It started with a clip on YouTube of the prominent Saudi religious scholar, Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, dancing Ardah, a traditional Saudi dance with swords. A flood of comments followed. Most were from people who did not like the clip and thought the act of dancing inappropriate for a scholar. Others went further by denouncing the act as shameless.
The surprise came as the sheikh then launched an attack against his critics in the local press. He said that there are those in Saudi Arabia who want to transform weddings into funerals; they are, he said, simply against joy. He went on to say, “There is no report from the Prophet (peace be upon him) or any of the early Islamic leaders saying that they turned weddings into occasions for preaching.”
He went further by illustrating his point about the legitimacy of dancing, especially the sword dance, by saying that the Prophet and his wife Aisha witnessed a similar event in Madinah inside the mosque — which certainly proves his point.
It is interesting to read the comments readers posted on the Internet on this matter. There were those who agreed with the sheikh and those who opposed him; there were also those who took the middle ground, saying that dancing and music are all right but that the sheikh should not have participated.
What is more revealing is a comment that the fuss was expected and natural as it is a result of the endless teachings by hard-liners who seek to forbid all sorts of innocent pleasure and entertainment. The incident has opened a debate on the intolerance that has become common in society against all forms of entertainment.
Come to think of it, that is the core of the whole issue. We have been bombarded by sermons and rulings by scholars and their students — and even by normal people — forbidding entertainment. Music was a clear “no” for those people; cinema was against religion, and so the list of forbidden activities increased. Those people came up with is called “Islamic weddings” in which only drums were used, lyrics were Islamicized by changing the wording of popular songs and making them more religiously oriented. For some people, that solution was a middle way, protecting them from breaching the ban against music, and for others it was an approved entertainment that made them acceptable in the eyes of society.
Yet none of this seems to have affected television, where music is going to the other extreme by adopting a sensational style which enrages moderates as well as conservatives. Between the two extremes people have lost their direction. Is music forbidden? Does it serve a purpose or is it simply a cheap form of entertainment?
At some gatherings, you can be sure of hearing advice against wasting your time watching TV or listening to music. At those gatherings, those who enjoyed drama or music had to defend themselves. Often they were made to feel guilty by comparing themselves with more outwardly pious individuals who did not engage in such, according to them — “trivial pleasures.”
It is about time people such as Sheikh Obaikan spoke out and told people that to be religious does not mean that entertainment must be shunned. Just because there is cheap entertainment, it does not logically follow that all entertainment is ruled out. We need to learn that there is a middle ground for every thing.
