Monday, June 15, 2009

Ruling on so-called Islamic songs with � � musical instruments

I would like to know if muslims are allowed to lisen to islamic songs with
instruments in it. please answer by using the quran and the sunnah or ijmaa.
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
The aayaat of the Qur�aan and the Ahaadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) indicate that musical instruments are condemned, and warn us
against them. The Qur�aan teaches that playing these instruments is one of the
things that leads people astray and constitutes mockery of the Signs of Allaah.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
�And of mankind is he who purchases idle talk to mislead (men) from the Path of
Allaah, without knowledge, and takes it (the Path of Allaah, the Verses of the
Qur�aan) by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment (in the
Hell-fire).� [Luqmaan 31:6]
Most of the scholars interpreted lahw al-hadeeth (�idle talk�) as meaning singing
and musical instruments, and every voice that diverts people from the truth.
Al-Tabari (Jaami� al-Bayaan, 15/118-119), Ibn Abi�l-Dunya (Dham al-Malaahi, 33)
and Ibn al-Jawzi (Talbees Iblees, 232) all reported that concerning the aayah
(interpretation of the meaning):
�[Allaah said to Shaytaan;] �And istafziz [literally means befool them gradually]
those whom you can with your voice, make assaults on them with your cavalry and
your infantry, mutually share with them wealth and children, and make promises to
them.� But Shaytaan promises them nothing but deceit� [al-Isra� 17:64]
15.
Mujaahid said, �This refers to singing and flutes.�
Al-Tabari reported that al-Hasan al-Basri said:
�His voice is the tambourine.�
Ibn al-Qayyim said in Ighaathat al-Lahfaan (1/252):
�The grammatical structure here (idaafah � genitive or possessive) is used to make
something specific (idaafat al-takhsees), and in all these words in the aayah it
refers back to the Shaytaan [addressed here as �you� by Allaah, may He be
glorified]. Everyone who speaks about anything other than obedience of Allaah or
plays a reed pipe, flute, tambourine or drum, all of this is the voice of
Shaytaan.�
Al-Tirmidhi reported in his Sunan (no. 1005) from Ibn Abi Layla from �Ata� from
Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: �The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) 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 forbid weeping. What I have forbidden is two
foolish and evil kinds of voices: voices at times of entertainment and play and
the flutes of the Shaytaan, and voices at times of calamity and scratching the
face and rending the garments and screaming.��
Al-Tirmidhi said: this is a hasan hadeeth. It was also reported by al-Haakim in
al-Mustadrak, no. 1683, al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra (4/69), al-Tayaalisi in
Musnad (no. 1683) and by al-Tahhaawi in Sharh al-Ma aani, 4/29, � and it was classed
as hasan by al-Albaani.
Al-Nawawi said: �What is meant here is singing and musical instruments.� See
Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 4/88.
It was reported in a saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: �In my ummah there will be people who allow
fornication/adultery (zina), silk, wine and musical instruments [ma�aazif]. Some
people will stay at the side of a mountain, and they will have flocks of sheep.
When a poor person comes in the evening to ask them for something he needs, they
will say. �Come back to us tomorrow.� Then during the night Allaah will destroy
them by causing the mountain to fall upon them, while He changes others into apes
and swine. They will remain in such a state until the Day of Resurrection.��
(Reported by al-Bukhaari in al-Saheeh mu�allaqan, 51/10. Reported mawsoolan by al-
Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubra, 3/272; al-Tabaraani in al-Mu�jam al-Kabeer, 3/319;
and Ibn Hibbaan in al-Saheeh (8/265-266). Classed as saheeh by Ibn al-Salaah in
�Uloom al-Hadeeth (32), Ibn al-Qayyim in Ighaathat al-Lahfaan (255) and Tahdheeb
al-Sunan (5/270-272), al-Haafiz in al-Fath (10/51) and al-Albaani in al-Saheehah
(1/140)).
Al-Haafiz said in al-Fath (10/55): Ma�aazif refers to musical instruments. Al-
Qurtubi reported from al-Jawhari that ma�aazif meant singing, and what it says in
his book al-Sihaah is that it refers to musical instruments. It was also said that
it is the sound of musical instruments. In a footnote by al-Dimyaati it says:
ma�aazif is tambourines and other kinds of drums. The word �azif is applied to
singing and all other kinds of instruments that may be played.
Ibn al-Qayyim said in Ighaathat al-Lahfaan (1/256):
The evidence for this is that ma�aazif refers to all kinds of things used for
entertainment. There is no dispute among scholars of the Arabic language on this
point. If they were halaal, he would not have condemned those who permitted them,
or compared permitting them to permitting wine and zina.
We may understand from the hadeeth that all kinds of musical instruments are
forbidden. This is clear from the hadeeth for a number of reasons:
1.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said �� there will
be people who allow�� It is clear that the things listed here, including musical
instruments, are forbidden in sharee�ah, but those people will allow them.
2.
He compared musical instruments to things that are definitely known to be
haraam, namely zina and alcohol. If instruments were not haraam, he would not have
made this comparison. The evidence of this hadeeth that singing is haraam is
definitive. Even if no other hadeeth or aayah spoke about musical instruments,
this hadeeth would be sufficient to prove that they are haraam, especially the
kind of singing that is known among people nowadays, the essence of which is
obscenity and foul talk, based on all kinds of musical instruments such as
guitars, drums, flutes, ouds, zithers, organs, pianos, violins and other things
that make it more enticing, such as the voices of these effeminate singers and
whores.
(See Hukm al-Ma aazif by al-Albaani, Tas-heeh al-Ahkta wa l-� � � Awhaam al-Waaqi�ah fi
Ahaadeeth al-Nabi �alayhi�l-salaam by Raa�id Sabri, 1/176).
Shaykh Ibn Baaz 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 haraam, and condemns those who
say they are halaal, 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 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.�
Shaykh al-Islam said in al-Fataawa (11/569):
�I know that in the �golden age�, the first and best three centuries, in the
Hijaaz, in Syria, in the Yemen, in Egypt, in the Maghreb, in Iraq, in Khorasan,
none of the religious and righteous people, the ascetics and those who worshipped
Allaah much, would gather to listen to this whistling and clapping and drumbeating
and so on. This was innovated after that at the end of the second century,
and whenever the imaams saw it, they denounced it.�
As for these anaasheed which are described as �Islamic� but are accompanied with
musical instruments, giving them this name lends them some measure of legitimacy,
but in fact they are singing and music, so calling them Islamic nasheeds is
falsehood and deception. They cannot be a substitute for singing, as an evil thing
cannot be substituted for another evil thing. We should replace something evil
with something good. Listening to it on the grounds that it is Islamic and an act
of worship is bid�ah, and Allaah does not allow this. We ask Allaah to keep us
safe and sound.
For more information, see:
Talbees Iblees (237) and al-Madkhil by Ibn al-Haaj (3/109); al-Amr bi�l-Ittibaa�
wa�l-Nahy �an al-Ibtidaa� by al-Suyooti (99 ff); Dham al-Malaahi by Ibn Abi�l-
Dunya; al-I�laam bi-anna al-�Azif haraam by Abu Bakr al-Jazaa�iri; Tanzeeh al-
Sharee�ah �an al-Aghaani al-Khalee�ah wa Tahreem Aalaat al-Tarab by al-Albaani.
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Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

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