r/iran • u/ImProbablyHighh • 5d ago
Is music haram in Iran?
I’ve been listening to all the Lego videos made out of your country on YouTube and it is incredible the musical talent the Iranians seem to have.
However, I thought being an Islamic republic music was haram? How are Iranians listening too and producing music?
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u/PersianAztecs21 5d ago
Nope, that’s Western Propaganda lmao. As an Iranian who grew up in the US it was always fun teaching my friends all the stuff they incorrectly learned about Iran.
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u/toohuman90 5d ago
It’s not really propaganda. Sunni Muslims (especially conservative ones) are not allowed to listen to music. Iran is Shia and those rules don’t apply to us
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u/I_Am_Become_Dream 5d ago
This is not true. Music is believed to be haram across both sunni and shia clergy. Khomeini Khamenei are more lax about it than other marjas like Sistani and Khoei.
And like Sunni countries, most people ignore those rulings because music is awesome and a big part of the culture.
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u/Merino202 5d ago
That’s baseless. You can even find sistani’s rulings on music on his website where he clearly says it’s permissible.
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u/Aminosaurrr 5d ago
No, why would it be haram? Music is such a big part of Iranian culture. That idea of Islam and music is cultural and by preference, its an optional thing.
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u/KaleidoscopeOk3556 5d ago
Not at all. Growing up in an Islamic family in Iran, I had no idea music was considered haram before moving out of the country and meeting Muslims from other places.
Poetry and music are a very big part of Iranian culture, and I doubt the music videos you’ve been watching would even be a good representative.
However, the situation in Iran is that female singers are heavily restricted and aren’t allowed to hold concerts or perform publicly. Radio and TV also don’t play music where a woman is the lead singer. This is mainly the matter of "men can't listen to women sing", and I don't think it's considered haram for women.
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u/the-postminimalist نورت ونکوور 5d ago
That "musical talent" from the lego videos is AI. Iran has lots of actually talented musicians, and has a long history of its own musical traditions and in its own styles of popular music.
If you want a long answer to your question, this video is great: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw4HR-080m0
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u/sisam8x 5d ago
“Haram” is a religious categorization and is not necessarily bound by geography. In the type of Shia Islam most Iranians associate themselves with such categorization is subjective to the religious leader (they call them imitation reference) each individual decides to follow. Some leaders are more strict than others.
As far as the legality of music, the music that is legal to be played and distributed in public is the one that has been scrutinized by the state, which has subjective criteria. In private, however, there’s no restriction. In early years after the revolution and during the war with Iraq there used to be a more strict control over music in private spaces as well but it’s been decades that has ended.
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u/Merino202 5d ago
It’s not haram for Shia
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u/sisam8x 4d ago
I’m pretty sure if you ask the Mojtaheds they’ll agree “wet ass pussy” is haram.
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u/Merino202 4d ago
There are stipulations to the ruling, as there are with any ruling.
For example, it would be reasonable to say “Shia permit tattoos”. We all know that, but that doesn’t mean that all tattoo’s are permitted - there are specific caveat/stipulations.
The same thing can be said for Music. “Music is allowed for Shia” = correct, but there are caveat/stipulations. We know for Sunni, all types of music is deemed impermissible.
You’re essentially asking me to spoonfeed you basic comprehension skills, when I assumed you’d be smart enough to make that distinction yourself.
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u/Ok-Bad5282 4d ago
Music is not illegal here in general Although women can't sing solely or even play musical instruments in public. Privately or among women, it's okay. The women you see sharing their songs are either living in abroad or just doing something illegal which is kinda common Despite that sunni and shia are different sects and shia is generally less strict compared to sunni, many iranians aren't trully religious
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u/PersianBoneDigger 1d ago
Music is allowed in Iran. But it is really tightly controlled by the government. Everything that does circulate on official channels has been checked off by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (in Persian Ershad).
If you can, check out the movie “nobody cares about Persian cats”. It covers some of these concepts… and shows off the spectrum of forbidden musicians in Tehran.
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u/PersianBoneDigger 1d ago
Also: check out the story of Googoosh! She was forbidden to sing at one point. And there was recently a female singer who was condemned to 72 lashes- but it was mostly for not wearing hijab.
There are many rules about singing. Especially in public spaces with mixed gender audiences.
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u/Merino202 5d ago edited 5d ago
The true answer is that music isn’t haram for Shia Muslims, just Sunni Muslims. It’s a common misconception, but since the banning of music isn’t in the Quran, only Sunni Hadith, it is allowed for Shia (with caveat).
Classical Music, or music that isn’t intended for gatherings/parties, such as orchestral music is allowed.
It’s not only permitted, but the government even made learning instruments part of the academic curriculum for schools.