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Music and its Effects
Foreword
What is Music?
Origin of Music
Effects of music on Nervous System
Some other Ailments and Music
From Philosophical Point of View
From the Ethical Point of View
Effect on the Children
The Quran on Music
Some Traditions on Music
Music as per the Companions of the Holy Prophet (S)
Music in the Light of Traditions
Music and the Last Epoch
Singing and Adultery
Effects of Music
Musicians Fate
Influence of Music
List of the Books referred to
Influence of Music
Often people are heard saying: "But music has so much influence upon our feelings; so why such a thing should be forbidden?" But it is precisely because of its great influence upon heart and mind that it is forbidden. There would have been no need to ban it if it were with out any effect. The thing which is to be decided is whether its influence is good or bad. And it has been shown in the previous pages that music and dance have harmful effects physiologically, spiritually and ethically upon human beings.
Music is like intoxicants in that it makes one forget one’s surroundings and one does not know what is happening to him or her. The following episode is a good example of the effect of music:
Frank King is reported in ‘Reader’s Digest’1 as saying:-
"I returned home one evening and noticed a large red mark that looked like a burn on my wife’s right cheek. When I asked her what had happened she sheepishly told me the story. She set up the iron-board in the living room so that she could watch a favourite television programme while doing the ironing, the telephone table was also near at hand. As she was intently watching TV, the phone rang and she reached out automatically and answered the iron."
Another interesting story was published in the Tanganyika Standard2 some 23 years ago. A pregnant woman attended a musical programme in a local cinema. She became so much engrossed in it that she gave birth to a baby on the spot without realizing what was happening to her. ‘Was it a cinema hall or maternity home?’ asked the paper.
Realizing the importance of this engrossing quality of music, the scientists are trying to use it as an aid in surgery. Reader’s Digest3 writes:
"Audio-analgesia or painkilling by sound is one of modern science’s newest discoveries. The combination of music and other sounds have alleviated pain in dentistry, surgery and childbirth. Nobody can predict how widely the technique will be used but those who have experienced it entertained high hopes —like the new mother who wheeled from the delivery room exclaiming, `What a wonderful experience! I’ll always remember south pacific.
Palcetry Galiard while on the operation table asked for one of his own musical tapes to be played in the room. The effect was a spate of grief which made all present cry and the operation was performed without any anaesthetic.
All this goes a long way to prove that the music has the same effect on nerves and mind as the anaesthesia. Nobody in his right mind would suggest that chloroform should be daily used by the general public because it is such a good thing in the operation theatre. If music is a good anaesthetic let it be used in surgery and deliveries of children. But can that use ever justify its common use in every home at all times and in all circumstances?