The ruling on listening to songs

Answer

There is no doubt that listening to songs is forbidden. The only reason is that it leads to many sins and to all kinds of temptation. It leads to infatuation and to falling into zinā [fornication], indecency and liwāṭ [sodomy], and to other sins, such as drinking intoxicants, gambling and keeping the company of wicked people. It may even lead into shirk and disbelief in Allah, depending on the circumstances of the singing and its different kinds. Allah, Majestic and High, says in His mighty Book: ﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِين ۝﴾وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا وَلَّى مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَعْهَا كَأَنَّ فِي أُذُنَيْهِ وَقْرًا فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ "Among people is one who buys idle talk to lead others astray from the path of Allah without knowledge, and takes it in mockery. For such there is a humiliating punishment. When Our āyāt are recited to him, he turns away in arrogance as though he had not heard them, as though there were deafness in his ears. So give him tidings of a painful punishment." [Luqmān: 6-7].

Here He, Glory be to Him, tells us that some people buy idle talk in order to lead others astray from the path of Allah. The word is read liyuḍilla [to lead others astray], with ḍammah [the vowel u] on the yāʾ, and also liyaḍilla [to go astray], with fatḥah [the vowel a] on the yāʾ; in both readings the ḍād takes kasrah [the vowel i]. The lām [the prefix li-] expresses purpose. The meaning is that by indulging in idle talk, which is singing, and taking it in place of something better, he is led to go astray himself and to lead others astray. He goes astray because of the hardness and sickness that settle in his heart. He strays from the truth because he takes sins against Allah lightly and commits them, and because he abandons some of what Allah has made obligatory on him, such as praying in congregation and being dutiful to his parents; and also through gambling, being drawn to zinā, indecency and liwāṭ, and other things that may come about because of songs.

Most of the exegetes said: (The meaning of idle talk in the āyah is singing.) Another group said: (Every objectionable sound made by instruments of amusement is included in it, such as the pipe, the rebab, the lute, the violin and the like. All of this turns people away from the path of Allah and causes them to go astray and to lead others astray.) It is established from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu, the eminent Companion and one of the scholars among the Companions raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā, that he said in explaining the āyah: "It is, by Allah, singing." He also said: "It makes hypocrisy grow in the heart as water makes herbs grow." The āyah itself points to this meaning, for Allah said: ﴿لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ﴾ "to lead others astray from the path of Allah without knowledge" [Luqmān: 6]; that is, the way is obscured for him, as for a drunkard. Singing intoxicates hearts and throws a person into vain desire and falsehood, so that once he is used to it he is blind to what is right. In the end he falls into falsehood without realising it, because he is absorbed in singing, his heart is filled with it, and he is drawn to falsehood: to infatuation with this woman or that man, to the company of this woman or that man, and to friendship with this woman or that man. ﴿ويتخذها هزوًا﴾ "and takes it in mockery" means taking the path of Allah in mockery. The path of Allah is His religion; the word sabīl [path] may be treated as masculine or feminine. Singing and amusement thus lead a person to treat the way of Allah as amusement and play, and not to care about it. When the Qurʾān is recited to him, he turns away in arrogance and finds it burdensome to listen to, because he has grown used to listening to singing and musical instruments. Listening to the Qurʾān becomes a burden to him and gives him no ease. This is one of the punishments that come in this world.

Every believing man must therefore beware of it, and so must every believing woman. Many ḥadīths have come on this subject, all of them showing that singing, instruments of amusement and ṭarab [music that moves the listener to rapture] are forbidden, and that they are a means to great evil and terrible consequences. The great scholar Ibn al-Qayyim -raḥimahu Allāh- discussed the ruling on songs and instruments of amusement at length in his book [Ighāthat al-Lahfān]. Whoever wants to benefit further should consult it, for it is very useful. Allah is the One whose help is sought, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muḥammad and upon his family and Companions¹.