In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Music - the amazing gift of God
It is a great blessing from God that He committed in our service everything. The Quran does not exclude music from His blessings. Music is one of God's wonderful creations. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that music can make us feel good!
[45:13] He committed in your service everything in the heavens and the earth; all from Him. These are proofs for people who reflect.
[39:62] GOD is the Creator of all things, and He is in full control of all things
It takes some rigorous science to figure out whether the "feel good" generated by music can be measured. And then, science wants to know: do those "feel good" measures correlate with any health benefit? Help you heal? Lessen post-surgery nausea and pain? Trigger enough optimism to get you into a post-heart-attack exercise routine?
[49:18] GOD knows all the secrets in the heavens and the earth; GOD is Seer of everything you do.
[16:78] GOD brought you out of your mothers' bellies knowing nothing, and He gave you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brains, that you may be appreciative.
Today, new interest in alternative therapies, combined with advances in "cognitive neuroscience" and tools such as the functional MRI, which lets researchers track the brain's blood flow related to mental activities, has spurred researchers to take a closer look at music's neurological effects.
[2:255] GOD: there is no other god besides Him, the Living, the Eternal. Never a moment of unawareness or slumber overtakes Him. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth. Who could intercede with Him, except in accordance with His will? He knows their past, and their future. No one attains any knowledge, except as He wills. His dominion encompasses the heavens and the earth, and ruling them never burdens Him. He is the Most High, the Great.
At Harvard Medical School's Institute for Music and Brain Science, researchers are studying the effects of music on pain and stress in premature infants, measuring heart rate, oxygenation and respiratory rate. "What evidence we have in hand really does show that music makes a difference," says the institutes's director, Dr. Mark Jude Tramo, a practicing neurologist.
[16:53] Any blessing you enjoy is from GOD. Yet, whenever you incur any adversity you immediately complain to Him.
Almighty God [6:59] With Him are the keys to all secrets; none knows them except He. He knows everything on land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls without His knowledge. Nor is there a grain in the depths of the soil. Nor is there anything wet or dry, that is not recorded in a profound record.
Some studies show music can reduce the need for blood-pressure medications after heart surgery and help babies in the neonatal intensive care unit gain weight, he says. But our brains are hardwired for music, he says, and our brains' complex response to it might play an important adjunct role in health.
[59:24] He is the One GOD; the Creator, the Initiator, the Designer. To Him belong the most beautiful names. Glorifying Him is everything in the heavens and the earth. He is the Almighty, Most Wise.
[14:34] And He gives you all kinds of things that you implore Him for. If you count GOD's blessings, you can never encompass them. Indeed, the human being is transgressing, unappreciative.
A study of music's effect on patients is under way at one very high-tech area at Seattle's Northwest Hospital & Medical Center: the Heart Catheterization Laboratory. Here, amid imaging equipment and monitors, randomly selected patients listen through a specially designed pillow to the sounds of oboe, harp and cello, along with bird songs and waterfalls. In the cath lab, patients are awake as doctors push a long, thin catheter through an artery, typically reached by an incision in the groin. Dye is injected and tracked to show blockages. Afterward, patients will be asked a series of questions: What sounds did they notice? How do they rate the lab's sound environment? How high was their anxiety during the procedure?
God [6:102] Such is GOD your Lord, there is no god except He, the Creator of all things. You shall worship Him alone. He is in control of all things.
[16:18] If you count GOD's blessings, you cannot possibly encompass them. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
The study also is being conducted at hospitals in Denmark and Canada. Dr. Per Thorgaard, study organizer and chief physician of anesthesia and intensive care at Aalborg University Hospital in Aalborg, Denmark, says about 400 patients will participate in this study, one of a series he hopes will lead to research into music's role in long-term healing.
[31:20] Do you not see that GOD has committed in your service everything in the heavens and the earth, and has showered you with His blessings - obvious and hidden? Yet, some people argue about GOD without knowledge, without guidance, and without the enlightening scripture.
[16:116] You shall not utter lies with your own tongues stating: "This is lawful, and this is unlawful," to fabricate lies and attribute them to GOD. Surely, those who fabricate lies and attribute them to GOD will never succeed.
Janice Johnson was at Northwest for a second heart catheterization and procedure to unblock an artery. The first time, she was tense and stayed that way. She was tense — until the music began. "It was such a relaxing piece of music that you just went somewhere else," says Johnson, who found herself transported to a Japanese garden, where the sound of a waterfall transfixed her. She lost track of what was going on in the cath lab — including her back pain, which was worse lying flat, as she had to do on the procedure table. "The music was really soothing," she says.
Do Not Prohibit Lawful Things [5:87] O you who believe, do not prohibit good things that are made lawful by GOD, and do not aggress; GOD dislikes the aggressors.
The Disbelievers Unappreciative [16:83] They fully recognize GOD's blessings, then deny them; the majority of them are disbelievers.
Match beats to the tempo you want for your activity. At least one small study showed that cancer patients' heartbeats synchronized with a musical beat, with a bit of training. So if you want to work hard, look for fast beats; if you want to relax, don't reach for the rock 'n' roll. Some music experts advise counting beats in the music to help it do the job for you — 120 to 135 beats per minute for fast walking, 126 for step aerobics and 160 for jogging, for example. Dr. Michael Thaut, director of the Center for Biomedical Research in Music at Colorado State University, says rhythm can modulate the timing of firing patterns of neurons in the brain.
[55:77] Which of your Lord's marvels can you deny?
[55:78] Most exalted is the name of your Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Honor.
[40:64] GOD is the One who rendered the earth habitable for you, and the sky a formidable structure, and He designed you, and designed you well. He is the One who provides you with good provisions. Such is GOD your Lord; Most Exalted is GOD, Lord of the universe.
The operating room is an "ominous, stark, foreign environment, kind of scary," says Robert Loveland, a retired construction manager who also listened to music during his heart catheterization last month. "You've got four or five, maybe six people circling you in a place that's very foreign to you — it's very unsettling." Loveland, 66, hopes Northwest makes music a regular feature in the cath lab or other areas where patients are awake during procedures.
They Believe in God Yet, They Are Going to Hell [39:38] If you ask them, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they will say, "GOD." Say, "Why then do you set up idols beside GOD? If GOD willed any adversity for me, can they relieve such an adversity? And if He willed a blessing for me, can they prevent such a blessing?" Say, "GOD is sufficient for me." In Him the trusters shall trust.
[38:27] We did not create the heaven and the earth, and everything between them, in vain. Such is the thinking of those who disbelieve. Therefore, woe to those who disbelieve; they will suffer in Hell.
At first, some of the doctors at Northwest were skeptical. "In medical school, when I trained in the 1980s, the focus was really on science and less on personal issues such as comfort and emotional states of mind and well-being," says Dr. Gary Weeks, a cardiologist. "It's only when you get out in the practice of medicine that you realize that the emotional and non-physical aspects impact the patient's sense of health and well-being."
[35:3] O people, remember GOD's blessings upon you. Is there any creator other than GOD who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? There is no other god beside Him. How could you deviate?
[67:23] Say, "He is the One who initiated you, and granted you the hearing, the eyes, and the brains. Rarely are you appreciative."
Studies have shown music can lower blood pressure and heart rate, as well as levels of stress. One, published in 2003 in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, showed that relaxing music after a psychologically stressful task stopped the increase of cortisol, a stress hormone, whereas in silence, the hormone continued to increase for 30 minutes.
Innovated Prohibitions Condemned [7:32] Say, "Who prohibited the nice things GOD has created for His creatures, and the good provisions?" Say, "Such provisions are to be enjoyed in this life by those who believe. Moreover, the good provisions will be exclusively theirs on the Day of Resurrection." We thus explain the revelations for people who know.
[40:62] Such is GOD your Lord, the Creator of all things. There is no god except He. How could you deviate?
Other small studies suggest links with heart rates, blood pressure, respiration, muscle tension, motor responses and skin temperature. Weeks sees a connection. "If a patient leaves the procedure feeling less stressed and more self-confident, they will be more likely to return to a higher level of activity," he says.
[46:3] We did not create the heavens and the earth, and everything between them except for a specific purpose, and for a finite interim. Those who disbelieve are totally oblivious to the warnings given to them.
Dr. William Nichols, an anesthesiologist who also works in Northwest's cath lab, says he's intrigued that music appears to reduce post-operative nausea and pain in some people. Looking at "risk" vs. "benefit," he sees an equation he likes: "Nobody has had an allergic reaction to music yet, as far as I know," he says.
The Major Commandments [6:151] Say, "Come let me tell you what your Lord has really prohibited for you: You shall not set up idols besides Him. You shall honor your parents. You shall not kill your children from fear of poverty - we provide for you and for them. You shall not commit gross sins, obvious or hidden. You shall not kill - GOD has made life sacred - except in the course of justice. These are His commandments to you, that you may understand."
Researchers from the sleep clinic at the University of Toronto are developing a new type of music - "brain wave music." This music is created by studying individual brain waves and then creating music to match the patterns formed by the waves. The researchers believe that this special music will lead to deeper relaxation and greatly improved sleep.
[15:98] You shall sing the praises of your Lord, and be with the prostrators.
[15:99] And worship your Lord, in order to attain certainty.
Sadly, music is prohibited based on so called hadith falsely attributed to the prophet. Majority of Muslims fail to understand that hadiths are not the words of the prophet. Additionally, they fail to understand that the Quran is the only hadith of the prophet that was sent down to him from God.
Which Hadith? [45:6] These are GOD's revelations that we recite to you truthfully. In which Hadith other than GOD and His revelations do they believe?
Quran, the Whole Quran, and Nothing But the Quran [6:19] Say, "Whose testimony is the greatest?" Say, "GOD's. He is the witness between me and you that this Quran* has been inspired to me, to preach it to you and whomever it reaches. Indeed, you bear witness that there are other gods* beside GOD." Say, "I do not testify as you do; there is only one god, and I disown your idolatry."
Quran: Fully Detailed [6:114] Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?* Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbor any doubt.
[10:59] Say, "Did you note how GOD sends down to you all kinds of provisions, then you render some of them unlawful, and some lawful?" Say, "Did GOD give you permission to do this? Or, do you fabricate lies and attribute them to GOD?"
[13:16] Say, "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say, "GOD." Say, "Why then do you set up besides Him masters who do not possess any power to benefit or harm even themselves?" Say, "Is the blind the same as the seer? Is darkness the same as the light?" Have they found idols besides GOD who created creations similar to His creations, to the point of not distinguishing the two creations? Say, "GOD is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Supreme."
The Majority of People Do Not Believe
[12:103] Most people, no matter what you do, will not believe.
[12:104] You are not asking them for any money; you simply deliver this reminder for all the people.
[12:105] So many proofs in the heavens and the earth are given to them, but they pass by them, heedlessly!
The Majority of Believers Destined for Hell
[12:106] The majority of those who believe in GOD do not do so without committing idol worship.
[1:2] Praise be to GOD, Lord of the universe.
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless you,
M. Irtaza
Ref:
- http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
- http://sleepdisorder.about.com/
- English translation of the Quran by Dr. Rashad Khalifa