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Written By: Abdul-Aziz Oudah & Mohamed al-Kibsi
Article Date: Feb 13, 2008 - 12:15:45 AM
Aden festival headlining visiting singers provokes controversy.
A statement issued by Islah Party Members of Parliament Fuad Dahaba and Haza’a al-Maswari against a festival has raised controversy over singing, politics and theology.
Fuad Dahaba said that a singing carnival is not only prohibited by Shari’a law, but is also a clear violation of the constitution.
“What do we need in Yemen? Do we only lack art and singing, or do we lack for the simplest requirements of living?” asked Dahaba. He added that the basic necessities of life have become impossible to obtain. “Education and health are miserable and dying while we have been spending our money on useless things that do not suit us as Muslims or as Yemenis,” said Dahaba.
A number of religious scholars have been circulating a fatwa to be signed which condemns and prohibits the First Aden singing festival, headlining Syrian singer Asalah Nasri and Egyptian star Isam Carrica planned for February 14. These have come only months after similarly draconian fatwas have been issued calling for the ban of women in advertisements, that girls be removed from school as soon as they are capable of writing and reading the Qur’an, and that women’s rights organizations are un-Islamic. These fatwas were similarly supported by Dahaba and al-Maswari.
Meanwhile Sheikh Yahya al-Najar, head of the guidance unit of the GPC, criticized these attempts to issue fatwas and said there is no article in the Yemeni constitution that prohibits festivals. He added that Islam never prohibits singing unless it includes pornographic material, adding that the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, had attended singing with Daff.
Sheikh al-Najar stressed that issuing fatwas is the charge of the Fatwa House only and should not to be issued by those who like to trigger conflicts. He further mentioned that such campaigns are aimed at stalling the development process and damaging tourism and other activities that build the economy.
“They have been trying their utmost to hinder the activities of improving the economy either through issuing fatwas, inciting the public or through shedding doubts,” said al-Najar.
Meanwhile, the director of the Aden cultural office, Abdullah Kudadah, refused to comment on the attempts to issue a fatwa against the festival featuring the Syrian and Egyptian performers in Aden. However, he does consider the festival as a primary step for creating a tourism culture that will contribute to the economic and cultural renaissance of Yemen.
“I don’t get involved in the issuing of fatwas, however I don’t support cheap art. We support art that develops a sense of love, brotherhood and human relations,” said Kudadah.
He further mentioned that this coming concert was among several proposed festivals for singers from different Arab states, as well as the fact that Yemen is launching four new satellite channels.
“Music is an international language. We know how the ancient Arab tribes used to celebrate their poets because they used to believe that their poets would promote the tribe. The success of a poet is the success of the whole tribe,” said Kudada. He added that Ukadh used to be the forum for all Arab poets from different Arab regions.
The director of Aden festival, Marwan al-Khalid, said the festival is the first of its kind organized by the Aden governorate. He said the festival will be held in the 22 May stadium and that more than 400 prizes will be given to the audience. In addition to 400 cell phones and one million Yemeni riyals divided amongst twenty winners, the grand prize of a Hyundai automobile will also be given away. Al-Khalid added that there would be VIP tickets costing $100 each, which include dinner and beverages. Ordinary tickets will cost YR3000 each.
Organizers have also decided to donate 30 percent of the concert proceeds to the aid of the Palestinian people in Gaza and to cancer health care in Yemen.
Al-Khalid expected a great turnout for the festival due to the fame of the Syrian singer.
Meanwhile, poet Ali al-Mugri considered the prohibition of the festival as a clear sign of the miserable situation of the theology that the Islamic states and Muslims have fallen to, especially considering that some Sheikhs have been trying to prohibit singing, music and art.
The Aden festival is sponsored by the International Bank of Yemen, CAC Bank, the governorate of Aden, Teleyemen, Yemenia, the Yemeni Economic Corporation, the Yemen Observer, Al-Ayyam, Al-Thawrah, Al-Muthalath advertising agency and the Arab Agency for Media and Marketing.
