My Guitar and Me!- UPDATED

Hey friends,

I finally started to learn to play the guitar. When I was in school, I had learnt how to play the flute, and I quite didn’t like it, and I cannot remember why I had to play it. I wish I had learnt how to play the guitar.

In 2003, a friend had gifted me a guitar. It's the Yamaha Acoustic C-40, and I absolutely love it. For a while I practiced on it, and then left it aside as other things cropped up. Last week, I took it out again, and now I am back to learning my chords. Playing a guitar is no easy task, and my respect for those who play decent music on the guitar has gone up. I went to see Jason Carter (an expatriate guitarist) in concert in Dubai several years ago, and he played his guitar in the most amazing way. He played flamenco and Spanish music mostly. The strumming is not an easy thing to do. Switching between chords is not easy. As with everything, practice makes perfect.

So next time you are in Dubai, make sure to ask me and I shall play one song for you on the guitar as part of my part to entertain you. Lol! :-)

Mansur
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To clarify those people who would outright say that guitar is illegal in Islam, I wish to share this online fatwa, taken from Islam Online, which basically states that:

"In his response to the question you posed, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:

“Many of the scholars of Islam, both ancient and modern, consider all forms of musical instruments except duff (tambourines) as forbidden; but, there are other scholars, who consider music and musical instruments as forbidden only if and when they are used for themes or messages that are declared as forbidden or undesirable. Based on the second view, as long as you stay clear off undesirable themes, and messages, then what you are doing can be considered as permissible. ***You must, however, remember that this permission is conditional on the fact that you are resorting to music as an occasional outlet only; for there is no doubt whatsoever that if your indulgence in music in any way interferes with your performance of your worship or other obligatory duties, then it shall be considered as strictly forbidden.*** [My viewpoint too, considering I play my guitar as an outlet, and hardly 30 mins a day. I don't have dancing, I don't sing-- it's just music]

So, use it only as an occasional outlet. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has permitted us to have occasional outlets in order to help us recuperate and refresh ourselves. Resorting to such occasional outlets may in fact be beneficial for our enhanced productivity/creativity. May Allah help us to maintain proper balance in our life, avoiding all forms of extremes, Amen.”

It has become clear from the above Fatwa that playing guitar, as a musical instrument, is not categorically Haram as long as the aforementioned guidelines are observed. Playing guitar as an occasional outlet does not run counter to Islamic teachings as long as one does not neglect religious observances.

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503545726