gospel singer released in wheelchair |
| After two and a half year of imprisonment in Mai Serwa army camp, gospel singer Helen Berhane who belonged to a banned evangelical church in Eritrea was released in late October, according to a statement issued by Amnesty International |
| 08 November 2006 |
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| Syria: 'Silenced voices' |
| In Syria, music is a mirror which shows the soul of the listener. A few young musicians perceive a magic language of sound which can touch the heart and make new thoughts spark. And this is exacly where their problems start... |
| 07 November 2006 |
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| Mark LeVine: Heavy Metal and Islam |
| Video interview with the American author and historian Mark LeVine who is writing on a book about the special role of Heavy Metal in the Middle East and its relationship with Islam |
| 30 October 2006 |
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| Maryam Mursal |
| Video interview with Somali singer Maryam Mursal about music prohibition among Islamists |
| 26 October 2006 |
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| Somalia: Confusion over music prohibition |
| Do Islamist hardliners want to stop all music and sentence executives of a music committee to death? Or is the story invented with the purpose of making it possible to get asylum and economic aid? |
| 26 October 2006 |
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| Iran: Report about art and censorship in Iran |
| �Artists self-censor in fear of risking harassment, arrest, flogging, or worse still, imprisonment,� stated a report about art and censorship in Iran published by Article 19 |
| 05 October 2006 |
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| Pakistan: Two more music shops bombed |
| Bombs damaged two music shops in a bazaar in Bannu in north-western Pakistan on 11 September 2006. Explosions damaging music shops are increasingly shaking up the area. |
| 13 September 2006 |
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| Russia: Radical Christians want pop concert banned |
| Controversy and outrage follows American pop singer Madonna to her world-wide �Confessions Tour� where she is �crucified� on a cross on stage. The act has sparked anger from various religious groups. |
| 12 September 2006 |
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| Somalia: Islamists ban music in areas of Somalia |
| According to an Islamic official in Somalia, music is now banned in the country, and anyone violating the music ban could be arrested, fined and flogged. Initially, a Somali radio station has been closed down for broadcasting love songs |
| 12 September 2006 |
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| Musicians hit by the �9/11-effect� |
| Tighter restrictions on air travel means that musical instruments are no longer allowed on the plane as carry-on baggage. This has lead to cancellations of concerts and tours |
| 11 September 2006 |
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| Clotaire K |
| Video interview with BBC World Music Award winner Clotaire K about how he perceives music as a media |
| 31 August 2006 |
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| USA/UK: Deeyah speaks out about the unspeakable |
| Freemuse hands the microphone to Deeyah - a pop singer and an activist with a serious message. She has placed herself in the crossfire of today�s most controversial, religious issues |
| 09 August 2006 |
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| Oath to Vanquish |
| Video interview with the Lebanese Death Metal band Oath to Vanquish, recorded in July 2006 - about their music and music censorship in Lebanon |
| 08 July 2006 |
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| Xardas |
| Video interview with Xardas, a 24-year-old Lebanese composer and producer of Dark Ambient music who had his new release confiscated by authorities in June 2006 |
| 08 July 2006 |
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| Pakistan: Renewed ban on audio cassettes |
| Local Taliban and religious leaders in North Waziristan on 11 June 2006 issued public notices that they will punish people listening to �un-Islamic� music |
| 15 June 2006 |
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| Pakistan: Music banned in Pakistani province |
| In May 2006 a pro-Taliban militant cleric announced a ban on music and video shops in the Hamuzai area near Miramshah, residents said, according to the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn |
| 18 May 2006 |
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| Denmark: Teenager arrested for 'death rap' |
| A 17-year-old teenager was arrested for sending death threats in the form of a rap song to the Danish politician Naser Khader, reports the news agency Reuters |
| 08 May 2006 |
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| Tibet: Last "singing nun" released from prison and exiled |
| The release of 34-year-old Tibetan nun Phuntsog Nyidron into exile in the United States on 15 March 2006 marks the end of the imprisonment in Tibet for a group of women who became known as the "singing nuns" of Drapchi prison |
| 26 April 2006 |
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| Tibet: Teacher of traditional Tibetan dance imprisoned |
| A Tibetan monk and teacher of the traditional monastic dance Cham has been sentenced to four years in prison after he gave talks about Tibetan culture and history, reports International Campaign for Tibet |
| 24 April 2006 |
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| Pakistan: Explosion destroys music shops |
| Suspected Islamic militants planted explosive material near a music shop in the center of the bazaar in Tanak district of North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan |
| 26 January 2006 |
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| Malaysia: Islamic authority bans black metal |
| On January 23, 2006, the highest Islamic authority in Malaysia placed a ban on black metal � the rock music variant dominated by distorted guitars and occult imagery |
| 25 January 2006 |
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| Mahsa Vahdat |
| Video interview with female Iranian singer Mahsat Vahdat. Women, religion, and music censorship in modern Iran |
| 17 January 2006 |
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| Syria: Music censorship film wins award |
| Film director Mohamad Malas' movie 'Bab El Makam' tells the story of a young woman, who struggles against a society which does not accept her love for singing |
| 28 November 2005 |
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| Salman Ahmad |
| Video interview with ex-Junoon member Salman Ahmad about music prohibition among Islamists, and about music censorship in Pakistan |
| 22 November 2005 |
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| R�da Zine |
| During Morocco trial rock and heavy metal musicians were accused of Satanism, "acts capable of undermining the faith of a Muslim" and "possessing objects which infringe morals". Interview in French |
| 15 November 2005 |
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| The music industry from the perspective of women |
| This article is about the music industry from the perspective of women. It is based on interviews with Myriam, a rapper from the group ALIF and the singer Ajah Sy, but it could have been the stories of any woman. |
| 27 May 2005 |
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| Senegal seminar 2005 video English |
| Didier Awadi, Myriam and Ajah on self-censorship, taboos, and the importance of constructive criticism. Video excerpts from Kristina Funkeson's interviews with the artists during the seminar on Music and Freedom of expression in West-Africa, held in Senegal 2005. |
| 09 May 2005 |
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| Newspapers divided on BBC screening of Springer opera |
| Religion, sex and music is once again in the focus of controversy when BBC - despite protests from religious groups � decided to broadcast �Jerry Springer � the Opera�. Seen as blasphemous and obscene by critics, the opera is hailed as satirical by supporters. |
| 11 January 2005 |
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| Googoosh: Iran's Daughter |
| Googoosh was Iran's most famous and beloved pop diva, until she was silenced following the 1979 Islamic revolution. The award winning documentary on Googoosh is now out on DVD |
| 14 December 2004 |
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| Afghanistan pulls cable channels |
| Cable TV channels showing raunchy Bollywood movies and foreign music videos have - again - been taken off air in Afghanistan by the government |
| 12 November 2004 |
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| Middle East: Hip-Hop on the frontline |
| The rap form allows a powerful voice for political invective, and is being used on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. But for Arab countries and the Middle East, the influence and performance of hip-hop lights a few fuses |
| 02 November 2004 |
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| Iran: Concerts cancelled |
| Bureaucratic obstacles have turned into a kind of musical oppression in Iran, reports Shadi Vatanparast from the Iranian web-magazine Tehranavenue.com |
| 21 October 2004 |
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| Denmark: Religious fundamentalists obstruct concert |
| A concert on 9 October, in Copenhagen, Denmark, arranged by the Somali network in Denmark was blocked by a group of religious fundamentalists. According to reports, the group told the musicians that �music is the work of the Devil� |
| 21 October 2004 |
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| Iranian rapper talks a fine line |
| Chart-topping Shahkar Binesh-Pajouh targets unemployment, poverty and westernised Iranian girls in his new album, which the culture ministry took four years to approve. The ministry passed it only after he deleted six songs from his original ten |
| 04 September 2004 |
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| Iran: Lashes for loud music |
| The judiciary in Hamedan has ordered that anyone caught playing thumping tunes in their cars should be subject to jail terms or lashes, according to news agency IRNA. "Playing any type of music loud in the vehicles is regarded as a crime and violators will be dealt by legal measures" |
| 09 August 2004 |
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| Clerics condemn Kashmir pop song |
| Religious leaders in Kashmir have sought a ban on a pop song by two Pakistani singers. A line in the song, Kachi Pencil (Fragile Pencil), says God has written the fate of man with a fragile pencil |
| 03 August 2004 |
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| Shoot the Singer! Book |
| "Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today". The first worldwide presentation of contemporary cases of music censorship, with cases from i.a. Burma, Mexico, Middle East, France, Algeria, Zimbabwe, USA, South Africa, Turkey. Edited by Freemuse director Marie Korpe, published by Zed Books, May 2004. |
| 25 May 2004 |
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| Censorship in Kuwait |
| An Islamist lawmaker has said he was coordinating with other MPs to ban music education at schools in Kuwait because it was "anti-Islamic and a waste of time." |
| 16 February 2004 |
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| Fresh Iranian bands ready to rock |
| A music competition aims at introducing new talent in the Islamic Republic. But when you live and work in Iran, there are certain limitations on forms of self-expression. Subjects such as censorship, quality, and who should be the judge turned many meetings into lengthy discussions |
| 09 February 2004 |
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| Woman singer angers Afghan judges |
| Afghanistan's supreme court has complained to the government over the appearance of an Afghan woman singing on state television. |
| 16 January 2004 |
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| Afghan TV U-turn on women singers |
| Afghan state television has gone back on a decision to show female singers, saying the country is not yet ready for such broadcasts. |
| 16 January 2004 |
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| Pakistan: The censored meet the censor |
| In the BBC4 programme "The Rock Star and the Mullah", Salman Ahmad, guitarist with Pakistani rock group Junoon, meet the men who banned music |
| 18 December 2003 |
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| Music provoke islamists on Pakistan campuses |
| A film student at Pakistan's biggest university in Karachi, produced a music video for his final-year project. But right-wing Islamic students opposed to holding art shows on campus attacked the student's exhibition and smashed the computer he had planned to use to screen it |
| 27 November 2003 |
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| Tony Allen |
| Exlusive video interview with Tony Allen on music censorship in Nigeria |
| 27 May 2003 |
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| Moroccan musicians and fans free |
| The fourteen heavy metal musicians and fans were arrested in February in Casablanca and sentenced to jail from 2 months to 1 year |
| 08 April 2003 |
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| Musicians claim police harassment |
| Pakistani musicians living near the country's border with Afghanistan have complained they are being harassed by hardliners attempting to stamp out music and movies |
| 08 April 2003 |
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| Moroccan heavy fans jailed |
| Fans have been jailed in Casablanca for moral and religious crimes. According to the judge, "normal people go to concerts in a suit and tie" |
| 07 March 2003 |
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| Singing Kharabat's praises |
| Several musicians have been beaten up, while many have received insults and threats. But the musicians of Kabul tries to defy the violent and abusive conservatives |
| 24 January 2003 |
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| Afghans ban cable TV |
| ''We are Afghans, we are Muslims, we have Islamic laws and values in our country.'' |
| 22 January 2003 |
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| Malaysia: Music and moral |
| Radio stations in Malaysia have been told to submit scripts of live programmes before they are broadcast |
| 22 January 2003 |
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| Aghan police beat musicians defying ban |
| Police beat two Afghan musicians and threatened to bomb their office for violating a local ban on music reminiscent of that imposed by the former Taliban regime |
| 16 October 2002 |
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| Salif Keita |
| Salif Keita on music piracy and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Mali |
| 01 September 2002 |
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| Ngawang Choephel: For love of music |
| The story of Ngawang Choephel - a Tibetan musician, ethnomusicologist and filmmaker, who was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment by the Chinese authorities |
| 20 January 2002 |
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| Farhad Darya |
| Award winning and most popular Afghan musician and composer Farhad Darya interviewed by Martin Gro� and Marc Helfers |
| 17 January 2002 |
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| U.S. Funding Effort to Preserve Afghan Music |
| Freemuse report on music censorship in Afghanistan is believed to be one of the main sources behind a U.S. preservation grant, which has launched a project to record the music of Afghan musicians now residing in Pakistani refugee camps |
| 11 January 2002 |
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| The banned played on |
| Report from Pakistan, where exiled Afghan musicians fear an extremist backlash against their new-found freedom |
| 15 November 2001 |
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| The hills are alive |
| With the rout of the Taliban, Afghanistan is once again resounding to the sound of music. But why does the lifting of the ban have such significance? |
| 15 November 2001 |
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| A culture muted |
| By banning music, the Taliban have removed an important force for unity. Article include interview with John Baily, who wrote the Freemuse report on music censorship in Afghanistan |
| 13 October 2001 |
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| Just chant |
| Music is high on the list of activities banned by the Taliban. Article on the Freemuse report on censorship of music in Afghanistan |
| 04 May 2001 |
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| Nigeria: 'Leash on Their Tongues' |
| Article on how music has been censored in Nigeria. Including the story of Fela Kuti and Femi Kuti and their struggle against political and religious censorship |
| 01 March 2001 |
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| Marcel Khalife - the blasphemy trials |
| The story of Marcel Khalife - accused of blasphemy in 1999 for �insulting religious values by using a verse from the chapter of the Holy Qur�an in a song� |
| 01 January 2001 |
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