When the Spirit is Listening, All Songs are Spiritual...

...I love you... You love me... we are one big family...

I do not know of anyone who has the time or inclination to read (and listen) through this collection of postings that were recorded earlier here about Music. I am revisiting my musical writing because of a profound sentence that caught my eye last night (well, at least profound to me. Hehehe). The sentence came from a book written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani. In the book he wrote, "It is well known that hearing in living people is actually a property of (the)spirit (al-Ruh)".

So that is why we close our eyes when we are listening attentively, whether it is to a dear friend pouring her heart out, or a good cleric reminding us of the beauty of God or reciting the holy scriptures, or a live band in concert. We instinctively close our eyes because the physical sight of the brokenhearted friend, or the good cleric on his pulpit, or the pop band playing on stage are actually... truth be told, visual fluff. And that is why sometimes, when I am playing a song on my laptop, I actually minimize the video. Often we find that this world of sights and forms only serves to blur the essence of the words / music with unnecessary visual distractions. So when you close your eyes, your listening becomes more intuitive and you feel rather than actually listen to the music. It IS hard to describe the sensation, but I know you know what I mean...

Well, without further pitstops, below are some of the musical posts and the artists 'featured' or referred to in them. Even if my writing sucks, the music is great!

GOD, PROPHET AND ROCK & ROLL - Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan / Iklim (Malaysian rock band) / Kelly Clarkson / Jennifer Paige / Led Zeppelin
God, Prophet and Rock & Roll - Part 2 - Beyonce / Ruth Sahanaya (Indonesian)
God took away my chance to die young - The Band Perry
Music and Muhammad, Grace and Gratitude - Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel / John Denver / Olivia Newton John
Prophets and the Long Victory - Annie Lennox & David Stewart
In the Temple of Love there was George Benson... and Almighty God had a question to ask - George Benson
A Cup of Truth with Bono, U2 and Tolkien - Prose of Ramadhan Part 41 - U2
The Girl, the Saint and the Sinner - Love for all your tomorrows. - Roberta Flack
Gentle Sir, Kindly Sir, your train is here... - The Prince Part 5 - Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam

Quite a mixed fruit bunch, yes? And there are more, lots more from where the music came. Indeed, as our musical taste differs, we will each create in our own personal universes, those folk, rock, pop songs and ballads that connect us to the Divine. Today will be an interesting experiment as I walk through the normal daily routine but with one important understanding - That even though it is your ear drums that is picking up the sound vibrations in the air, it is your spirit that is actually listening. It is a simple idea, but I think from this small seed, a big tree of understanding will grow... Godwilling. And this is one - When the Spirit is Listening, all Songs are Spiritual.

Thank you for sitting with me for a while, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way