Abrogated Laws: Prohibition of Music

Prohibition of Music

We have made it lawful for you to listen to music and singing. Take heed, however, lest listening thereto should cause you to overstep the bounds of propriety and dignity. Let your joy be the joy born of My Most Great Name, a Name that bringeth rapture to the heart, and filleth with ecstasy the minds of all who have drawn nigh unto God. We, verily, have made music as a ladder for your souls, a means whereby they may be lifted up unto the realm on high; make it not, therefore, as wings to self and passion. Truly, We are loath to see you numbered with the foolish.

(The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Most Holy Book, Bahá’u’lláh, para. 51)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written that “Among certain nations of the East, music was considered reprehensible.” Though the Qur’án contains no specific guidance on the subject, some Muslims consider listening to music as unlawful, while others tolerate music within certain bounds and subject to particular conditions.

There are a number of passages in the Bahá’í Writings in praise of music. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, for example, asserts that “music, sung or played, is spiritual food for soul and heart.”

(The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, The Most Holy Book, Notes NO. 79)