The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology

The purpose of the article is to outline Islamic discourses on sound, more particularly whispering, found in the Qur’ān, the ḥadīth literature and contemporary online fatwas, with the aim of determining whether whispering has different connotations and meanings in different contexts, literary genres...

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Main Author: GÖRAN LARSSON
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Finnish Society for the Study of Religion 2012-01-01
Series:Temenos
Online Access:https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/6946
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spelling doaj-78256fd66c60487eb0ce6ea60fc95cef2020-11-25T01:11:16ZengFinnish Society for the Study of ReligionTemenos2342-72562012-01-0148110.33356/temenos.6946The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theologyGÖRAN LARSSON0University of GöteborgThe purpose of the article is to outline Islamic discourses on sound, more particularly whispering, found in the Qur’ān, the ḥadīth literature and contemporary online fatwas, with the aim of determining whether whispering has different connotations and meanings in different contexts, literary genres and ritual contexts. Examples discussed in the article are derived from a broad range of Islamic sources, such as the Qur’ān and its exegesis and the prophetic literature, but also from a number of different fields within Muslim culture, such as the Internet, YouTube clips and notes from fieldwork among Muslim groups in Sweden. On the basis of the texts and videos selected for analysis, I discuss the belief that whispering has the potential to disturb and cause disorder, and is associated with Satan. Whispering is looked upon as an intermediate and therefore suspicious position, between silence and saying something out loud. More generally, whispering is closely associated with the negative effects of Satan’s power over mankind.https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/6946
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author GÖRAN LARSSON
spellingShingle GÖRAN LARSSON
The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology
Temenos
author_facet GÖRAN LARSSON
author_sort GÖRAN LARSSON
title The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology
title_short The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology
title_full The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology
title_fullStr The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology
title_full_unstemmed The Sound of Satan: Different Aspects of Whispering in Islamic theology
title_sort sound of satan: different aspects of whispering in islamic theology
publisher Finnish Society for the Study of Religion
series Temenos
issn 2342-7256
publishDate 2012-01-01
description The purpose of the article is to outline Islamic discourses on sound, more particularly whispering, found in the Qur’ān, the ḥadīth literature and contemporary online fatwas, with the aim of determining whether whispering has different connotations and meanings in different contexts, literary genres and ritual contexts. Examples discussed in the article are derived from a broad range of Islamic sources, such as the Qur’ān and its exegesis and the prophetic literature, but also from a number of different fields within Muslim culture, such as the Internet, YouTube clips and notes from fieldwork among Muslim groups in Sweden. On the basis of the texts and videos selected for analysis, I discuss the belief that whispering has the potential to disturb and cause disorder, and is associated with Satan. Whispering is looked upon as an intermediate and therefore suspicious position, between silence and saying something out loud. More generally, whispering is closely associated with the negative effects of Satan’s power over mankind.
url https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/6946
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