with goodness. In his concise rebuttal of Sufi singing—the gist of which appears on pp. 106–108—he writes:

“This manner of audition is prohibited and repugnant. No Muslim grants it licence, and none find it attractive except one who has stripped off the cloak of modesty and religion, brazenly flaunting before Allah, His Messenger, His religion, and His servants what is vile. A session that contains such elements is instinctively recognized as ugly; even the unbelievers taunt the Muslims and their faith on its account.

Indeed, the elite of the Muslims—and Islam itself—are innocent of this audition, through which so much corruption has afflicted reason, religion, womenfolk, and children. How much faith it has ruined, how many sunnahs it has extinguished, and how much depravity and innovation it has revived!

If its only evil were the heaviness it places upon the hearts of its adherents when the Quran is recited before their assembly—so that they find its recitation long, pass over its verses deaf and blind, tasting neither savour nor spiritual ecstasy nor sweetness; in fact, most of those present, or many of them, do not even listen to it, do not ponder its meanings, and do not lower their voices while it is being recited—this alone would be enough to deem it forbidden.

The Book is recited and they bow their heads—not out of reverence,
But with the vacant, distracted bowing of the heedless.

Yet when the singing begins they flutter like flies in dance;
By Allah, their dancing is not for the sake of Allah.

Tambourine, reed-pipe, and the trill of a fawn-eyed singer1—
Since when has worship ever been performed to the sounds of amusement?”