Is music permissible by analogy with birdsong?
Question What is your opinion of those who say that music is permissible, such as saying if we bring a voice recorder and record the voices of birds, then we mix them or do not mix them, but we can still hear the voices of birds in the voice recorder!!. Praise be to Allah. The…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
The prohibition on
listening to music is based on evidence from the Qur’aan, Sunnah and
scholarly consensus. What is meant by music is the sound of musical
instruments, such as the ‘oud (a stringed instrument), mizmaar (a kind of
flute), tabl (drums) etc, except for the daff (a type of hand drum).
The hadeeth expressly
forbids musical instruments, flutes and drums.
It was narrated from Abu
Maalik al-Ash’ari (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he heard the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “In my ummah there
will be people who allow silk, zina, wine and musical instruments.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari in
a mu’allaq report (5590); classed as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi;
see al-Silsilat al-Saheehah by al-Albaani (91).
It was narrated that Anas
ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Two sounds are
cursed in this world and in the Hereafter: flutes at times of joy and
wailing at times of calamity.” Al-Mundhiri said: It was narrated by
al-Bazzaar and its narrators are thiqaat (trustworthy); it was classed as
hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb (3527).
Abu Dawood (3685) narrated
from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade alcohol,
gambling and drums. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
As for listening to
birdsong, it is permissible, and does not come under the same heading as
musical instruments, whether it is listened to directly or on a voice
recorder.
The same applies to those
who cite the sound of flowing water etc as evidence.
It may be said that what is
halaal is that which was permitted by Allaah and His Messenger and what is
haraam is that which was forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger. That
concerning which sharee’ah is silent is permissible. What is haraam is
listening to musical instruments, and flutes and drums are mentioned in
particular. It is not haraam to listen to birdsong. What does the one have
to do with the other?
What the Muslim must do is
accept what Allaah and His Messenger say, and not to try to twist their
words. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“It is not for a
believer, man or woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter
that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys
Allaah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed into a plain error”
[al-Ahzaab 33:36]
See also question no.
5000
for more information.
And Allaah knows best.
