Music is haram

[Aisha123]

The proof:

The Noble Qur'an - Luqman 31:6

"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.) to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah without knowledge, and takes it (the Path of Allah, the Verses of the Qur'an) by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment (in the Hell-Fire)."

-Ibn Masood (ra) said about this verse "I swear by the One other than Whom there is no God that it refers to singing [ghinaa].", and he repeated this three times. Ibn Abbaas (ra) said it refered to 'singing and the like' while Jaabir (ra) is reported to view its meaning to signify singing and listening to songs. Many taabi'oon such as Mujaahid, Ikrimah, Mak-hool and Umar ibn Shu'ayb viewed it as a censure of music and song.

Hadith - Bukhari (787) [Also related by Tabari]

Sa'id ibn Jbayr reported that Ibn 'Abbas said about the verse: "And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks" (31:6), that, "ldle talks means singing and the like." The Noble Qur'an - Al-Isra 17:64

"And Istafiz [literally means: befool them gradually] those whom you can among them with your voice (i.e. songs, music, and other call for Allah's disobedience)..."


Hadith - Bukhari 7:494

Narrated Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari that he heard the Prophet 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 as lawful. And (from them), there will be some 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 Allah will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection."



The Noble Qur'an - An-Najm 53:57-62

The Day of Resurrection draws near, None besides Allah can avert it, (or advance it, or delay it). Do you then wonder at this recital (the Qur'an)? And you laugh at it and weep not, Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing, etc.). So fall you down in prostration to Allah, and worship Him (Alone).


'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: Allah says (interpretation of the meaning) "Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)" – Sufyaan al-Thawri said, narrating from his father from 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).

[Aisha123]

Explanation from Sheikh Ibn Baz

Shaykh Ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 3/423-424:

"Ma'aazif refers to singing and musical instruments. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us that at the end of time there will come a people who will allow these things just as they will allow alcohol, zina and silk. This is one of the signs of his Prophethood, for all of this has happened. The hadeeth indicates that [musical instruments] are haram (prohibited), and condemns those who say they are halal (permissible), just as it condemns those who say that alcohol and zina are allowed. The aayaat and ahaadeeth that warn against singing and musical instruments are many indeed. Whoever claims that Allaah has allowed singing and musical instruments is lying and is committing a great evil. We ask Allaah to keep us from obeying our desires and the Shaytaan. Even worse and more seriously sinful than that are those who say it is mustahabb. Undoubtedly this stems from ignorance about Allaah and His Religion; it is insolent blasphemy against Allaah and lying about His Laws.

What is mustahabb (recommended) is to beat on the daff [simple hand drum] at weddings. This is mustahabb for women only, in order to announce the wedding and to distinguish it from fornication. There is nothing wrong with women singing amongst themselves, accompanied by the daff, so long as the songs contain no words that encourage evil or distract people from their duties. It is also a condition that this should take place among women only, and there should be no mixing with men. It should also not cause any annoyance or disturbance to neighbours. What some people do, of amplifying such singing with loudspeakers is evil, because of the disturbance it causes to other Muslims, neighbours and others. It is not permissible for women, in weddings or on other occasions, to use any instrument other than the daff, such as the oud, violin, rebab (stringed instrument) and so on. This is evil, and the only concession that women are given is that they may use the daff.

As for men, it is not permissible for them to play any kind of musical instrument, whether at weddings or on any other occasion. What Allaah has prescribed for men is training in the use of instruments of war, such as target practice or learning to ride horses and competing in that, using spears, shields, tanks, airplanes and other things such as cannons, machine guns, bombs and anything else that may help jihaad for the sake of Allaah."

[Aisha123]

Question:

I read in a Hadeeth that the Prophet (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, "Whoever listens to a female singer, then molten lead will he poured into his ears." And another Hadeeth: "Music makes hypocrisy grow in the heart just as water makes grass grow. Are these Hadeeths authentic? And what is the ruling regarding someone who hears singing in a car or in a gathering, when he does not have the ability to turn it off?
Answer:

Listening to a voice implies that one is listening carefully, concentrating on what he is listening to. So in the case of singing, listening to it implies that one is listening carefully and concentrating on it.

As for hearing, it could be on purpose, the same as listening carefully and concentrating, in which case it is also called listening, and the same judgements apply. On the other hand, hearing could occur without it happening on purpose, without concentrating on the voice, then it is not called listening and the judgements related to listening do not apply.

Accordingly, listening to what the questioner mentioned, different types of singing, is unlawful for anyone who concentrates on it. This is the case, be it a man, a woman, in the home, or not in the home, in the car, or in gatherings, large or small. It is the same, whenever one chooses to do so, and is inclined to participate in what is unlawful according to the Shari'ah.

Allaah Almighty said:


"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talk (Lahwul-Hadeeth) to mislead men from the path of Allaah without knowledge, and takes it by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment." [Luqman 31:6]

The singing that the questioner mentioned is part of Lahwul-Hadeeth. It tempts heart, and it leads it to evil, taking it away from good, and causing people to waste their time. So because of this it falls under the general meaning of Lahwul-Hadeeth, it is the same for one singing and the one who listens to singing, all of them fall under the general category of purchasing Lahwul-Hadeeth and misleading others from the path of Allaah. So there is prohibition and a warning of a sever punishment for doing so.

Just as the prohibition of singing and listening to it is proven in the Qur'aan, so too has the Sunnah. The Prophet (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said,


"There will be from my Nation a people who will deem fornication, silk (for men), alcohol, and music to be permissible; and there will be a people who will camp beside a high mountain, when a poor man passes by them and asks for a need, they will say to him, 'Return to us tomorrow.' In the morning Allaah will make the mountain fall upon them and the others (who are saved) are transformed into apes and pigs, until the Day of Judgement." (Al-Bukhari no. 5990)

Music is the use of instruments of Lahw, and part of this is singing and listening to it. So Allaah's Messenger (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) condemned those who seek to legalize fornication, the use of silk for men, drinking alcohol, and such entertainment instruments and listening to them. Here he accompanied music with other major sins. In the end of the Hadeeth he threatened those who do that with a punishment.

This shows that listening to music is unlawful. But a person is not sinning when he accidentally listens to music, such as a person who is walking in the street and hears music being played in stores, or in a car, as long as he does not desire to listen to it. Such a person is not sinning because he has no choice; however, he must advise and warn those who are playing the music, he must do so with wisdom and good exhortation. And should avoid as much as possible going to places where music is played, and Allaah does not place a burden on a soul greater than it can bear.

A group of scholars use authentic proofs and then follow that with narrations that have some weakness in their chains of narration, or from the view of proving the objective. There is nothing wrong in this because they mention these narrations as secondary, narrations to be reflected upon, but they depend entirely on authentic Hadeeth for proof. An example of this regarding singing and listening to it, where scholars first mention the authentic narrations and then mention narrations that are weak. Here are some examples of the weak narrations:

1) Al-Hakim At-Tirmithi related from Abu Musa Al-'Ashari that the Prophet (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said,


"Whoever listens to the sound of singing will not be permitted to listen to the spirits in Paradise." (Kanzu 'Ummal no. 40660, 400666 and Qurtubi no. 14/53-54)

2) Ibn 'Asakir relates from Anas, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said,

"Whoever listens to a female singer, molten lead will be poured into his ears on the Day of Judgement." (Dha'ifu-Jami' As-Saghir Lil-Albani no. 5410 and Ad-Dha'ifah no. 4549)

3) In Thamm Al-Malahi Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya' relates from Ibn Mas'ud a saying of the Prophet:


"Singing makes hypocrisy to grow in the heart like water makes herbs grow." (Al-Baihaqi 10/223 and Abu Dawud no. 4927)

4) Al-Bayhaqi related from Jabir, may Allaah be pleased with him, that the Prophet (sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam) said,


"Singing makes hypocrisy to grow in the heart like water makes plants grow." (Shua'bul-Iman no. 5100)

All of these Hadeeths are weak, but just because they are weak doesn't affect the ruling on singing and on listening to singing; both are unlawful because of other authentic proofs from the Qur'aan and the Sunnah. And with Allaah is the facilitation to do what is right.

Permanent Committee for Research and Verdicts
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 7, Pages 188-189, DARUSSALAM