Nasheeds (Arabic: 
) are Islamic-oriented songs. Traditionally, they
are sung a cappella, accompanied only by a drum known as a daff.
This musical style is used because many Muslim scholars interpret
Islam as prohibiting the use of musical instruments except for
some basic percussion. Despite what might be considered a
handicap, Nasheeds are spreading across the music network as many
people admire the purity and simplicity of the music.
However, a new generation of "Nasheed" artists/ groups
are increasingly using a wide variety of musical instruments in
their art. This has caused controversy amongst the Muslim
community because of the vast range of scholalry opinions that
exist on Music in Islam. These range from absolutely no music
& singing allowed at all, to that of any music/ musical
instruments allowed so long as the lyrics/ subject matter is of
an Islamic ethos. There is also a crossover of mainstream music
of groups like Outlandish & Aman, and solo artists like Dawud
Wharnsby Ali appealing to a significant Muslim crowd and also
leading to performance of such artists at Islamic orientated
festivals, conferences, concerts & shows (e.g. ISNA,
Celebrate Eid, Young Muslims). Other artists and organisations
such as Noor Media promote a 100% instrument free stance with
nasheeds, differing from the current trends of the increasing
usage of instruments in nasheeds.
Nasheeds are also increasingly being accompanied by
professionally produced videos for certain tracks. Examples
include Al Mu'allim, Meditation, Hasbi
Rabbi (all by Sami Yusuf), Du'a by Our World by Zain Bhikha.
