Ahmad Khatami, Women's Solo Singing, and the Declaration of Music as Forbidden

In a recent statement regarding the controversial release of a music album, Ahmad Khatami emphasized that the solo singing of a female artist does not align with the goals of the Islamic Revolution. Recently, following the release of the album 'I Love You, O Ancient Land' by Cheshmeh Publishing, featuring simultaneous singing by Mohsen Karamati and Noushin Tafi, there was significant criticism directed at the Ministry of Culture for issuing a permit for this album. Ahmad Khatami, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, on Tuesday, April 11, stated during a meeting about this album and the Ministry of Culture's permit for the female singer, 'One of the clerics sent me a message saying that he wants to take a stance on this issue, so please report the news accurately to me.' This member of the Assembly of Experts further stated, 'Through a friend, I sent a message to the Minister of Culture asking him to clarify what happened, and we have nothing to do with the media; an hour later, he texted me that this CD is not a solo performance and that the male voice is stronger than the female voice; the second part of the text was that he said this issue also occurred during Ahmadinejad's presidency.' Khatami added, 'I also communicated this explanation to two clerics, but we must ask, does every wrongdoing that occurred during Ahmadinejad's era justify repeating mistakes in the new government?' Previously, two clerics from Qom, Ayatollah Nouri Hamadani and Nasser Makarem Shirazi, had protested on February 4 against the Ministry of Culture's permit for the release of an album in which, according to them, a woman sang. This criticism came at a time when some critics of Hassan Rouhani's government, including Hossein Safar Harandi, the Minister of Culture in Ahmadinejad's government, and Morteza Aqa Tehrani, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, confirmed that no female solo singing was performed in this album. However, Ahmad Khatami continued his remarks by stating that 'the singing of two people is not a duet' and 'those who have listened to the CD know that the singing of the woman and the man is separate,' adding, 'A fair critique in this regard is that writers should state that the release of this CD and the issuance of its permit were not in line with our Islamic Revolution goals.' In this context, Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture of Iran, recently stated that some are trying to 'create tension in the music space' by 'stirring up' claims that a permit for a female solo album was issued by the Ministry of Culture. Jannati also mentioned, 'If a permit for solo singing had been issued by the Ministry of Culture, we would have maintained that belief, but this was not the case, and only self-appointed groups acted based on incorrect information to spread this news.' The Minister of Culture emphasized that 'this ministry does not issue permits for female solo singing.' Furthermore, the Ministry of Culture released a statement regarding this matter, declaring that 'what has been published recently in the form of news and reports against the performance of this ministry is a fabrication and marginalization by some opposing and anti-government media that, without presenting any specific and substantiated evidence, merely aim to create crises and marginalize the activities of this ministry.' According to the Ministry of Culture, 'These media have repeatedly attempted to cause distress and concern among some of the system's well-meaning individuals and esteemed scholars through excessive writing, rumor-mongering, and unnecessary marginalization by publishing incorrect, inaccurate, and biased news.' Criticism of the prevalence and performance of music in Iran has also been voiced in recent months by other prominent clerics. For instance, Mohammad Yazdi, the current head of the Assembly of Experts, recently attacked the performance of the Ministry of Culture in the music sector, urging Ali Jannati to remind the artistic deputy of this ministry that 'music is forbidden in Islam.' Yazdi told the Minister of Culture, 'You cannot distinguish ambiguous cases. Resorting to ambiguous cases will gradually lead you to trample the boundaries and fall into the prohibited as a suspect.' Additionally, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, referred to music concerts as 'entertainment' and the Friday prayer leader of Urmia deemed the promotion of music as 'incompatible' with the system's goals. In recent months, music performances in several provinces of Iran, including Khorasan, have faced serious restrictions, and various performances have had their permits revoked. Recently, Hamidreza Nourbakhsh, the CEO of the House of Music of Iran, reported the prohibition of female singers and musicians in '12 provinces' of Iran.