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Source: http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8882.htm
Islamic State's Crusade Against Music
(MEMRI) Steven Stalinsky - Following the Nov. 13 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, the Islamic State (ISIS) released a statement claiming responsibility, and warned that it was only the "first rain." ISIS wrote that the Bataclan concert hall had been packed with hundreds of "polytheists" at a party of "debauchery." Thanks to Allah, it said, the simultaneous attacks had killed more than "200 Crusaders." Since ISIS came to power, it has targeted areas in its control in Iraq, Syria, and Libya where music was played, publicly flogging musicians and burning their instruments. It has posted signs warning that music is haram (forbidden in Islam) and outlining the crimes involved in listening to and performing music, or even owning musical instruments. On Jan. 21, 2014, Al-Hayat reported that ISIS had issued a statement banning music and songs in cars, at parties, in shops, and in public in Syria's Raqqa province. The writer is Executive Director of MEMRI.