Lets first analyze the claim that there is no Quranic verse that explicitly proves forbiddence of Music. Although some scholars present many verses in this context but here we will talk of the most important of all...QURAN 31:6
It says;
“And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah…”
(Luqmaan 31:6)
Now lets see what are the evidences to say that this is with refernce to singing and music;
1-Abdullah bin Masud(may Allaah be pleased with him) , a very close companion of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said about it three times;
"By ALLAH this refers to singing and music"
(Ibn Kathir 3/451)
2-Abdullah bin Abbas(may Allaah be pleased with him) ,again a very knowledgable companion of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), said "this means singing".
{Tafseer al-Tabari, 21/40}.
3-Abdullah bin Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) also is reported to have said the same. {see Ibn al-Qayyam's narration below}
4-Mujaahid (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this means playing the drum (tabl). {Tafseer al-Tabari, 21/40}
5-Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this verse was revealed concerning singing and musical instruments.
{Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/451}
6-And as to other interpretations, we need to look that there is no contradiction at all between any of these. They may add something to it but no contradiction so no doubt. There is not a single, even weakest of the weak, tradition that any companion of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) opposed this view. So no doubt no ambiguity. Its absolutely clear!
Following testifies the same;
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. This was reported with saheeh isnaads from Ibn ‘Abbaas and Ibn Mas’ood. Abu’l-Sahbaa’ said: I asked Ibn Mas’ood about the aayah (interpretation of the meaning), ‘“And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks’ [Luqmaan 31:6]. He said: By Allaah, besides Whom there 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 contradiction between the interpretation of “idle talk” as meaning singing and 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.
7-And if somebody says that this is not explicit as the exact word for music is not used then the only answer is "We cannot judge ALLAH by our thoughts, He is All-Knower, Al-Wise". When so many learned people testify this fact then we ought to believe it anyway.
Are all Ahadith about singing and music weak?
Now we come to the claim that all the Ahadith in prohibtion of singing and music are weak.
Infact there are Ahadith saying the same in sahih Bukhari as well, whose authenticity is beyond any doubt.
And as to the claim of Allama ibn Arabi and other scholars the no Hadith that calls for prohibtion of music is authentic we can, with all respect and love for these pious people, safely venture to say that this argument of theirs is not acceptible to the Scholars of Hadith, whether of the past or present. All the scholars of Hadith agree that there is no doubt about the authenticity of Ahadith from Bukhari and Muslim. And as a matter of fact, despite all their knowledge, Imam Ghazali and Allama ibne Arabi were not the specialists of the science of hadith. So definitely we must prefer the stance of the people who are the master of the field. Infact these were not Muhadithin(masters of the science of Hadith)
Further Imam Ghazali is quite known to have used weak and according to some even fabricated ones, not that he did that purposefully but he was (as many scholars suggest) not well versed in this art.
Al-Ghazali has mentioned regarding himself, "And my knowledge of Hadith is but scanty"{Qanun al-Ta'wil, pg. 16}
Music condemned in Hadith
There are scores of Ahadith which condemn Music. I'll mention a few here and then will take more trouble to answer the arguments that are use to justify Music or its 'good use.'
Allah's Messenger (pbuh) said, "Verily, Allah has prohibited for my ummah: wine, gambling, a drink distilled from corn, the drum and the lute; while He supplemented me with another prayer, the witr."
{Musnad Ahmed Hadith 6276. Allama Albani classified it as Sahih in Silsala Ahadith Sahiha Hadith 1708}
Allah's Messenger (pbuh) said; "Two voices are cursed (both) in this world and the Hereafter; 1) ( صوت مزمار) Music at the time of merry making and 2) wailing in adversity."
{Musnad Bazzar vol.1 p.377 Hadith 795. Allama Albani classified it as Sahih in Silsala Ahadith Sahiha Hadith 427}
Many more Ahadith can be brought forward to strengthen the view that Music is condemned but for the sake of brevity I have written only a couple of them here with their status mentioned.
Hadith from Sahih Bukhari
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 there will be some people 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 He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection."
{Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol.7 Hadith No.5590}
The Ahadith in condemnation of Music include this Hadith from Sahih Bukhari on which the whole Ummah today agrees in terms of authenticity.
Some people say that one of the narrators of this Hadith 'Hisham bin Ammar' has been criticized by some scholars. Even if it so then still this no way undermines the status of the Hadith as all the Muhadithin agree that when Imam Bukhari narrates from a person who is otherwise having some weakness, he confirms the Hadith to be true from other directions. This is the reason that Scholars do not put in any effort to ascertain the status of a Hadith from Bukhari and Muslim as they are now understood to be authentic.
There is no doubt at all about the authenticity of this Hadith.
One may say that just as the wearing of Silk mentioned in this Hadith the use of Music is also not absolutely forbidden. As silk is forbidden only for men so Music is also forbidden only for 'bad purposes' and the order is not general. This is an argument that does not carry any weight because the details of the use of Silk are clarified in Hadith categorically but there is not a single tradition that shows the 'good use' of music to be allowed. Before coming up with anything do read what I read in the following lines.
HADITH ABOUT ABU MUSA ASHARI AND THE ARGUMENT THAT PROPHET DAVID USED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS:
Some use the following Hadith to prove that Prophet David (pbuh) used Musical instruments.
Narrated Abu Musa:
That the Prophet said to him' "O Abu Musa! You have been given one of the wind-instruments (مِزْمَارًا) of the family of David .'
{Bukhari :: Volume 6 :: Book 61 :: Hadith 568}
No doubt that word used here is (مِزْمَارًا) but it does not mean 'Musical' Wind-instruments here. It only means beautiful voice. Here are my proofs for this.
1-The background of the Hadith becomes clear from the following Hadith in Sahih Muslim.
Abu Burda narrated on the authority of Abu Musa that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had said to Abu Musa: "If you were to see me, as I was listening to your recitation (of the Qur'an) last night (you would have felt delighted). You are in fact endowed with the wind-instruments of the family of David."
{Muslim :: Book 4 : Hadith 1735 }
The Hadith makes it clear that Holy Prophet (pbuh) said this after listening to the melodious recitation of Hazrat Abu Musa Ashari. Any other deduction clearly seems absurd.
2-Scholars have always put it in the Chapter on the beautiful recitation of the Holy Quran, see Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
3-Imam Nawawi in his monumental commentary of Sahih Muslim writes under this Hadith.
"The word 'Mizmaar' here means beautiful voice."
{Sharah an-Nawawi Alaa' Muslim vol.3 p.146}
Thus it becomes evident that the Hadith only means that Holy Prophet (pbuh) said to Sayyidina Abu Musa that he has been given the beautiful voice like the voice of the Prophet David (Dawud) (pbuh). Therefore to use this Hadith to claim that Prophet David used Music is grave act.
USING BIBLICAL NARRATIONS TO SAY THAT PROPHET DAVID USED MUSIC:
The use of Biblical narrations to try to prove that Prophet David used Musical instruments is also not an acceptable deed. Biblical narrations can only be quoted if they are supported by Quran or Sahih Ahadith. Unless one has any proof for this from Sahih Hadith the Biblical quotations are absolutely baseless specially when it comes to issues of Jurisprudence.
Their are numerous Biblical narrations that say such shameless things about Prophet David that its impossible for a believer to consider them. Thus Biblical narrations however numerous carry no weight unless they be in consonance of Islamic teachings.
THE HADITH ABOUT TWO GIRLS SINGING IN THE HOUSE OF THE HOLY PROPHET AND SAYYIDINA ABU BAKR'S REACTION.
Now we come to the most Hadith which is so often quoted to prove music's permissibility.
The Hadith is narrated a number of times in Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, thus there can be no doubt about its authenticity.
As narrated in Sahih Muslim, it goes as:
'A'isha reported: Abu Bakr came to see me and I had two girls with me from among the girls of the Ansar and they were singing what the Ansar recited to one another at the Battle of Bu'ath. They were not, however, professional singing girls. Upon this Abu Bakr said: (What I see the playing of) this wind instrument of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and this too on 'Id day? Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Abu Bakr, every people have a festival and it is our festival (so let them play on).
{Sahih Muslim, Kitab Salatul Eidin (Book 4), Hadith 1938}
1-THE GIRLS WERE NOT PROFESSIONAL SINGERS: First thing that needs our attention is that the girls singing were not professional singers. Hadith says (وَلَيْسَتَا بِمُغَنِّيَتَيْنِ) 'they were not professional singing girls.'
2-INFACT THE GIRLS USED 'DAFF' ONLY: The matter of the fact is that those girls merely used 'Daff' i.e. tambourine. This is proved from the very same Hadith. In Arabic editions of Sahih Muslim, just below this narration it is written. In the commonly used software, it is given as a separate narration.
This hadith has been narrated by Hisham with the same chain of transmitters, and there the words are: "Two girls were playing upon a 'Daff' i.e. tambourine."
{Sahih Muslim, Kitab Salatul Eidin (Book 4), Hadith 1939}
3-MEANING OF THE WORD 'WIND INSTRUMENT': No doubt the actual word used here is (بِمَزْمُورِ) 'wind instrument' but it can only be taken to refer the beautiful voice and nothing else. Imam Nawawi in his monumental renowned commentary on Sahih Muslim writes about the words (أَبِمُزْمُورِ الشَّيْطَان) under this Hadith.
'In reality (here) its about to melodious voice, 'wind-instrument' is (actually) the beautiful voice.'
{Sharah an-Nawawi Alaa' Muslim vol.3 p.287}
Taking the word (مُزْمُورِ) literally is not the right approach. How can it be that Holy Prophet (PBUH) curses the music (صوت مزمار) at the time of merry-making (ref. Hadith quoted above) and then tolerates the very same on Eid day, a day of making merry?
And taking it to mean beautiful sound only is also supported by another Hadith we just saw above and this is exactly how it has been understood by the great scholars. Further we have already seen that the instrument those girls used was only 'Daff' i.e. tambourine.
4-WHY SUCH A STRONG REACTION FROM SAYYIDINA ABU BAKR: Now one may say that if it was so why then Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) reacted so strongly and called it 'wind instrument of Satan'?
Actually the reason for such a reaction was extra caution and infact some extravagance on the part of the pious Companions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). This is also based on the observation from other Ahadith.
We see in the beginning of our discussion we quoted a Hadith;
"Two voices are cursed (both) in this world and the Hereafter; 1) ( صوت مزمار) Music at the time of merry making and 2) wailing in adversity."{Musnad Bazzar}
Actually Sahaba became a little extravagant in following both these commandments of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) but indeed it was only out of their love and passion for the Sunnah. We remember when Holy Prophet's (PBUH) son Ibrahim was dying, he wept and Sahaba said,
“Do you weep? Have you not disallowed us to weep?” He said, “No. But, I disallowed from two foolish noises-clawing at the face and weeping and tearing garments, and wailing and shrieking like the devil.”
{Jami' Tirmidhi, Hadith 1007. Classified as Hasan by Imam Tirmidhi & Allama Albani}
Perhaps in the same way Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r.a.) took the commandment too literaly and said such strong words, thus the Holy Prophet (PBUH) cleared the matter in this case as well by saying; 'Abu Bakr, every people have a festival and it is our festival (so let them play on).'
Thus proved that the girls used only 'Daff' and sang some poetic verses without any other instrument. This is what is in absolute consonance with other Ahadith. Therefore we must adhere to the interpretation which is more closer to other deductions from the Hadith and is accepted by the majority of the learned scholars. May Allah guide us all.
MUSIC IS HARAM: THE EXCEPTION IS OF 'DAFF' OR THE PURPOSE?
As proved above the Music is Absolutely Haraam but certain Ahadith show that Holy Prophet (PBUH) allowed singing with beautiful voice and using 'Daff' on the occasion of Marriage and on Eid days. One may ask if the exception is of 'Daff' or the purpose? The answer is 'Daff'. Here are my argument for it:
Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: "What differentiates between the lawful and the unlawful is beating of Daff and (raising of voice in) singing."
{Jami' Tirmidhi, Kitabul Nikah, Hadith 1090. Classified as Hasan by Imam Tirmidhi & Allama Albani}
No doubt, it emphasizes the announcement of marriage but the thing we need to observe is that even on the eve of marriage, along with singing, Holy Prophet (PBUH) allowed only one musical instrument i.e. Daff. This indeed points to the difference between Daff and other musical instruments in the eyes of the Law Giver (PBUH).
Also we see that when narrating Ahadith about Marriage and Eid, Muhaddithin (the Masters of Hadith) have made the headings of the chapters clearly indicating that they also understood the permission to be for Daff only.
Imam Bukhari names a chapter in Kitabul Nikah as (ضَرْبِ الدُّفِّ فِي النِّكَاحِ وَالْوَلِيمَةِ) 'Beating Daff at the eve of Nikah and Walima.'
Imam Nasai in Kitab Salatul Eidin makes the heading of a chapter (# 33) as (ضَرْبُ الدُّفِّ يَوْمَ الْعِيدِ) 'Beating Daff on Eid Day' and another chapter (# 36) as (الرُّخْصَةُ فِي الِاسْتِمَاعِ إِلَى الْغِنَاءِ وَضَرْبُ الدُّفِّ يَوْمَ الْعِيدِ) 'Permission of Listening to Singing and Beating Daff on Eid Day,'
Imam Ibn Majah in Kitabul Nikah makes the heading of a chapter (# 21) as (الْغِنَاءِ وَالدُّفِّ) 'Singing and (Beating) Daff'.
Thus we observe that Great Muhaddithin did think Daff as an exception and the only musical instrument which is permitted as evident from their chapter headings. And they did so because the Holy Prophet (PBUH) clearly made the difference in the above Hadith. It is also evident from other Ahadith that whenever some music was played in front of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) it only had Daff in it and no other musical instrument.
All the other events when Holy Prophet (PBUH) allowed some music e.g. marriage occasions, woman fulfilling her vow or the Negros playing in the mosque, it only had either simple sound or Daff and nothing else.
CONCLUSION:
Thus we conclude that only thing allowed in Islam with regards to Music is Singing with beautiful voice which may be accompanied by the beating of Daff and all other instruments are absolutely Haraam under all circumstances.
SAHABA AND TABI'IN WHO HELD THAT MUSIC IS HARAAM:
(Among Sahaba the names of only those are mentioned from whom it is stated that they considered it so)
1-Sayyidina Abdullah bin Masud (Baihiqi)
2-Sayyidina Abdullah bin Abbas (Baihiqi)
3-Sayyidina Abdullah bin Busr (Asma wal-Kuna by Dawlabi)
4-Sayyidina Awf bin Malik (Tabarani)
5-Imam Malik (Talbis Iblis)
6-Saeed bin Musayyab (Sharah as Sunnah)
7-Qasim bin Muhammad (Baihiqi)
8-Hassan Basri (Dhamm al Malahi)
9-Qadhi Fudhail bin Ayyaz (Shu'b al-Iman)
10-Qatada (Fath al-Bari by Ibn Hajr) etc.
Infact most of the pious predecessors held the same opinion.
Imam Ibn Taymiyya testified that the Four Great Imams agreed that Music is Haraam and anyone who ascribes its permissibility to one of them makes a false charge against them. (Minhaaj as Sunnah p.439)
“The vast majority of Ulama including Scholars from all four Madhabs maintained that music is forbidden.” (Al Arf as Shadhi)
As to the arguments of Imam Shawkani and Hafiz Ibn Hazm one must refer to Allama Albani's Tehreem Alaat at-Tarb (Unlawfulness of the Musical Instruments) for detailed replies.
ALLAH ALMIGHTY SAYS IN THE HOLY QURAN:
It is not fitting for a Believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger to have any option about their decision: if any one disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong Path.
{Quran Al-Ahzaab 33: 36}
INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST !!!
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