There is an experiment done with frogs and boiling water and its premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, then it will jump out immediately, however if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death. Somewhat of a similar story has happened to us, Muslims, in regards to music. It has slowly and gradually entered our homes, our institutions and it has penetrated deep into our society. The situation has gotten so out of hand that it has become a part of our daily lives so much so that it is acceptable not just to the youth but, most of the times, even to the elderly people. And people use all kinds of arguments in justifying listening to music; "it's just a source of entertainment", "it's a source of relaxation", "it's an expression of speech" etc.
Abu Muawiyyah (R.A.) narrates that Prophet (S.A.W.) has said: "Verily Allah has sent me with guidance and as a mercy to mankind and (inspite of this) He ordered me to obliterate musical instruments, idols, the cross and things of ignorance." -Narrated by At Tayalisi, Ahmad, At Tabrani in Mujam al Kabeer, Ibn Abdul Barr, Hassan Bin Sufyaan, Ibn Munda, Abu Nuaim, Ar Ruyani, Al Harith, Al Ashyab, Al Haythami, Al Ajuri, Ibn An Najjjar, Ibn Adi and others.
Furthermore, Anas bin Malik mentions that the Prophet (S.A.W.) has said, "Two voices are cursed in this world and the hereafter; music at the time of happiness and wailing at the time of calamity."- Narrated by Al Bazzar, Adh Dhiyaa al Maqdisi, Ibn Murduyah, Al Bayhaqi, Abu Nuaim and others.
Ask yourselves this; have you ever heard any story of the Prophet (S.A.W.) listening to and enjoying music or of the sahaba listening to it? Even asking such a question seems absurd, but why is it so? Because music and Islam are two separate and mutually exclusive terms, music leads to shamelessness whereas the deen demands shame. Music leads to vanity and heedlessness whereas Islam teaches the opposite of that. Many people love to quote the example of the incident when Prophet (S.A.W.) was entering Madinah and some little girls had gathered up with a duff to sing songs to welcome the Prophet (S.A.W.) and the Prophet (S.A.W.) did not stop them. But they don’t realize, at the same time, the grave error of quoting something out of context. The reasons why the Prophet (S.A.W.) did not stop them then are manifold, firstly they weren’t singing songs with drums and electric guitars etc but were only using duff which is permissible in Islam. Secondly, they were singing to greet the Prophet (S.A.W.) not for the reasons why people sing songs today, hence one can also imagine the VAST difference in those lyrics and in the lyrics of the songs that we listen to.
Moreover, if one actually wants to know the status of music in Islam, then instead of concentrating on an incident where the Prophet (S.A.W.) was lenient due to his love for little children and his softness of character, one should rather look at situations where the Prophet (S.A.W.) chose to make clear the evils of music. One incident in which it is made clear how disliked music is; is as follows:
It was narrated that Buraydah said: The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) went out on one of his military campaigns, and when he came back, a black slave woman came and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I vowed that if Allah brought you back safe and sound, I would beat the duff before you and sing.” The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said, “If you vowed that, then do it, otherwise do not do it.’” So she started to beat the duff , Abu Bakr came in whilst she was doing so, then ‘Ali came in and she kept on beating the duff, then ‘Uthmaan came in, yet she still kept beating the duff. Then ‘Umar came in and she threw the duff beneath her and sat on it. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said, “The Satan is afraid of you, O ‘Umar. I was sitting and she was beating the duff, then Abu Bakr came in she was beating the duff; then ‘Ali came in she was beating the duff; then ‘Uthmaan came in she was beating the duff, but when you came in, O ‘Umar, she put the duff down.” - Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3690; classed as Saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 2913.
In another incident, Nafi narrates that Ibn Umar (R.A.) heard the (sound of the) musical instruments of a shepherd. He immediately placed his hands in his ears and changed his route and continuously asked: “Oh Nafi, can you still hear?” (Nafi says): “I constantly replied in the positive. When I finally said that I could not hear, Ibn Umar resumed his route. Thereafter, Ibn Umar mentioned: “This is what Prophet (S.A.W.) did.” - Narrated by Abu Dawood, Ibn Hibbaan, At Tabrani in Al Kabeer and Al Awsat, Ahmad, Al Bayhaqi, Al Haythami, Al Aajuri, Ibn Sad, Ibn Abi ad Dunya in Al War’ and Dham al malahi and others. This hadith is narrated through chains which are authentic.
Hence it is clear from the afore-mentioned incidents that music is a tool of shaitan with which he distracts and misguides people. In fact, it does not JUST lead us to wasting our time while we are listening to it but it also gets stuck in our head and is put on repeat by the satan in our heads while we our performing our prayers! We memorise those obscene lyrics at the expense of memorising the verses of the Noble Qur'an! Ask yourself honestly; can listening to Lady Gaga help one concentrate in salah? Or does listening to increasingly atrocious Bollywood songs help us in getting closer to Allah?
The vanity that music indulges us in is further emphasized in Surah Najm where Allah says in verses 59-62:
"Are you astonished at this recitation (the Quran)? And you laugh and do not cry. Wasting your time in vanities. So fall in prostration to Allah and worship Him."
Many commentators have interpreted the term "vanities" that is mentioned here to refer to as music.
Looking at further evidences against the prohibition of music:
Allah Ta'ala says in Surah Luqman, verse 6:
"From amongst men there are those who purchase "lahw al hadith" without knowledge to mislead from the path of Allah and they ridicule it. For them there is a humiliating punishment."
The greatest and most renowned commentators of the Quran have said that the term "lahw al hadith" refers to music, from amongst these commentators include Hasan Al-Basri, Abdullah bin Masud, Amr ibn Shuyaib and many more. In fact, Abdullah bin Masud and Abdullah bin Abbass used to take an oath and say that this verse refers to music!
And then in Surah Isra, verse 64, Allah Ta'ala says:
" "And gradually befool those who you can from them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them." But Satan does not promise them except delusion."
Here again "with your voice" has been interpreted by many mufasirun (commentators of Quran) as music.
Apart from these proofs, there are many more ahadith that condemn the playing of and listening to music but obviously not all of them could be stated here. In fact, the only reason that I have even quoted ahadith and verses of the Quran is only as a formality and as a means of giving evidence that Islam is against music. Otherwise I don't even see why we need to go into the debate of whether music is haraam or not, or if it is maqrooh or not, when the only thing we should be asking ourselves is whether it makes us draw closer to Allah or whether it leads us to vanity and draws us away from Allah. Islam was not revealed as a list of “to do things” and “not to do things.” Islam was revealed as a truth, a way to realize one’s purpose in life and as a way to achieve the best in this world and in the life yet to come. But it is our tragedy that we have reduced Islam to just a set of rules and restrictions. It is even more depressing that only a few of us know that ONLY 3% of the Quran talks about what is halal and haraam and the rest of the Quran talks about so many other things!
Not listening to music does not mean the end of the world, it is true that music is everywhere and COMPLETELY avoiding it is almost impossible these days. Still we need to play our part and do whatever is in our power to not listen to music. Try it and trust me that In shaa Allah you won't even feel any charm in listening to music anymore. Our ears have been given to us by Allah then why should we use them to listen to something that draws us away from Him? Listen to nasheeds (without music obviously) and the recitation of Quran and you'll forget why you ever even listened to music in the first place. And when you're at that level then pray for consistency in your deeds and hidayah for those who have love for music. Take the first step and Allah will In shaa Allah make everything else easy for us.
