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LittleBigPlanet: The Qur'an and music explained

October 23, 2008 in News comments 10

For all the fuss and curiosity provoked by the LittleBigPlanet delay, Multiplayer has taken it upon themselves to see the issue explained. Is music forbidden ("Haram") to be combined with words from the Qur'an? Why is it offensive? Everything is answered for those who had their interest piqued.

The musician behind the song that caused the highly anticipated PlayStation 3 game “Little Big Planet” to get recalled just days before its release has defended his song in a statement issued to MTV Multiplayer.

Perhaps even more significantly, singer Toumani Diabate has explained what the song is about and why its inclusion of verses from the Qur’an is his “way to attract and inspire people toward Islam.”

Multiplayer received the statement late yesterday, following conversations with two Muslim experts who helped illuminate the reasons why Diabate’s song might trouble some Muslims and just how similar — or different — this situation is from the publication of the Danish cartoons that inspired deadly riots across the world.
chautemoc via multiplayerblog.mtv.com »
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  • 2
    Deathsythe Oct 23, 08
    FTA: "there is no explicit rule in Islam prohibiting a song like Diabate's"


    THEN WHAT THE HELL IS THE PROBLEM

    /fury

    According to the article this whole shitstorm was started because one Muslim poster on Sony's ps3 forums baw'd and asked them to remove it?

    First of all: their customer service isn't that good
    Secondly: ARE YOU *bleep*ing KIDDING ME!?

    /2nd fury

    Edit: The Thread that started it all

    Sounds like a cleverly disguised troll to me - I mean, he did his research on past issues along the same lines... almost like he was looking for an issue.
    • 0
      Final Blade Oct 24, 08
      I think the delay was justifiable tbh. You and other may not like it due to the delay or the removal but still people found it offensive and they took it off. Its the guys fault for mixing two things up in the song from the Qur'an in the first place. While I personally don't see the problem with the songs, it still is a violation according to the source. I can see why it needed to be delayed.
  • 0
    Kim Jong Il Oct 23, 08
    I hope all the people who've been criticising Christians for so long realise just how stupid they've been.

    There are some religions out their that are far worse than Christianity (in terms of speaking out against games/movies/etc...).
    • 1
      chautemoc Oct 23, 08
      I dont think Islam is any worse than Christianity for this kind of stuff, really, or other things..that's one point they bring up. But yeah, for other stuff it probably is (i.e. drugs, sex, self-sacrifice).
      • 0
        Kim Jong Il Oct 23, 08
        Can you give me an example as ridiculous as this?
        • 1
          chautemoc Oct 23, 08
          Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights and advocacy group, said that he “commended” Sony for removing the song from the game, but reiterated Ali’s point that the inclusion of verses from the Qur’an, while potentially problematic, isn’t likely to be widely considered a breach against Muslim religious rules. “It’s not necessarily some strict prohibitions,” he said. “It’s just the appropriateness of the context of the sacred text. I could see Christians or Jews objecting if verses from the Bible were used in a similar way.”

          I can't think of a particular instance where this has occurred with the Christian Bible, but I can't think of any other examples with the Qur'an either, so yeah..but anyway I agree with him, I could see it happening.
        • 3
          Deathsythe Oct 23, 08
          People quote the Bible in everything from creative rap to pop music - and I have not seen nearly ANY response of this nature. Especially one that warranted a recall or pushed back release date.

        • 0
          Play ISDF Oct 23, 08
          The whole Bible thing being brought up is stupid. As said, it's been used a lot with no problems. Halo used a lot of biblical references in it (or at the very least, Bungie just felt like messing with people) with absolutely no problems. But as soon as someone steps on the Muslims ideas and such, it's like there's always a problem. It's almost like a severe amount of intolerance with certain things. I'm not trying to attack them or anything but I just can't help but feel that they over-react over too much.
        • 2
          Ameer Oct 23, 08
          Over-react to what? The unwarranted racism and subconscious labelling of us as terrorists? The fact we are the ones always searched, delayed and had our civil liberties violated the most at present?

          It's justified. Not that this case is an over-reaction; far from it.

          quote Deathsythe
          FTA: "there is no explicit rule in Islam prohibiting a song like Diabate's"
          Well, the Hadith (the sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)) does in fact say that the use of musical instruments is haram. This would therefore eliminate music in general, apart from songs that utilise only the human voice and the dars (the hand drum, which is excepted).

          quote
          `There will be people of my Ummah who will seek to make lawful; fornication, wine-drinking and the use of ma`aazif ( musical instruments ).`
          This quote is from Sahih Bukhari, the most reputable Hadith collection in the Muslim world.

          As usual though, different peoples have different interpretations or are not aware of this simple hadith cause this inconsistency between peoples.

          The problem I believe is not with the Quranic lyrics, but the fact it has been used in a haram context (music).
  • 0
    Cruxis Mana Oct 23, 08
    I'm not all too bothered about how it happened, I'm just miffed that they've had to delay the game by almost a fortnight for us in the UK...

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