Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother Burhan

Assalam o Allaikum

I receive your emails regular and read them very carefully and try to act as per the teachings of Islam. Masha Allah you are doing very good job. God will Insha Allah reward you for this.

Today I have one question in my mind.

If someone is a Singer or directly associated in singing business is it Halal or Haram in Islam, please elaborate it.

Jazak Allah

Assalam o Allaikum

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Singer or singing haraam or halaal

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. We humbly hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

The music or singing that is forbidden in Islam is the ‘impure’ and string music which facilitates ‘shirk’, ‘faheshaa’ and indecency. The contemporary music which is so rampant in movies, television, radios, etc. which encourage indecency, is definitely forbidden.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.70 Narrated by Aisha

The Messenger of Allah (saws) came to my house while two girls were singing beside me the songs of Buath (a story about the war between the two tribes of the Ansar, the Khazraj and the Aus, before Islam). The Prophet (saws) lay down and turned his face to the other side. Then Abu Bakr came and spoke to me harshly saying, "Musical instruments of Satan near the Prophet (saws)?" The Prophet (saws) turned his face towards him and said, "Leave them." When Abu Bakr became inattentive, I signaled to those girls to go out and they left. It was the day of 'Id, and the black people were playing with shields and spears; so either I requested the Prophet (saws) or he asked me whether I would like to see the display. I replied in the affirmative. Then the Prophet (saws) made me stand behind him and my cheek was touching his cheek and he (saws) was saying, "Carry on! O Bani Arfida," till I got tired. The Prophet (saws) asked me, "Are you satisfied (Is that sufficient for you)?" I replied in the affirmative and he told me to leave.

But if one takes singing and music to mean the melodious sound of the Muazzin while calling to prayer, or the beautiful sound of the ‘Qari’ when he recites the Holy Quran, or the tunes of chorus sung by the mujahideen; these are not only permitted, these are considered virtues and a means of getting a huge reward from Allah Subhanah.

If one writes poetry in the Praise of Allah and sings it in a melodious voice, there is absolutely no harm. Even if one writes poetry of love and sings them to his wife, and there is no indecency in the wordings, there is no harm. Even the playing of the ‘daff’ (a circular drum type instrument played by the hand) at special occasions like marriage, etc. was allowed by the Messenger of Allah (saws) in Islam.

Ibn as-Siraj related from Abu az-Zinad on the authority of 'Urwah from 'Aishah that the Prophet (saws) said that day: 'Let the Jews of Medinah know that our religion is spacious [and has room for relaxation], and I have been sent with an easy and straight forward religion. "'

Every word has a specific meaning, and when we use the term ‘singing’ or ‘music’ it is understood to mean the music that we hear today on the radio and televisions. If one takes music to mean the pure music, like the melody of the azaan, or the recitation of the Quran, or the music made by the ‘daff’, or the music created by nature, these are absolutely legal in Islam.

What is forbidden are the string instrumental music and contemporary singing, and the other forms of music and songs that we hear today… whereby the words and the music exhort shirk, ‘faheshaa’ and indecency.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 5450 Narrated byAbu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "When the booty is taken in turn, property given in trust is treated as spoil, zakat is looked on as a fine, learning is acquired for other than a religious purpose, a man obeys his wife and is unfilial towards his mother, he brings his friend near and drives his father far off, voices are raised in the mosques, the most wicked member of a tribe becomes its ruler, the most worthless member of a people becomes its leader, a man is honored through fear of the evil he may do, singing-girls and stringed instruments make their appearance, wines are drunk, and the last members of this people curse the first ones: look at that time for a violent wind, an earthquake, being swallowed up by the earth, metamorphosis, pelting rain, and signs following one another like bits of a necklace falling one after the other when its string is cut."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan