Some time ago, I posted an account of several teachers looking for music for various holidays, including Ramadan. I sneered about that. Well, one of them found a song for Ramadan here. This is most amusing. Here’s why:
1. It is written in a Western key (A Major).
2. The text is concerned with only the outward appearances of the holiday.
3. A committed Moslem would probably have the same reaction to this as a committed Catholic to “As a Fire is Meant for Burning.” Haugen-Daaz for Muslims! Ecumenical pain! Something in common!
The very existence of this song annoys me for several reasons. First, it’s poorly written music. Second, the text is worse than the music. Third, and most important, it’s condescending to Moslems. The teacher who (indirectly) brought this to my attention said, “Here is a great site with a Ramadan song that can be copied legally! I used it last year for 3rd grade and the students loved it, but better yet, our Muslim friends were happy we weren’t just singing Christmas and Hanukah.”
Oh, but they were. This song isn’t Islamic at all; it is written from the point of view of a non-Muslim. It oozes “tolerance” and “understanding.” It sounds like a musically watered-down “White Christmas” – artificially “nice” music.
When someone makes a comment about the dearth of music for Ramadan, I know he’s ignorant of a simple fact: Moslems do not use music in an aesthetic way. There are no Ramadan carols. There is no secular seasonal music for Ramadan. Music is simply not used in that way by that culture. Therefore, you can bet that the guy who comes up with A Ramadan Celebration for Concert Band and Mixed Chorus definitely ain’t Moslem, because if he were, he would see no reason to write such a piece. When we empathetic-inclusive-embarrassed-to-be-Western Western types use such music, any Moslem who understands Islam will be confused at best.
Yes, there is a dearth of music about Ramadan. It’s intentional. There is no need to fill it. There is especially no need to fill it with bad, bad, simply awful poetry set to poorly-constructed Western music.
Condescending to others looks foolish.
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/
mentions the Vatican’s recent statement on Islam:
“The Vatican has released an unusually harsh criticism of Islam and the oppression of Christians in Muslim countries. This is a groundbreaking statement, coming after centuries of Vatican silence on the pogroms carried out by Muslims—and it even uses the word “dhimmi” repeatedly: The Church and Islam: “La Civiltà Cattolica” Breaks the Ceasefire. (Hat tip: Charles Jacobs.)”