Bismillah,
Virtually on every blog people get into discussions/debates over the “Music Issues:” What’s halal and what’s haram? There are different of opinions — but what are the different opinions and what are the PROOFS behind the opinions? There is the view of ibn Hazm (rahimahullah) and others.
My blog is mainly about media with an Islamic view. I promote videos, I make videos (rarely), and I do PR work under certain conditions.
I asked a student of knowledge to write something up about music so that I can post it here. Everything written is from this student of knowledge and not my own words, and if it weren’t for the fact that the brother asked not to have his name mentioned, I would have mentioned it because I realize it’s important to know who you are taking knowledge from. However, the evidence speak for itself.
Before anyone decides to write a comment, I ask you to be rational and not in attack mode. I do not write to please other people, but rather inshaAllah to please Allah ‘az wa jal. Therefore, I decided to post this. And I hope that this can be a reference to you and your friends, and anyone else you would like to advice against the evils of shaytaan. Feel free to pass it on inshaAllah. This post is a little long, but worth it, inshaAllah. And I was asked not to edit anything, and that’s an amanah on me so here it is inshaAllah:
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This is a small collection of Ayaat, Ahadeeth and statements of Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah regarding musical instruments & singing…
Proof 1 -
And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (lahwal hadeeth) to mislead from the Path of Allah without knowledge… [Luqmaan 31:6]
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: “lahwal hadeeth/idle talk” means falsehood and ghinaa’ (singing).
‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood said: Wallahi (three times) lahwal hadeeth means ghinaa’. And the same interpretation was also given by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar.
Al-Nadr ibn al-Haarith used to tell to the people of Makkah stories of the Persians and their kings and the kings of Romans and so on, to distract people from the Qur’an. Whether it is with stories or any words drawing people away from Allah’s Words or singing, both of them are idle talk. This is why ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: “Idle talk” is falsehood and singing.
[Tafseer at-Tabari/Ibn Katheer]
Proof 2 -
(Allah said to Iblees) And befool those whom you can among them with your voice… [Israa' 17:64]
‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood said: bi sawtik (with your [iblees] voice) is ma’aazif (musical instruments).[Tafseer at-Tabari]
Proof 3 -
Do you then wonder at this recital (the Quran)?
And you laugh at it and weep not; Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements. [Najm 53:59-61]
Verse 61 says wa antum saamidoon (wasting your lifetime in pastime & amusement). ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said regarding “sumood” (noun and saamiddon is verb) means ghinaa’ (singing)
And this is Yemeni dialect, “ismad lanaa” means “sing for us”…
[Tafseer ibn Katheer]
Point to note –
After the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, no one knows more about the meaning of Allah’s Words than the Companions.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas said: Allah’s Messenger embraced me and said, “Oh Allah given him the knowledge of the Qur’an”. [Bukhari]
Seeing this proof how can someone reject Tafseer coming from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas?
Proof 4 -
Narrated that Abu ‘Aamir or Abu Maalik al-Ash’aree that he heard the the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam saying: From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments (ma’aazif), as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, ‘Return to us tomorrow.’ Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection. [Bukhari # 5590]
The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam included musical instruments along with zina and khamr which shows how heinous of an action it is.
However due to many misconceptions, lack of information, etc we need to mention a few more things about this Hadeeth.
First argument : Imam Ibn Hazm said music is not Haraam.
Imam Bukhari recorded this Hadeeth by saying wa qaala hishaamubnu ‘ammaar/and Hishaam ibn ‘Ammaar said…
Imam Ibn Hazm – rahimullah – said that there was no link between Imam Bukhari and Hishaam ibn ‘Ammaar and therefore considered this Hadeeth to be da’eef (weak). Imam Ibn Hazm made it clear that no Saheeh report reached him stating Musical instruments was Haraam. Al-Haafidh al-’Iraaqi, al-Haafidh Ibn Hajar, Ibn al-Salaah, and all the other great Hadeeth Scholars have clearly pointed out that this was Ibn Hazm’s mistake and recognizing an authentic chain. [Fath ul Baaree v.10]
No Muhaddith of the past or present has classified this Hadeeth from Saheeh al-Bukhari as weak. Those who look for excuses, point out Imam Ibn Hazm allowed Musical instruments. He simply said no Saheeh Hadeeth reached him and if he heard any authentic Hadeeth prohibiting music, he would have said so. [also check Ighaathat al-Lahfaan by Ibn al-Qayyim]
Imam Ibn Hazm was one of the Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah, people do not follow his ‘Aqeedah or his Manhaj, but they will use this one statement from him to fulfill their desires.
Second argument: no this Hadeeth is saying that if musical instrument is accompanied by zina and alcohol then it is Haraam, otherwise it is fine.
It is very silly that many Muslims will make such a conclusion from this Hadeeth. If we follow the logic of such people then we can say “oh guess what, zina is fine as long as it is not accompanied by alcohol and music!”…or “hey alcohol is fine just don’t listen to music and fornicate while drinking”
Sheikh Albaani said: This Hadeeth indicates in two ways that musical instruments and enjoyment of listening to music are Haraam. The first is the fact that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: “[they] permit” which clearly indicates that the things mentioned, including musical instruments, are Haraam according to Sharee’ah, but those people will permit them. The second is the fact that musical instruments are mentioned alongside things which are definitely known to be Haraam, i.e., zinaa and alcohol: if they (musical instruments) were not Haraam, why would they be mentioned alongside these things? (al-Silsilah al-Saheehah)
Proof 5 -
It was narrated that an-Naafi’ said: ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar heard a woodwind instrument, and he put his fingers in his ears and kept away from that path. He said to me, O Naafi’, can you hear anything? I said, No. So he took his fingers away from his ears and said: I was with the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and he heard something like this, and he did the same thing. [Abu Dawood]
Some people do not understand the meaning of this Hadeeth and will argue how it is forbidding music. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar just happened to have heard while walking by (i.e. unintentionally) even then he put his fingers in his ears so as not to hear it! And he said the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did the same. We all know that “unintentional” acts are not held accountable by Allah. Yet the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his Companion put their fingers in their ear so as not to even let the voice of Shaytaan enter their ears unintentionally.
Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisi said: the listener is the one who intends to hear, and that was not the case with Ibn ‘Umar; what happened in his case was hearing. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) needed to know when the sound stopped because he had moved away from that path and blocked his ears. So he did not want to go back to that path or unblock his ears until the noise had stopped, so when he allowed Ibn ‘Umar to continue hearing it, this was because of necessity. [al-Mughni, 10/173]
Proof 6 -
Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullah said: “The Messenger of Allah sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam went to to al-Nakhl with ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, when his son Ibraaheem was dying. He took the child in his lap and his eyes filled with tears. ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said, ‘Are you weeping when you have forbidden us to weep?’ He said: I do not prohibit weeping, but I prohibited two foolish immoral voices: A voice during a calamity while clawing at one’s face and tearing one’s clothes, and Shaytan’s scream. [Tirmidhi # 1005]
Anas ibn Maalik (the servant of the Prophet) said the “wa rannatish shaytaan/and the scream of Shaytaan” refers to musical instruments.
Other proofs can be given, but for the true believers just one verse prohibiting something should be more than enough!
All the Imams of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah are in unanimous agreement that singing/musical instruments are strictly forbidden in Islam. And Imam Abu Haneefah was the strictest stating the one who listens and enjoys musical instruments has committed kufr.
Not to be confused, he didn’t call the listener of music a kaafir (disbeliever), he said listening to music is a type of kufr (disbelief)
Imam Maalik, Shafi’ee and Ahmad said: Only a faasiq will listen to music.
[Ighaathat al-Lahfaan by Ibn Qayyim/Tafseer al-Qurtubi]
Having said all this we know that the only musical instrument that is allowed in Islam is the daff (i.e. tambourine without any bells).
Proof 1 -
Narrated ‘A’ishah: Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam came to my house while two girls were singing beside me the songs of Bu’aath (a story about the war between the two tribes of the Ansar, the Khazraj and the Aus, before Islam). The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam lay down and turned his face to the other side. Then Abu Bakr came and spoke to me harshly saying, “instruments of Shaytaan near the Prophet?” Allah’s Messenger sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam turned his face towards him and said, “Leave them.” When Abu Bakr became inattentive, I signaled to those girls to go out and they left.
So it is allowed for girls to sing/use daff (words of good meaning) on the days of ‘Eid. The reaction of Abu Bakr saying “mizmaaratush shaytaan” (instruments of Shaytaan) again points out that music/singing generally is something that is prohibited in Islam.
Proof 2 -
The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: The thing that will distinguish between Halaal and Haraam in marriage is the beating of the daff. [Bukhari, Ahmad]
Women are allowed to beat the daff during weddings…in fact, it is something Mustahabb (highly recommended).
Nasheeds -
The recent trend of Nasheeds have changed dramatically and many times we see men and women together (or by men only) using all sorts of musical instruments and calling it “Islamic songs.”
Such a way of spending hours practicing, recording, selling/buying of Nasheeds is totally unheard of in the past. It has reached a point where the youth are flocking towards memorizing the lyrics of Nasheeds rather than memorizing and understanding Kalaam ul Allah, al-Qur’an.
Also there are some Nasheeds without the use of musical instruments or women where the men are making flute/drum, etc noises with their mouth and considering it to be Halaal since they are not “using any instruments but just the natural voice”.
Sh.’Uthaymeen said: There has been a lot of talk about Islamic nasheeds. I have not listened to them for a long time. When they first appeared there was nothing wrong with them. There were no duffs, and they were performed in a manner that did not involve any fitnah, and they were not performed with the tunes of haraam songs. But then they changed and we began to hear a rhythm that may have been a duff or it may have been something other than a duff, and they began to choose performers with beautiful and enchanting voices, then they changed further and began to be performed in the manner of haraam songs. Hence we began to feel uneasy about them, and unable to issue fatwas stating that they were permissible in all cases, or that they were forbidden in all cases. If they are free of the things that I have referred to then they are permissible, but if they are accompanied by the duff or performers are chosen who have beautiful and enchanting voices, or they are performed in the manner of indecent songs, then it is not permissible to listen to them. [Al-Sahwah al-Islamiyyah pg.185]
Sh. Al-Fawzaan said: As for that which is called Islamic nasheeds, they have been given more time and effort than they deserve, to such an extent that they have become an art form which takes up space in school curricula and school activities, and the recording companies record huge numbers of them to sell and distribute, and most houses are full of them, and many young men and women listen to them, and it takes up a lot of their time, and they are listened to more than recordings of Qur’an, Sunnah, lectures and useful lessons. [Al-Bayaan li Akhta' Ba'd al-Kuttaab pg. 342]
Statements from many other Scholars from Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah of our times can be given, but to keep this short we can conclude by stating the Shari’ guidelines for any Nasheed to be considered Halaal:
1. The words of the nasheed must be free of Haraam and foolish words.
2. The nasheed should not be accompanied by musical instruments. No musical instrument is permitted except the duff for women on certain occasions. See the answer to question no.
3. It should be free of sound effects that imitate musical instruments, because what counts is what appears to be the case, and imitating haraam instruments is not permissible, especially when the bad effect is the same as that which happens with real instruments.
4. Listening to nasheed should not become a habit which takes up a person’s time and affects his duties and mustahabb actions, such as affecting his reading of Qur’an and calling others to Allah.
5. The performer of a nasheed should not be a woman performing in front of men, or a man with an enchanting appearance or voice performing in front of women.
6. One should avoid listening to performers with soft voices who move their bodies in rhythm, because there is fitnah in all of that and it is an imitation of the evildoers.
7. One should avoid the images that are put on the covers of their tapes, and more important than that, one should avoid the video clips that accompany their nasheeds, especially those which contain provocative movements and imitations of immoral singers.
8. The purpose of the nasheed should be the words, not the tune.
I end by mentioning the verse:
Have you (O Muhammad Sallallahu alayhi wa allam) seen him who has taken as his Ilaah (deity) his own desire? [Furqaan 25:43]
When clear prohibition comes from Allah and His Messenger, we still disobey and follow our desires. Truly we are guilty of taking our desires as deities besides (or along with) Allah. May Allah protect us all from such misguidance…
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Wallahu ta’ala alem.
It’s that simple. We worship the one who created us, sustains us and the one who will resurrect us. We don’t worship the creation. Meaning we do not worship the noble prophets such as Jesus or Muhammad (peace be upon them) nor do we worship celestial objects such as the sun or moon.
Let’s say you are giving dawah to a Muslim and you are trying to convince them to pray regularly and become more practicing. Perhaps you or someone you know was in the same position a while ago and you(or they) completely changed since that time. You should mention this experience to give you better ethos in their eyes- thus, better convincing them to take the same path you did to become closer to Allah.
