HEARING IS BELIEVING

Disclaimer: some statements may not apply to people with hearing impairment.

What are the sounds you hear when you enter a religious space? Is it the sound of bells, singing, murmuring, humming, stomping? Hearing can sometimes provide us with strength, comfort, unity, joy, sadness, anger, and a ton of other emotions. I say this because when music flows into our ears and throughout our bodies it ignites a fire of passion within us.

In Anne Rasmussen's work, Women, The Recited Qur’an, and Islamic Music in Indonesia, she highlights the power of sound, which is created by the singing as well as the beat or rhythm components. It serves as a way to engulf the history, identity, and spirituality of the subject at hand.

It is truly a beauty when one can listen to the production of music. Good music touches the soul as the ear captures every little sound produced. The lack of music creates a space for those gathered in religous spaces to have a disconnect from each other, but from God too. When one recites a religious song, there is not only harmony, but a sense of power. It is important to note the role of sounds in religion.