Is Music Haram?

An article regarding Islamic Nasheed is located at the bottom of this article.
Evidence of prohibition in the Qur'aan and Sunnah:
Allaah says in Soorat Luqmaan (interpretationof the meaning):
"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing)
to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah..." [Luqmaan 31:6]
The scholar of the ummah, Ibn 'Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: this means singing. Mujaahid(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
this means playing the drum (tabl). (Tafseer al-Tabari, 21/40).
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this aayah
wasrevealed concerning singing and musical instruments (lit. woodwind
instruments).(Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/451).
Al-Sa'di (may Allaah havemercy on him) said: this includes all manner
of haraam speech, all idle talk and falsehood, and all nonsense that
encourages kufr and disobedience; the wordsof 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 Shaytaan; and musical instruments which
are of no spiritualor worldly benefit. (Tafseer al-Sa'di, 6/150)
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The interpretation
of the Sahaabah and Taabi'in, that 'idle talk' refers to singing, is
sufficient. Thiswas reported with saheeh isnaads from Ibn 'Abbaas and
Ibn Mas'ood. Abu'l-Sahbaa' said: I asked Ibn Mas'oodabout the aayah
(interpretation of the meaning), '"And of mankind is he who purchases
idle talks' [Luqmaan 31:6]. He said: By Allaah, besides Whomthere is
no other god, this means singing - and he repeated it three times. It
was also reported with a saheeh isnaad from Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be
pleased with them both) that this means singing. There is no
contradictionbetween the interpretation of "idle talk" as meaning
singingand 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-Haarith used to tell to the people of Makkah to
distract them from the Qur'aan. Both of them are idle talk. Hence Ibn
'Abbaas said: "Idle talk" is falsehood and singing.Some of the
Sahaabah said one and some said the other, and some saidboth. Singing
is worse and more harmful than stories of kings, because it leads to
zinaa and makes hypocrisy grow (in the heart); it is the trap of the
Shaytaan, and it clouds the mind. The way in which it blocks people
from the Qur'aan 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 aayaat condemn replacing the Qur'aan
with idle talk in order to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah
without knowledge and taking itas a joke, because when an aayah of the
Qur'aan is recited to such a person, he turns his backas if he heard
them not, as if there were deafnessin his ear. If he hears anything of
it, he makes fun of it. All of this happens only in the caseof the
people who are most stubbornly kaafirs and if some of it happens to
singers and those who listen to them, they both have a share of this
blame. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, 1/258-259).
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"[Allaah 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
Allaah's disobedience)..." [al-Israa' 17:64]
It was narrated that Mujaahid (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:"And
befool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice" -
his voice [the voice of Iblees/Shaytaan] is singing and falsehood. Ibn
al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This idaafah
[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 aayah]. Everyone who
speaks in any way that is not obedient to Allaah, everyone who blows
into a flute or other woodwind instrument, or who playsany haraam kind
of drum, this is the voice of the Shaytaan. Everyone who walks to
commit some act of disobedience towards Allaah is part of his [the
Shaytaan's] infantry, andanyone who rides to commit sin is part of his
cavalry. This is the view of the Salaf, as Ibn 'Abi Haatim narrated
from Ibn 'Abbaas: his infantry is everyone who walks to disobey
Allaah. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan).
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Do you then wonder at this recitation (the Qur'aan)?
And you laugh at it and weep not,
Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)"
[al-Najm 53:59-61]
'Ikrimah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:it was narrated from Ibn
'Abbaas that al-sumood [verbal noun from saamidoon, translated here as
"Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements
(singing)"] means "singing", in the dialect of Himyar; it might be
said "Ismidi lanaa" ['sing for us' - from the same root as
saamidoon/sumood] meaning "ghaniy" [sing]. And he said (may Allaah
have mercy on him): When they [the kuffaar] heard the Qur'aan, they
would sing, then this aayah was revealed.
Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning) "Wasting your (precious) lifetime in
pastime and amusements (singing)" - Sufyaan al-Thawri said, narrating
from his fatherfrom Ibn 'Abbaas: (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 Umaamah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah 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
haraam. Concerning such things as this the aayah 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
Allaah...' [Luqmaan 31:6]." (Hasan hadeeth)
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zinaa, silk,
alcohol and musical instruments..." (Narrated by al-Bukhaarita'leeqan,
no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi. See
al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 91).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This is a saheeh
hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh, where he quoted it as
evidence and stated that it is mu'allaq and majzoom. He said: Chapter
on whatwas narrated concerning those who permit alcohol and call itby
another name.
This hadeeth indicates intwo ways that musical instruments and
enjoyment of listening to music are haraam. The first is the fact that
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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?
(adapted from al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1/140-141)
Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said:This hadeeth indicates that ma'aazif are haraam, and ma'aazif
means musical instruments according tothe scholars of (Arabic)
language. This word includes all such instruments. (al-Majmoo',
11/535).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: And concerning the
same topic similar comments were narrated from Sahlibn Sa'd
al-Saa'idi, 'Imraan ibn Husayn, 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr, 'Abd-Allaah ibn
'Abbaas, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Umaamah al-Baahili, 'Aa'ishah Umm
al-Mu'mineen, 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib, Anas ibn Maalik, 'Abd al-Rahmaan
ibn Saabit and al-Ghaazi ibn Rabee'ah. Then he mentioned it in
Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, and it indicates that they(musical instruments)
are haraam.
It was narrated that Naafi' (may Allaah 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 Naafi', can you hear
anything? I said, No. So he took his fingers away from his ears and
said: I was withthe Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah 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 haraam, because if that
were so, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) would have instructed Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah bepleased with
them both)to put his fingers in his ears as well, and Ibn 'Umar would
have instructed Naafi' 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
Allaah have mercy on him) said:Concerning (music) which a person does
notintend 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'aan will be rewarded
for it, whereasthe 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 aperson hears them without intending to, that does not
matter. (al-Majmoo', 10/78).
Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:the
listener is the one who intends to hear, which was not the case with
Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both); 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)
(Even though the hearing referred to in the comments of the twoimaams
is makrooh, it was permitted because of necessity, as we will see
below in the comments of Imaam Maalik (may Allaah have mercy on him).
And Allaah knows best).
The views of the scholars(imaams) of Islam
Al-Qaasim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:Singing is part of
falsehood. Al-Hasan (mayAllaah have mercy on him) said: if there is
music involved in a dinner invitation (waleemah), do not accept the
invitation (al-Jaami by al-Qayrawaani, p. 262-263).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The
view of the four Imaams is that all kinds of musical instruments are
haraam. It was reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaari and elsewhere that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that there
would be among his ummah those who would allow zinaa, silk, alcohol
and musical instruments, and he said that they would be transformed
into monkeys and pigs... None of the followers of the imaams mentioned
any dispute concerning the matter of music. (al-Majmoo', 11/576).
Al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The four madhhabs are
agreed that all musical instruments are haraam. (al-Saheehah, 1/145).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah 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 haraam to
listen to all musical instruments such as the flute and the drum,
eventapping a stick. They stated that it is a sin which implies that a
person is a faasiq (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 Allaah
be upon him). They said: he should try not to hearit 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 isobligatory, and if
it werenot allowed to enter without permission, people could not have
fulfilled the obligatory duty (of enjoining what is good and
forbidding what is evil). (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, 1/425).
Imaam Maalik (may Allaah 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 backor move on.
(al-Jaami' byal-Qayrawaani, 262). He (may Allaah have mercy on him)
said: "The only people who do things like that, in our view, are
faasiqs." (Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 14/55).
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Among the types
of earnings which are haraam by scholarly consensus are ribaa, 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
allkinds of gambling. (al-Kaafi).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, explaining theview
of Imaam al-Shaafa'i: His companions who know his madhhab (point of
view) stated that it is haraam and denounced those who said that he
permitted it. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, 1/425).
The author of Kifaayat al-Akhbaar, who was one of the Shaafa'is,
counted musical instruments such as flutes and others, as being munkar
(evil), andthe 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 fuqaraa' 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. (Kifaayat al-Akhbaar, 2/128).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: With regard tothe
view of Imaam Ahmad, his son 'Abd-Allaah 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 Maalik: the evildoers
(faasiqs) among us do that. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan).
Ibn Qudaamah, the researcher of the Hanbali madhhab - (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said: Musical instruments are of three types which are
haraam.These are the strings andall kinds of flute, and thelute, drum
and rabaab (stringed instrument) and so on. Whoever persists in
listening to them, his testimony should be rejected. (al-Mughni,
10/173). Andhe said (may Allaah havemercy 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 isnot able to do that, then he
should not attend. (al-Kaafi, 3/118)
Al-Tabari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:The scholars of all
regions are agreed that singing is makrooh and should be prevented.
Although Ibraaheem ibn Sa'd and 'Ubayd-Allaah al-'Anbari differed from
the majority, (it should be noted that) the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Adhere to the majority."
And whoever dies differing from the majority, dies as a jaahili.
(Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 14/56). In earlier generations, the word
"makrooh" was used to mean haraam, 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
nothingis to be prevented except that which is haraam; and because in
the two hadeeths quoted, music is denounced in the strongest terms.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) is the one who narrated this
report, then he said: Abu'l-Faraj and al-Qaffaal 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 itis not permissible either.
Shaykh al-Fawzaan (mayAllaah preserve him) said: What Ibraaheem ibn
Sa'd and 'Ubayd-Allaah 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'laam)
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah 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 fuqahaa', it is permissible to
destroy musical instruments, such as the tanboor [a stringed
instrument similar to a mandolin]. This is the view of Maalikand 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 Maalik regarded that as makrooh [i.e., haraam]. Abu
Thawr, al-Nu'maan -Abu Haneefah (may Allaah 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 andwailing. 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-Fataawa, 10/417).
Ibn Abi Shaybah (may Allaah 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 itwas haraam and had no value. (al-Musannaf, 5/395).
Al-Baghawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) stated in a fatwa that it is
haraam to sell all kindsof 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)
An appropriate exception
The exception to the above is the daff - without any rings (i.e., a
hand-drum which looks like a tambourine, but without any rattles) -
when used by women on Eids and at weddings.This is indicated by saheeh
reports. Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:But the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made allowances
for certain types of musical instruments at weddingsand the like, and
he made allowances for women to play the daff at weddings and on other
joyful occasions. But the men at his time did not play the daff or
clap with their hands. It was narrated in al-Saheeh that he
said:"Clapping is for women and tasbeeh (saying Subhaan Allaah) is for
men." And he cursed women who imitate men and men who imitate women.
Because singing and playing the daff are things that women do, the
Salaf used to call any man who did that a mukhannath (effeminate man),
and they used to call male singers effeminate - and how many of them
thereare nowadays! It is well known that the Salaf said this.
In a similar vein is the hadeeth of 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased
with her), when her father (may Allaah be pleased with him) entered
upon her at the time of Eid, and there were two young girls with her
who were singing the verses that the Ansaar had said on the day of
Bu'aath - and any sensible person will know what people say about war.
Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "Musical instruments
of the Shaytaan in the house ofthe Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)!" The Messenger of Allaah had turned
away from them and was facing thewall - hence some scholars said that
Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) wouldnot tell anybody off in
front of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), but he thought that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) wasnot paying attention to what was
happening. And Allaah knows best. He (the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him)) said:"Leave them alone, O Abu Bakr, for every
nation has its Eid, and this is our Eid, the people of Islam." This
hadeeth shows that it was not the habit of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions to gather tolisten
to singing, hence Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq called it "the musical
instruments of the Shaytaan". And the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) approved of this appellation and did not deny it
when he said, "Leave them alone, for every nation has its Eid and this
is our Eid." This indicates that the reason why this was permitted was
because it was the time of Eid, and the prohibition remained in effect
at times other than Eid, apart from the exceptions made for weddings
in other ahaadeeth. Shaykh al-Albaani explained thisin his valuable
book Tahreem Aalaat al-Tarab (the Prohibition of Musical Instruments).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of
young girls singing at Eid, as stated in the hadeeth: "So that the
mushrikeen will know that in our religion thereis room for
relaxation." There is no indication in the hadeeth about the two young
girls that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was
listening to them. The commands and prohibitions have todo with
listening, not merely hearing, just as in the case of seeing, therules
have to do with intentionally looking and not what happens by
accident. So it is clear that this is for women only. Imaam Abu 'Ubayd
(may Allaah have mercy on him) defined the daffas "that which is
played by women." (Ghareeb al-Hadeeth, 3/64).
An inappropriate exception
Some of them make an exception for drums at times of war, and
consequentially some modern scholars have said that military music is
allowed. But there is no basis for this at all, for a number of
reasons,the first of which is that this is making an exception with no
clear evidence, apart from mere opinion and thinking that it is good,
and this is wrong. The second reason is that what the Muslims shoulddo
at times of war is to turn their hearts towards their Lord. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):
"They ask you (O Muhammad) about the spoils of war. Say: 'The spoils
are for Allaah and the Messenger.' So fear Allaah and adjust all
matters of difference among you..." [al-Anfaal 8:1]. But using music
is the opposite of this idea of taqwa and it would distract them from
remembering their Lord.Thirdly, using music is one of the customs of
the kuffaar, and it is not permitted to imitate them, especially with
regard to something that Allaah has forbidden to us in general, such
as music. (al-Saheehah, 1/145)
"No people go astray after having been guided except they developed
arguments amongst themselves." (Saheeh)
Some of them used the hadeeth about the Abyssinians playing in the
mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) as
evidence that singing is allowed! Al-Bukhaari included thishadeeth in
his Saheeh under the heading Baab al-Hiraab wa'l-Daraq Yawm al-'Eid
(Chapter onSpears and Shields on the Day of Eid). Al-Nawawi (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said:This indicates that it is permissible
to play with weapons and the like in the mosque, and he applied that
to other activities connected withjihaad. (Sharh Muslim). But as
al-Haafiz ibn Hajar(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: whoever speaks
about something which is not his profession will come up with weird
ideas such asthese.
Some of them use as evidence the hadeeth about the singing of the two
young girls, which we have discussed above, but we will quotewhat Ibn
al-Qayyim (mayAllaah have mercy on him) said, because it is valuable:
I am amazed that you quote as evidence for allowing listening to
sophisticated songs the report which we mentioned about how two young
girls who were below the age of puberty sang to a young woman on the
day of Eidsome verses of Arab poetry about bravery in war and other
noble characteristics. How can you compare this to that? What is
strange is that this hadeeth is one of the strongest proofs against
them. The greatest speaker of the truth [Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq] called
them musical instruments of the Shaytaan, and the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of that
appellation, but he made an exception in the case of these two young
girls who had notyet reached the age of responsibility and the words
of whose songs could not corrupt anyone who listened to them. Can this
be used asevidence to allow what you do and what you know of listening
(to music) which includes (bad) things which are not hidden?! Subhaan
Allaah! How people can be led astray! (Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/493).

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