IRAN’S SUPREME leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said yesterday that music was “not compatible” with the highest values of the Islamic republic, and it should not be practised or taught.
In some of the most extreme comments by a senior regime figure since the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei said: “Although music is halal , promoting and teaching it is not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic.”
Khamenei’s comments came in response to a request for a ruling by a 21-year-old follower of his, who was thinking of starting music lessons, but wanted to know if they were acceptable according to Islam.
“It’s better that our dear youth spend their valuable time in learning science and essential and useful skills and fill their time with sport and healthy recreations instead of music,” he said.
Unlike other clerics in Iran, whose religious rulings are practised only by their own followers, Khamenei’s views are interpreted as administrative orders for the whole country, which must be obeyed by the government.
After his election in 2005, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cracked down on music. – (Guardian service)