"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).
(The Noble Qur'an - Luqman 31:6)

"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)..."
(The Noble Qur'an - Al-Isra 17:64 )

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

Sahih Al-Bukhari Volume 7, Book 69, hadith #494v
Narrated Abu 'Amir (raa) or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari (raa) that he heard the Prophet (sallallaahu 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 (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." note: Here Rasulullah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) has mentioned music with drinking of alcohol and fornication (zina) which are a MAJOR (Kabair) sin!

Sunan Abu-Dawud Book 41, Hadith # 4909
Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas'ud(raa) : Salam ibn Miskin(raa), 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 (SAW) say: Singing produces hypocrisy in the heart.

Sahih Al-Bukhari and agreed upon by At-Tabari.
Sa'id ibn Jubayr(raa) reported that Ibn 'Abbas(raa) said about the verse:  "And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks" (31:6), that, "ldle talks means singing and the like."

The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu 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 Maajah ) note : This hadeeth has also been narrated by al-Bayhaaqi and ibn Asaakir, and has been authenticated by the renowned scholar of hadeeth Ibn al-Qayyim.

The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 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 Imaam Ahmed bin Hanbal )

That the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said : "Verily I did not prohibit weeping [per se], but rather I forbade two voices [sowtayn] which are imbecilic [ahmaq] and sinfully shameless [faajir]: one a voice [singing] to the accompaniment of musical amusement [lahw] and Satan's [wind] instruments; the other, a voice [wailing] due to some calamity, accompanied by striking of the face and tearing of garments. But this [weeping off mine] stems from compassion, and whosoever does not show compassion will not receive it." (The narration of Haakim and Others) note : This hadeeth is graded Hasan, and has been strengthened by other narrations.

Anas bin Maalik (radi Allaahu anhu) related from the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) that "two cursed sounds are that of the [wind] instrument [mizmaar] played on the occasion of joy and grace, and woeful wailing upon the occurrence of adversity." (Narration of Abu Bakr ash-Shaafi'ee)

Ijma'a of the 4 imams:
Music that takes one away from the remembrance of Allah (swt) and music that has other instruments other than the duff is strictly forbidden.

At-Tabari (RH) and Imam Malik (RH)
Hold the view that all music is unlawful. And should be abstained from.

Imaam Shafiee (RH) and Imaam Abu Hanifah (RH)
Held the view that most music is makruh.  Some music is lawful (the one with only duff and under certain circumstances) and the music that takes away from the remembrance of Allah (swt) is forbidden.

Maulana Fazlul Karim
states his own opinion being that "songs are in themselves lawful but they become Harram, makruh and mustahab according to times, circumstances, places, motives and kinds of songs.  for example if it has other instruments then the duff and if it talks about subjects that are other than those which benefit the deen then they are unlawful.

All these opinions are quoted in the tafseer of the book "mishkat-ul-Masabih" by Maulana Fazlul Karim section regarding Music, vol 2 page #198.

Ruling on so-called “Islaamic” songs with musical instruments by one of our great ullima Shaykh Saalih al-Munajjid.

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 (RH)  (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]

Mujaahid (RH) said, “This refers to singing and flutes.”

Al-Tabari (RH) reported that al-Hasan al-Basri (RAA)said: “His voice is the tambourine.”

Ibn al-Qayyim (RH) 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 (RAA) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (SAW) went to to al-Nakhl with ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf (RAA), 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 Ibn Hajar (RH) 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:

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.  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 AbdulAziz Bin Baaz (RH) 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-Islaam 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 drum-beating 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 “Islaamic” 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 Islaamic 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 Islaamic 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.

Sahih Al-Bukhari (Volume 5, Book 59, hadith# 336)
Narrated Ar-Rubai bint Muauwidh(raa) "The Prophet came to me after consuming his marriage with me and sat down on my bed as you (the sub-narrator) are sitting now, and small girls were beating the duff and singing in lamentation of my father who had been killed on the day of the battle of Badr. Then one of the girls said, "There is a Prophet amongst us who knows what will happen tomorrow." The Prophet said (to her)," Do not say this, but go on saying what you have spoken before." Note: This authentic hadith illustrates that it is halal to use only the duff. Which is a one sided drum made of animal skin and Rasulullah (saw) has permitted this for weddings and the eidayn (the two eids). Also,  Rasulullah (saw) has permitted war-songs during jihad (without musical instruments except the duff). Music with other instruments and lyrics that take away from the remembrance of Allah (swt) are strictly forbidden.

Note from the author:  My dear and respect brothers and sisters in Islam.  we should make our lives totally and fully subservient to the orders of Allah (swt), we should not pick and chose which order of Allah (swt) we want to follow and which one we don't.  we have seen according to the ayahs of Quran and authentic hadith of Rasulullah (swt) that music is not lawful in islam so we should through away any music tapes or CD's that we may have and replace them with Quran and islamic lectures.  So that we use our times wisely and we should not fool ourselves by thinking groups that mention the name of Allah (e.i. Wu Tang) or Kawallies are halal since they use miscall instruments we should recognize that they are harram and should stay away  from them.
And Allah (swt) knows best.

Back to the Ibnfarooq's Islam Page
Back to Kitab-ul-Fadhil