If I have mispelled a name in Arabic, please let me know by commenting, and I will fix it.
As for the transliterations, there are MANY ways to transliterate Arabic. I have (unless I have goofed) used one of the transliterations I found out on the web. At some point, I may decide exactly which system I want to use and go back and change some of the entries so that I am consistent. There are a lot of difficulties with transliterations. I want them, and have to have them because many of my readers will not know the Arabic alphabet. However, I am reluctant to use scholarly transliterations, because the scholars use a lot of symbols that are both confusing to non-scholarly readers and difficult for me to reproduce. I am also not trying to use special symbols for Arabic sounds which are different in Arabic but not in English. Treat the English transliterations as very rough approximations. Know that you may find information on these names under variant spellings elsewhere.
Why Songs?
For me, songs are an important part of worship.
I am well aware that while there is a significant portion of the Muslim world who use songs to worship and praise Allah, particularly when the instrumental accompaniment is limited, there are also a large number of Muslims who understand all songs to be forbidden.
While I do not want to be argumentative, this blog is being constructed by me as a Christian, not as a closet Muslim. While I hope that what I create will be of service to Christians, Muslims and others, I am doing what I do as an act of worship. And far from being forbidden to sing, I am commanded and encouraged to sing in the Bible.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples. Psalm 96: 1-3
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God. Psalm 40:3
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19-20At any rate, I have found for quite some time now that when I am praying or thinking about some aspect of God quite deeply, songs are a part of the process. Sometimes a song comes of itself, and sometimes I am simply helped by putting my thoughts into a song.
I do not claim to be anything special as a musician. My lack of skill with the mechanics of notating my songs, and my inability to play any musical instruments adequately have been a problem. My songs are what they are. I find them useful for myself, and perhaps they will be interesting or useful to others as well.
As I am beginning the process of revitalizing this blog in 2024, I have found that all of my earlier recordings of songs I wrote have vanished. I have no way of knowing whether the tunes that are coming to me as I look over the words are similar to the original tunes I composed or not. Many of the songs I have written over the years are etched into my spirit--these are not. And yet I find that as I look at them, tunes come. So I'm taking the time to re-record them.
