When I entered my twenties, I was infatuated with the "Nightingale," Abdel Halim Hafez.
I adored him with a manic passion that reached the level of fanaticism; I bought all his songs and memorized them by heart, and I still keep those tapes to this day.
I bought a book about his personal life, and among what I read was that he did not drink alcohol, did not smoke, and used to bring a reciter to read the Quran in his home every Friday. I was very impressed by this. (I thought, perhaps this work might intercede for him on the Day of Resurrection).
I shared this information with someone close to me who used to criticize my intense love for the "Nightingale."
He replied with mockery and spite: "All this work will not benefit him; he is in the Fire because singing is forbidden, and he will continue to carry the sins of everyone who hears his songs until the Hour begins."
I said to myself: "Why, O Lord? Why all this cruelty? Why did You grant him a beautiful voice as long as You forbade singing?"
My fear of God began to increase. I began to worship Him out of fear, not out of love. Although God should be worshipped with love, not through fear and intimidation. There is no meaning to worship if it is based on fear.
I used to hear lectures by a religious man mocking the Nightingale and (implicitly) threatening him with Hellfire just because he sang. I used to watch videos titled: "Snakes coming out of Abdel Halim Hafez's grave."
My resentment grew. I wondered, why all this? What crime did this simple human commit to be tortured with all kinds of torment? Is our God this harsh?
He did not kill anyone, did not hold a grudge against anyone, did not hate anyone, and did not incite against anyone. He did not plant racism or sectarianism; he did not carry or adopt criminal ideas.
His message was a message of peace and love, which he conveyed to us with his sweet voice. Meanwhile, those who kill, bomb, and incite sectarianism and racism are predicted to be in the Gardens of Bliss! What a strange equation!
Years passed, and I cast everything I had learned behind my back. I devoted myself to the Book of God as if I were reading it for the first time. I examined every word in it, searched every verse, and I am still searching.
I threw away everything I learned from religious men and cast it aside.
I found that God is innocent of all this violence. I found that I worship a beautiful God who loves beauty. I found that God created the world and its blessings and pleasures for us.
I loved my Lord very much, and my love for Him increased. I began to worship Him out of love for Him, not out of fear of Him. I found that God did not forbid us from what the religious men claimed.
I found that religious men invented another source for religion which they called "The Prophetic Sunnah," and they made it the basis of religion and the judge over the Book of God! They wrote it to their own measure and in accordance with their ideas. And because they hate life (except for the women in it):
🚫 They forbade beauty:
- They forbade singing.
- They forbade music.
- They forbade art and drawing.
- They forbade photography and sculpture.
- They forbade dancing and creativity.
- They forbade everything that is beautiful.
✅ And in return, they permitted:
- They permitted beheadings.
- They permitted killing those who leave prayer.
- They permitted stoning the adulterer and cutting off the thief's hand.
- They permitted the breastfeeding of adults (Ida' al-Kabir).
- They permitted hitting the wife and the child.
- They permitted drinking camel urine and invented the torment of the grave.
They killed life within us and permitted everything violent and criminal. God is innocent of all those prohibitions. God is innocent of all those permissions. God is innocent of everything they said about Him.
I still adore the Nightingale, and my love for his voice and for the masters of the "Beautiful Era" has increased: Abdel Halim, Umm Kulthum, Warda, Yas Khadr, Mayada, Talal Maddah, Abdel Wahab, Fairuz, and many others.
A person's journey with faith must be based on love and beauty, not on fear and threats. God created life with its pleasures and beauty for us, and it is our duty to live it with joy and creativity. Arts, singing, and beauty are gifts from God, not prohibitions as the "bats of darkness" claim.
I finish this article of mine while whispering "The Fortune Teller" (Qari'at al-Finjan)...