During my first few days here in Egypt I went out with my cousin and her friend Lena* to this beautiful restaurant over-looking the beach. It was the first time I met Lena. She was sweet, kind and polite — she also happened to be a hijabi.

We went out and had a great time. I don’t know if i’ll see her again any time soon. But I was happy my cousin had such wonderful friends, mashaAllah.

Two days later, I’m with my cousin in the car stuck in traffic and she tells me “Did you know Lena took off her hijab?” I was like, “When? You mean a couple of years ago?”She replied, “No… I mean like yesterday. She’s been wearing it for seven years now.”

I was baffled. The thought of going out without my hijab after putting it on – especially for so long- is unthinkable to me. Not only because 1.  I do it for the sake of Allah, but 2. Because it would make me feel so exposed and naked without it.

I proceeded to tell my cousin that the intention probably wasn’t right from the beginning. After all, a lot of people in Egypt do it because of culture, not religion. But my cousin refuted that and told me that she was very sincere when she put it on and Lena told her that she wore it for the sake of Allah.

But WHY? What is the reason a person takes off their hijab if we know it is fard and we know that we are doing it to please Allah? What are the possible reasons that we might take off our hijabs?

Not everyone who takes off their hijab does so because they never had the right intention. And not everyone takes it off because they have low self-esteem or family pressure.

But still the question lingers… why? What is missing in our lives that we feel will be fulfilled with taking off our hijabs? One answer?

The love and attention of people, whether we know it consciously or subconsciously.

Allah ‘az wa jal says in surat Al-Baqarah:

“And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah. But those who believe, love Allah more (than anything else). If only, those who do wrong could see, when they will see the torment, that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is Severe in punishment”

It’s seeking love from other than Allah. It’s obeying (worshiping) society and desires and leaving the worship of Allah ‘az wa jal.

And wallahi dear sisters, it is this seeking of filling the void in the heart in places other than with Allah that brings a person to the edge of a very steep cliff — a cliff that can lead to a person’s spiritual death.

What we truly miss in our hearts that needs fulfilling, is the love of Allah.

Dear sisters, whether we’ve never worn hijab at all or recently have decided to take it off, first, know that we do not judge anyone and what another’s heart contains. The hearts belong to Allah and no one can know what is in another person’s heart other than Allah. There are girls who wear hijab and commit shirk with Allah. And in the eyes of Allah they are nothing.

Second, know that Allah ‘az wa jal says in His noble book:

“Say: “O Ibadee (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

It does not matter what people think of us. If you feel, since you’ve taken off your hijab, people have judged you, then know that Allah ‘az wa jal is the one who will judge between people on the day of judgment. So what matters is what Allah ‘az wa jal thinks about you. And we should not seek love and attention from people before we seek it from Allah. Truly if you seek the love of Allah, then you will follow what Allah has sent with Muhammad Salallahu alayhi wa sallam and in turn you will gain the love of Allah and feel it in your hearts and be fully content.

As Allah ‘az wa jal says,

“Say (Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam): ‘If you really love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you. He will forgive your sins and Allah is the Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.’”

Third, every girl who starts to wear hijab late in her life always goes through this stage in which she thinks about what it will be like to “never go out with her hair done again.” I know many sisters who set a time period of when they will start to wear hijab. They tell themselves, “I’m going to start wearing hijab FOR SURE, inshaAllah, when Ramadan starts.” (Hopefully Allah allows them to live that long.)

And we want to enjoy their time while we can before we actually commit to wear the hijab and never take it off.

Subhanallah, we know what you are going through, sisters. But know that while we think that we are “enjoying your time before commitment,” we will soon regret that time we spent before committing to hijab.

When you do something purely for the sake of Allah, then you regret all the times you didn’t do it.

It’s like a Muslim who starts to pray later in life, they soon regret all the times they didn’t pray when they were supposed to.

Allah ‘az wa jal clearly gives us an order in the Quran to wear our hijabs, and who has more right to be obeyed and fully submitted to other than the one who created us, nurishes and provides for us? No one.

Allah ‘az wa jal orders the believing women surat An-Nur to:

“…not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron), and to draw their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms)…”

We all say that we want to get closer to Allah. And it’s always about taking that next step. Everyone deep down knows what that next step is in their life, whether it’s actually doing something or even just refraining from one particular sin.

“Taking Off Hijab Syndrome” or “Didn’t Start Wearing Hijab Yet Syndrome” have cures. And that cure is found only with Allah. Seek help from Allah more than you would seek help from a doctor for a fatal disease. Because even doctors cannot cure diseases without the will of Allah.

Take the first step and Allah will help you take care of the rest inshaAllah. He will take care of all the people who have ever judged you, he will take care of your beauty and most of Allah he will take care of that void in your heart.

Wallahu alem. May Allah ‘az wa jal guide us to the path that leads to seeing His Face in Jannah, and may Allah make it easy for all our sisters. Ameen.

________________________________________________________________________________________

* Real names were not used.

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:

——

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…

—-

Wallahu ta’ala alem.

If you read past the headline, congratulations, you are one of the few individuals who care. I wanted to write about this since I saw the video on Mujahideen Ryder’s blog. These past couple of days, I kept opening WordPress wondering if I should just write about something else — something more people would enjoy reading. I even made a whole other post ready to publish, but something stopped me.

I don’t want to be one of those people who just write for entertainment purposes. I will never write something just to cause controversy. I guess you can say I’m the black sheep of the journalism industry. While everyone else writes what will get more readers and more subscriptions, I’ll write what needs to be said no matter the reaction from the audience or even if there is no audience at all.

I guess you can say I’m a little disgusted with those methods, since I worked at a paper that used them — but then again, which newspaper doesn’t?

The reality is, the media dictates what we should think is important in the world and what we shouldn’t care too much about. You have media gatekeepers, people you don’t know anything about, saying, ‘This is what society should be talking about and this is something that is not really important or interesting to anyone.’

According to gatekeepers, people should care about Donald Trump’s hair or Barack Obama wearing Kenyan clothing.

One of those topics gatekeepers are telling us is not important is Iraq. Iraq won’t bring readers anymore. Iraq is something so, so far away; old news.

As you know, the video I’m posting is not pleasant in nature. It will cause emotional distress for those of you with a heart. And while I’m telling you this, perhaps half of you have already closed the window or have navigated away from this site. For those of you who haven’t, take a look at the video:

I don’t want to be another one of the ones who just turns away from the remembrance, just because it’s not pleasant to think about. I’ve done it before and I’m sure you have too. You see something depressing, you get sad for a couple of moments then block it out as something far and away; something you have very little to do with.

Reading this post is painful and uncomfortable for you. Because you know it’s exactly what you’ve done in the past and you don’t know how to stop from doing it again, today.

For one, we need to make dua for our brothers and sisters in Iraq and ask Allah to ease their hardship soon.

And lastly, for those of you with blogs, in journalism, or those of you who give lectures frequently don’t write with your viewers in mind, but write with your viewers in mind. Don’t write because you know it’s what they want to hear and will bring more fans your way, write because it’s what they need to hear. And leave the rest for Allah.

In a way I guess I, too, am a gatekeeper now. And Iraq, and the state of Muslims around the world is what I think is important and it’s something we should never forget. May Allah ease their hardship and strengthen the Muslimeen. ameen.

wallahu ta’ala alem.