> "Soften your hearts towards hating music for the sake of Allaah"

[IbnAbdulHakim]

From the Qur'an and Sunnah

1.

Allah says in Soorat Luqman (interpretation of the meaning):

?And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allah?? [Luqman 31:6]

The scholar of the ummah, Ibn ?Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: this means singing. Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this means playing the drum (tabl). (Tafseer al-Tabari, 21/40).

Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this ayah was revealed concerning singing and musical instruments (lit. woodwind instruments).
(Tafseer Ibn Kathir 3/451)

Al-Sa?di (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this includes all manner of haram speech, all idle talk and falsehood, and all nonsense that encourages kufr and disobedience; the words of those who say things to refute the truth and argue in support of falsehood to defeat the truth; and backbiting, slander, lies, insults and curses; the singing and musical instruments of the Shaytan; and musical instruments which are of no spiritual or worldly benefit. (Tafseer al-Sa?di, 6/150)

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The interpretation of the Sahabah and Tabi?in, that ?idle talk? refers to singing, is sufficient. This was reported with saheeh isnads from Ibn ?Abbas and Ibn Mas?ood. Abu?l-Sahba? said: I asked Ibn Mas?ood about the ayah (interpretation of the meaning),

??And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks? [Luqman 31:6].

He said: By Allah, besides Whom there is no other god, this means singing ? and he repeated it three times. It was also reported with a saheeh isnad from Ibn ?Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that this means singing. There is no contradiction between the interpretation of ?idle talk? as meaning singing and the interpretation of it as meaning stories of the Persians and their kings, and the kings of the Romans, and so on, such as al-Nadr ibn al-Harith used to tell to the people of Makkah to distract them from the Qur?an. Both of them are idle talk. Hence Ibn ?Abbas said: ?Idle talk? is falsehood and singing. Some of the Sahabah said one and some said the other, and some said both. Singing is worse and more harmful than stories of kings, because it leads to zina and makes hypocrisy grow (in the heart); it is the trap of the Shaytan, and it clouds the mind. The way in which it blocks people from the Qur?an is worse than the way in which other kinds of false talk block them, because people are naturally inclined towards it and tend to want to listen to it. The ayat condemn replacing the Qur?an with idle talk in order to mislead (men) from the path of Allah without knowledge and taking it as a joke, because when an ayah of the Qur?an is recited to such a person, he turns his back as if he heard them not, as if there were deafness in his ear. If he hears anything of it, he makes fun of it. All of this happens only in the case of the people who are most stubbornly kafirs and if some of it happens to singers and those who listen to them, they both have a share of this blame. (Ighathat al-Lahfan, 1/258-259).

[PK_Aali]

Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullah

Excellent post MashaAllah!!

[IbnAbdulHakim]

2.

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

?[Allah said to Iblees:] And befool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice (i.e. songs, music, and any other call for Allah?s disobedience)?? [al-Isra? 17:64]

It was narrated that Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: ?And befool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice? ? his voice [the voice of Iblees/Shaytan] is singing and falsehood. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This idafah [possessive or genitive construction, i.e., your voice] serves to make the meaning specific, as with the phrases [translated as] ?your cavalry? and ?your infantry? [later in the same ayah]. Everyone who speaks in any way that is not obedient to Allah, everyone who blows into a flute or other woodwind instrument, or who plays any haram kind of drum, this is the voice of the Shaytan. Everyone who walks to commit some act of disobedience towards Allah is part of his [the Shaytan?s] infantry, and anyone who rides to commit sin is part of his cavalry. This is the view of the Salaf, as Ibn ?Abi Hatim narrated from Ibn ?Abbas: his infantry is everyone who walks to disobey Allah. (istighat al-lifan)

[IbnAbdulHakim]

3.

Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do you then wonder at this recitation (the Qur’an)?
And you laugh at it and weep not,
Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)”
[al-Najm 53:59-61]


‘Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: it was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas that al-sumood [verbal noun from samidoon, translated here as “Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)”] means “singing”, in the dialect of Himyar; it might be said “Ismidi lana” [‘sing for us’ – from the same root as samidoon/sumood] meaning “ghaniy” [sing]. And he said (may Allah have mercy on him): When they [the kuffar] heard the Qur’an, they would sing, then this ayah was revealed.

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Allah says (interpretation of the meaning) “Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)” – Sufyan al-Thawri said, narrating from his father from Ibn ‘Abbas: (this means) singing. This is Yemeni (dialect): ismad lana means ghan lana [sing to us]. This was also the view of ‘Ikrimah. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer).
It was reported from Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not sell singing slave women, do not buy them and do not teach them. There is nothing good in this trade, and their price is haram. Concerning such things as this the ayah was revealed (interpretation of the meaning): ‘And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allah…’ [Luqman 31:6].” (Hasan hadeeth)

[IbnAbdulHakim]

4.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zina, silk, alcohol and musical instruments…”
(Narrated by al-Bukhari ta’leeqan, no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabarani and al-Bayhaqi. See al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albani, 91).


Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
This is a saheeh hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhari in his Saheeh, where he quoted it as evidence and stated that it is mu’allaq and majzoom. He said: Chapter on what was narrated concerning those who permit alcohol and call it by another name.
This hadeeth indicates in two ways that musical instruments and enjoyment of listening to music are haram.
The first is the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “[they] permit” which clearly indicates that the things mentioned, including musical instruments, are haram 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 haram, i.e., zina and alcohol: if they (musical instruments) were not haram, why would they be mentioned alongside these things? (adapted from al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albani, 1/140-141)

Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This hadeeth indicates that ma’azif are haram, and ma’azif means musical instruments according to the scholars of (Arabic) language. This word includes all such instruments. (al-Majmoo’, 11/535).

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: And concerning the same topic similar comments were narrated from Sahl ibn Sa’d al-Sa’idi, ‘Imran ibn Husayn, ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Amr, ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Umamah al-Bahili, ‘Aa’ishah Umm al-Mu’mineen, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Anas ibn Malik, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Sabit and al-Ghazi ibn Rabee’ah. Then he mentioned it in Ighathat al-Lahfan, and it indicates that they (musical instruments) are haram.

It was narrated that Nafi’ (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 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 Nafi’, can you hear anything? I said, No. So he took his fingers away from his ears and said: I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he heard something like this, and he did the same thing. (Saheeh Abi Dawood). Some insignificant person said that this hadeeth does not prove that musical instruments are haram, because if that were so, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would have instructed Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) to put his fingers in his ears as well, and Ibn ‘Umar would have instructed Nafi’ to do likewise! The response to this is: He was not listening to it, but he could hear it. There is a difference between listening and hearing. Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Concerning (music) which a person does not intend to listen to, there is no prohibition or blame, according to scholarly consensus. Hence blame or praise is connected to listening, not to hearing. The one who listens to the Qur’an will be rewarded for it, whereas the one who hears it without intending or wanting to will not be rewarded for that, because actions are judged by intentions. The same applies to musical instruments which are forbidden: if a person hears them without intending to, that does not matter. (al-Majmoo’, 10/78).

Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the listener is the one who intends to hear, which was not the case with Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both); what happened in his case was hearing. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah 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)
(Even though the hearing referred to in the comments of the two imams is makrooh, it was permitted because of necessity, as we will see below in the comments of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him). And Allah knows best).

[IbnAbdulHakim]

The views of the scholars (imams) of Islam

5.

Al-Qasim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Singing is part of falsehood. Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if there is music involved in a dinner invitation (waleemah), do not accept the invitation (al-Jami by al-Qayrawani, p. 262-263).

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The view of the four Imams is that all kinds of musical instruments are haram. It was reported in Saheeh al-Bukhari and elsewhere that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that there would be among his ummah those who would allow zina, silk, alcohol and musical instruments, and he said that they would be transformed into monkeys and pigs… None of the followers of the imams mentioned any dispute concerning the matter of music. (al-Majmoo’, 11/576).

Al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The four madhhabs are agreed that all musical instruments are haram. (al-Saheehah, 1/145).

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The madhhab of Abu Haneefah is the strictest in this regard, and his comments are among the harshest. His companions clearly stated that it is haram to listen to all musical instruments such as the flute and the drum, even tapping a stick. They stated that it is a sin which implies that a person is a fasiq (rebellious evil doer) whose testimony should be rejected. They went further than that and said that listening to music is fisq (rebellion, evildoing) and enjoying it is kufr (disbelief). This is their words. They narrated in support of that a hadeeth which could not be attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). They said: he should try not to hear it if he passes by it or it is in his vicinity. Abu Yoosuf said, concerning a house from which could be heard the sound of musical instruments: Go in without their permission, because forbidding evil actions is obligatory, and if it were not allowed to enter without permission, people could not have fulfilled the obligatory duty (of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil). (Ighathat al-Lahfan, 1/425).

[IbnAbdulHakim]

6.



Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about playing the drum or flute, if a person happens to hear the sound and enjoy it whilst he is walking or sitting. He said: He should get up if he finds that he enjoys it, unless he is sitting down for a need or is unable to get up. If he is on the road, he should either go back or move on. (al-Jami? by al-Qayrawani, 262). He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: ?The only people who do things like that, in our view, are fasiqs.? (Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 14/55).

Ibn ?Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Among the types of earnings which are haram by scholarly consensus are riba, the fee of a prostitute, anything forbidden, bribes, payment for wailing over the dead and singing, payments to fortune-tellers and those who claim to know the unseen and astrologers, payments for playing flutes, and all kinds of gambling. (al-Kafi).

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said, explaining the view of Imam al-Shafa'i: His companions who know his madhhab (point of view) stated that it is haram and denounced those who said that he permitted it. (Ighathat al-Lahfan, 1/425).

The author of Kifayat al-Akhbar, who was one of the Shafa?is, counted musical instruments such as flutes and others, as being munkar (evil), and the one who is present (where they are being played) should denounce them. (He cannot be excused by the fact that there are bad scholars, because they are corrupting the sharee?ah, or evil faqeers ? meaning the Sufis, because they call themselves fuqara? or faqeers ? because they are ignorant and follow anyone who makes noise; they are not guided by the light of knowledge; rather they are blown about by every wind. (Kifayat al-Akhbar, 2/128).

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: With regard to the view of Imam Ahmad, his son ?Abd-Allah said: I asked my father about singing. He said: Singing makes hypocrisy grow in the heart; I do not like it. Then he mentioned the words of Malik: the evildoers (fasiqs) among us do that. (Ighathat al-Lahfan).
Ibn Qudamah, the researcher of the Hanbali madhhab ? (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Musical instruments are of three types which are haram. These are the strings and all kinds of flute, and the lute, drum and rabab (stringed instrument) and so on. Whoever persists in listening to them, his testimony should be rejected. (al-Mughni, 10/173). And he said (may Allah have mercy on him); If a person is invited to a gathering in which there is something objectionable, such as wine and musical instruments, and he is able to denounce it, then he should attend and speak out against it, because then he will be combining two obligatory duties. If he is not able to do that, then he should not attend. (al-Kafi, 3/118)

Al-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The scholars of all regions are agreed that singing is makrooh and should be prevented. Although Ibraheem ibn Sa?d and ?Ubayd-Allah al-?Anbari differed from the majority, (it should be noted that) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ?Adhere to the majority.? And whoever dies differing from the majority, dies as a jahili. (Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 14/56). In earlier generations, the word ?makrooh? was used to mean haram, then it took on the meaning of ?disliked?. But this is to be understood as meaning that it is forbidden, because he [al-Tabari] said ?it should be prevented?, and nothing is to be prevented except that which is haram; and because in the two hadeeths quoted, music is denounced in the strongest terms. Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) is the one who narrated this report, then he said: Abu?l-Faraj and al-Qaffal among our companions said: the testimony of the singer and the dancer is not to be accepted. I say: if it is proven that this matter is not permissible, then accepting payment for it is not permissible either.

Shaykh al-Fawzan (may Allah preserve him) said: What Ibraheem ibn Sa?d and ?Ubayd-Allah al-?Anbari said about singing is not like the kind of singing that is known nowadays, for they would never have allowed this kind of singing which is the utmost in immorality and obscenity. (al-I?lam)

Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It is not permissible to make musical instruments. (al-Majmoo?, 22/140). And he said: According to the majority of fuqaha?, it is permissible to destroy musical instruments, such as the tanboor [a stringed instrument similar to a mandolin]. This is the view of Malik and is the more famous of the two views narrated from Ahmad. (al-Majmoo?, 28/113). And he said: ?Ibn al-Mundhir mentioned that the scholars were agreed that it is not permissible to pay people to sing and wail? the consensus of all the scholars whose views we have learned about is that wailing and singing are not allowed. Al-Shu?bi, al-Nakha?i and Malik regarded that as makrooh [i.e., haram]. Abu Thawr, al-Nu?man ? Abu Haneefah (may Allah have mercy on him) ? and Ya?qoob and Muhammad, two of the students of Abu Haneefah said: it is not permissible to pay anything for singing and wailing. This is our view. And he said: musical instruments are the wine of the soul, and what it does to the soul is worse than what intoxicating drinks do. (Majmoo? al-Fatawa, 10/417).

Ibn Abi Shaybah (may Allah have mercy on him) reported that a man broke a mandolin belonging to another man, and the latter took his case to Shurayh. But Shurayh did not award him any compensation ? i.e., he did not make the first man pay the cost of the mandolin, because it was haram and had no value. (al-Musannaf, 5/395).

Al-Baghawi (may Allah have mercy on him) stated in a fatwa that it is haram to sell all kinds of musical instruments such as mandolins, flutes, etc. Then he said: If the images are erased and the musical instruments are altered, then it is permissible to sell their parts, whether they are silver, iron, wood or whatever. (Sharh al-Sunnah, 8/28)

[IbnAbdulHakim]

7.


Hadith - Sunan of Abu Dawood, #4909, Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Salam ibn Miskin, quoting an old man who witnessed AbuWa'il in a wedding feast, said:

They began to play, amuse and sing. He united the support of his hand round his knees that were drawn up, and said: I heard Abdullah (ibn Mas'ud) say: I heard the apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) say: Singing produces hypocrisy in the heart.

[IbnAbdulHakim]

8.

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "A people of my Ummah will drink wine, calling it by other than its real name. Merriment will be made for them through the playing of musical instruments and the singing of female singers. Allah (SWT) will cleave the earth under them and turn others into apes and swine." (Narration of Ibn Majah )

note : This hadeeth has also been narrated by al-Bayhaqi and ibn Asakir, and has been authenticated by the renowned scholar of hadeeth Ibn al-Qayyim.

[IbnAbdulHakim]

9.

The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "Verily Allah prohibited wine, gambling and al-koobah; and every intoxicant is prohibited." Sufyan said :" I asked the narrator, Ali bin Badheemah, ' What is al-Koobah?' He answered, 'It is the drum'." (An authentic hadith narrated by Imam Ahmed bin Hanbal )