Article title:
Writers: Ehsan Zabihifar, Shahin Mohseni
Abstract:
The 9th century is when the Islamic civilization underwent massive changes and different discourses in the areas of science and culture formed. This is when theoretical music commenced developing and mathematical-philosophical discourse gained dominance thanks to the philosophers, logicians, and mathematicians who were familiar with the Greek sciences. The Kitāb al-malāhī wa-asmā’ihā min qibal al-mūsīqá is one of the documents which not only proves the existence of the discoursal opposition at the time but was also mainly written due to this selfsame opposition. This valuable treaty by Abū Ṭālib Al-Mufaḍḍal Ibn Salama – the 9th century Linguist, hadith transmitter, and grammarian of the Kūfan school – is one of the oldest musical manuscripts, which has been a reputable resource for the subsequent works, includes an account on the oral tradition in the pre-Islamic era and the early centuries afterward. In his manuscript, Ibn Salama is trying to protect the tradition he belongs in from the new-fangled phenomenon called “music”. Therefore, he emphasizes the very points which aroused the dissension, such as the mythical origin of musical instruments; the ethnical backgrounds of the different musical instruments the changes in their names over the years, musical terms, and the correlation between music, poetry, and social traditions. This article, by explicating the book and explaining the terms used, intends to indicate that there were different cultural accounts of music in the 9th century which was different from the currently remaining metanarrative.
Keywords:
music music history Kitab al-malahi Qina discoursal opposition