Morphing of religious debate and the line between resolution and irresolution

In recent times, several old debates concerning the tension between religious restrictions and cultural aspirations have resurfaced in connection with various issues.

These include the participation of Maher Khan, once the popular guitarist of the band Nemesis, in its 25th anniversary celebration, despite having previously stepped away from the band for religious reasons; criticism directed at a young woman named Nazia Samantha for playing the drums while wearing a hijab, followed by her father's public apology; intense social media attacks over the publication of a photograph showing the young daughter of a former central president of an Islamic student organisation learning Islamic music in front of her music teacher, with a harmonium visible in the image; and the emergence of an online platform called Halala Center, which promoted hilla marriage as being "Sharia-compliant," despite the fact that such arranged hilla marriages are widely condemned in Islamic teachings and constitute a criminal offence under Bangladeshi law.

Debates over whether practices such as music and playing musical instruments, polygamy, child marriage, and hilla marriage are religiously permissible or forbidden (halal or haram) are by no means new. Throughout history, many such issues have gradually become normalised in people''s everyday lives at different stages of modernisation, technological advancement, globalisation, changing social realities, and economic necessity. At the same time, they often reappear in new forms.

These recurring debates are fueled by the enduring tension between ideals of religious morality and the practical demands of changing times and everyday life.

A closer examination reveals that although the specific issues differ, the pattern and presentation of the debates remain remarkably similar. Even after one issue becomes normalised or socially accepted within a particular historical context, another issue emerges and reignites the same arguments. This recurrence is driven by differences in religious interpretation, historical circumstances, local and communal intellectual traditions, and varying understandings of culture.

Although Islam is a global religion, it originated and developed in the Arab world. As a result, it has deep connections with, and has been significantly influenced by, Arab culture. However, as Islam spread beyond Arabia, it encountered diverse local cultures, giving rise to new questions and adaptations. Sociologists and anthropologists argue that, in this process, Islam has generally moved through three stages: acculturation (adopting cultural elements), reform (modifying them), and rejection (discarding them).

In his influential book ''The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier,'' Richard M Eaton explains that when Islam encountered the local culture of Bengal, it operated through three phases. The first was inclusion, in which Islam incorporated elements of local culture into its own tradition. The second was identification, where Islamic figures and concepts were expressed through familiar local metaphors, For example, referring to Allah as Niranjan ("the Formless One") or describing the Prophet as a Mahapurush ("Great Man"). The third was displacement, in which, as people later came into contact with various Islamic reform movements, they abandoned local customs and practices that were regarded as un-Islamic.

A closer look shows that these stages are not fixed historical events but part of an ongoing process, because the relationship between religion and culture is a perennial subject of debate. Over time, different schools of thought within Islam have developed distinct interpretations, doctrines, and practices, each of which has evolved into a religious tradition for particular communities. Consequently, what one group considers an artistic expression of culture, such as music, to be haram (religiously forbidden), another group, such as followers of various Sufi traditions, regards this as an integral part of its religious heritage.

\For the vast majority of common Muslims, however, music and musical instruments are accepted as normal forms of cultural expression and entertainment. Even within this broader acceptance, questions of propriety, obscenity, and moral standards continue to shape judgments about which forms of music are embraced and which are rejected.
The contributions of Muslims to the invention of musical instruments, the development of music, and its theoretical, practical, and spiritual traditions are widely acknowledged. In many Muslim-majority countries, music is socially accepted and remains an ordinary and deeply rooted aspect of cultural life.

It must be acknowledged that questions surrounding religion and culture continue to shape public life in a variety of ways and through diverse forms of practice. At times, they spark intense controversy. The same questions and the same debates reappear over time, albeit in different forms. This is because these issues do not exist solely within the realms of religion and culture; they also become intertwined with various kinds of politics, identity politics, religious politics, nationalist politics, religious nationalism, and secular or democratic politics.

As a result, recurring cycles of controversy arise over observances and practices such as Shab-e-Barat, Milad, Muharram, Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year), laying flowers at the National Martyrs'' Mausoleum or the Shaheed Minar, musical performances and concerts, gatherings of Baul and Fakir musicians, and the Urs held at Sufi shrines.

But what exactly is the relationship between religion and culture? This, too, is a question that many intellectuals have sought to answer. For example, Abul Mansur Ahmad wrote, "The relationship between religion and culture is extremely close and intimate; nevertheless, the two are not identical. One may say that religion is the essence of culture, potentiated culture, or, in the words of the philosopher Malinowski, the ''master force of human culture.'' Therefore, everything in religion belongs to culture, but not everything in culture belongs to religion. To understand this more easily, if culture is compared to a tree, religion may be compared to its fruit. Religion emerges from culture, and culture, in turn, is shaped by religion. But a tree is not as pure and flawless as its fruit. Likewise, culture encompasses both good and bad, flowers and thorns." (Bangladesher Culture, Abul Mansur Ahmad, Ahmad Publishing House)

There was a time when, in the Muslim communities of this region, especially in rural areas and small towns, the religious view that "watching television is haram" was widespread. Television had not yet reached every household. Instead, a single television might serve an entire neighborhood, with people gathering at one or two homes to watch. During that period, it was common for preachers at waz mahfils (Islamic sermon events) to issue religious rulings condemning television.

In the Chattogram city, I saw rickshaws fitted with loudspeakers distributing small booklets free of charge or selling them cheaply. One such booklet bore the title ''The Punishment of the Grave for Watching Television.'' Its cover featured the image of a corpse wrapped in a burial shroud, tightly coiled by a giant snake. After Friday prayers at mosques, anonymous individuals would sometimes distribute photocopied leaflets claiming that someone had dreamed about the punishments awaiting people in the afterlife for watching television. These leaflets also instructed readers to photocopy and circulate them further.

These were scenes from the 1990s and the early 2000s. Many people still remember such images from Bangladesh''s smaller towns. Yet within a decade or so, televisions found their way into virtually every home. No religious prohibition was able to stop their spread. Although some segments of the religious community continued to keep televisions out of their homes, television ultimately found its way into everyone''s pocket.
Thanks to the internet, a smartphone has now become an even greater source of entertainment than television ever was. Ironically, the very waz mahfils from which television had once been declared forbidden are now livestreamed online. Today, it is difficult to find an Islamic preacher who does not maintain a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, and a steady stream of photos and videos on social media.

Many of these controversies can be traced back to the global spread of television following its invention in the West. As television began to expand across the world during the 1950s and 1960s, intense debates emerged in countries such as Egypt, Turkey, and across the Arab world. Religious scholars and communities became deeply divided over whether watching television was permissible (halal) or prohibited (haram) under Islamic law.
In 1965, when King Faisal of Saudi Arabia sought to establish the country's first state television station, he encountered fierce opposition from conservative religious scholars. The then Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa condemning television. A significant number of clerics denounced it as "the devil''s box" and portrayed it as a vehicle for anti-Islamic culture.

The controversy escalated dramatically. In 1965, Prince Khalid bin Musaid, a nephew of King Faisal, was shot and killed by police while attempting to attack the television station in Riyadh in protest against its establishment. A decade later, in a tragic continuation of the same family conflict, King Faisal himself was assassinated by Khalid''s brother.

These events are documented in ''A History of Saudi Arabia'', published by Cambridge University Press, and have also been the subject of a documentary produced by ABC Australia.Earlier debates over photographs
Within Muslim societies, however, these debates began even earlier, with the advent of photography. Photography was invented around 1839, and when camera technology reached the Muslim world, it immediately became the subject of controversy, particularly in the Ottoman Empire (present-day Türkiye) and Egypt.

In the Indian subcontinent, many Deobandi scholars continued for decades to issue religious rulings declaring photography to be haram (forbidden). Over time, however, the practical requirements of passports, national identity cards, and other legal obligations led them to recognize photography as permissible in cases of necessity, whether for religious or worldly purposes. Today, in the age of smartphones and social media, photography has become a normal part of daily life, even within religious communities, extending far beyond situations of necessity.

It must be said that the nature and character of today''s social media debates differ significantly from the religious controversies that once shaped society more broadly. Around the world, social media has played a major role in amplifying the rise of right-wing politics and identity-based movements across different countries. Beyond spreading ideological messages, religious controversies have increasingly become tools for generating likes, views, engagement, and monetized content.

A video of Nazia Samantha playing the drums at a university event was quickly picked up by social media platforms primarily as clickbait. In Bangladesh, it is still uncommon to see women playing the drums, so that alone could have been the story. But in the age of monetisation, a far more profitable headline was that a woman who had performed Hajj and wore a hijab was playing the drums. As a result, the young woman''s dedication to music and drumming became secondary to the religious controversy manufactured around her.

In pursuit of clicks and revenue, she was thrust into the center of a religious dispute, with serious consequences for her personal and social life. The backlash eventually compelled her father to issue a public apology. The young woman herself, however, has stated that she intends to continue playing the drums while wearing the hijab for as long as she wishes. She sees nothing religiously objectionable in doing so; rather, she argues that the abusive language and personal attacks directed at her are far more objectionable from a religious standpoint.

Maher Khan had long been immensely popular among a segment of young music enthusiasts. Later, out of religious conviction, he withdrew from his band. When he returned to the stage with a guitar after many years for Nemesis''s 25th anniversary concert, many among the group often described as "urban youths who have returned to the faith" reacted with anger. He became the target of intense attacks on social media, which he dismissed as "garbage."

In a Facebook post, he wrote, "To those who have spread negativity and made tasteless comments, I can only say it is genuinely sad to see you lower yourselves to this level."

Many issues that were once subject to strict religious rulings have, over time, undergone significant change. As a result, activities such as watching television, taking photographs, and creating digital content have become part of everyday life. Yet even issues that appear to have been settled can resurface as new religious controversies amid changing social conditions, political tensions, and evolving realities. Polygamy, child marriage, and hilla marriage are examples of this phenomenon.

Among ordinary Muslims in Bangladesh, polygamy is generally viewed negatively. Although Islamic law permits it under certain conditions, both religious discourse and social practice have increasingly moved toward discouraging it. Hilla marriage, on the other hand, is widely regarded as reprehensible and condemnable under Islamic jurisprudence and is also a criminal offence under Bangladeshi law. Yet recently there have been attempts to rebrand such practices in religious terms, giving rise to new phenomena such as Masna Colony and Halala Center. These developments, in turn, have introduced new social tensions.

In Bangladesher Culture (The Culture of Bangladesh), Abul Mansur Ahmad argues in detail that while religion may be universal, culture is always regional. Muslims around the world may share the same religion, but it is neither realistic nor natural to expect Muslims in every region of the world to share an identical culture.

Even within Bangladesh, religious practice and cultural expression vary considerably among Muslim communities from one region to another. A healthy society requires diversity of opinion, disagreement, and debate. However, when such disagreements descend into hatred, hostility, personal attacks, character assassination, threats, or conflict, they inflict harm on both religion and culture. The result is a society that is diminished, where people's ability to practice their faith and culture is undermined. Amid the many controversies that continue to arise, it is essential to strengthen our collective capacity for discernment and astute judgment.

* Rafsan Galib is Editorial Assistant, Prothom Alo  and may  be contacted at [email protected]

* The opinions here expressed are those of the author.

* This article appeared in Prothom Alo print and online and has been translated by Ayesha Kabir for Prothom Alo (English)