Cultural Perspectives of Associating Music With the Giftedness in Saudi Arabia

SAAD M ALAMER

Abstract


In the literature, performing music is regarded as a manifestation of giftedness. However, the legitimacy of this activity has been the topic of much debate among Islamic scholars since performing music first began. This paper aims to explore whether Saudis’ conceptions of music are shaped by interpretation of religious law and dogma or by Western understandings of giftedness. A total of 14 teachers and Mosque Imams participated in this study. The findings showed that, although most in the teachers group personally admitted that music is part of the giftedness domain, for religious reasons, everyone in the teachers and Mosque Imams’ group did not appreciate performing music. However, the participants showed significant appreciation for songs (i.e., recitation/ lyrics) without musical instruments.


Keywords


Giftedness; Religion (Islam); Traits; Gifted children; Saudis; Teacher; Music

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References


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