QURAN AND MUSIC; TWO GREAT ENEMIES

Why is it that when we cram songs, we always remember them even if we don't revise them? But when we memorize just a verse of the Qur'an and we fail to revise it, we forget very quickly. No wonder, Abu Musa Al-Ash`ariy رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said,

"Read the Qur'an regularly. By the One in Whose Hand Muhammad's soul is, it escapes from memory faster than a camel does from its tying ropes.'' [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Indeed, memorization and recitation of the Qur'an are 'ibaadah (acts of worship), while music is haram (forbidden). The Qur'an and Music are two (2) enemies that doesn't stay together in a single individual.

If you are a memorizer or constant reciter of the Qur'an and you like singing or listening to music, you would be surprised how the Qur'an would walk away from you. The Qur'an brings a believer close to His Creator in remembrance and piety, especially when he knows the meaning he recites. Music takes a believer away from the remembrance of His Creator. Allah says in Suratu Luqman;

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ

"And of Mankind are those who obtain diverting talks (idle talks, music, songs etc) to lead people away from the remembrance of Allah without knowledge and holds (the path of Allah or Verses of the Qur'an) by way of mockery; for such, there would be humiliating torments (in the Hell fire)"

In a authentic hadith of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم, Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ariy narrated again that he heard the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 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 (from them), there will be some 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 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 Bukhari, Vol. 7 Hadith No. 494B)

Brothers and Sisters in Islam, let us learn our religion properly and be careful of the evil of arguing with the scholars on clear and incontrovertible rules of the shari'ah. The fact that you have already gone deep into music does not make it legal for you. The earlier the better for you to abstain.

We often hear some people talk about Islamic songs. What is islamic in those so called Islamic song? A song is haram if it contains idle talks, meaningless lyrics, immoral talks or has musical instruments. You can hardly find any of the so called Islamic songs that has no instrumentals. Any song that makes you shake your head or body unnecessarily is not valid in Islam. Based on the above, all foreign and local music that have instrumentals (piano, guitar, drum, jazz etc) are haram no matter how educative their lyrics may be. There is nothing like bandiri in Islam. The only exception here is the permission given to women to beat the duff and sing within themselves during weddings and Islamic Eids.

On the other hand, a normal poem of hikmah (wisdom) that doesn't have any musical ingredient is halal if it is educative and positively inspiring. But if it contains immoral or idle talks, it becomes haram. Many of us don't know the purpose of our creation. That is why we think we can do whatever we like in this life. The purpose of our creation is summarized in Q51; 56. Allah says;

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

"And I Allah created not the Jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me"

If the purpose of our creation is only to worship Allah, why then have we turn ourselves to another thing? Before we came to this world, we promised Allah that we would obey His instructions when we get to this world. Now that we are in the world, we are doing another thing. Please let us ask any reasonable scholar of Islam, is music part of the worship of Allah as prescribed by the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم?

Music is the greatest enemy of the Qur'an, why should we (Muslims) make it our hobby? There are ways by which a Muslim can renounce Islam unknowingly. Taking music (the enemy of the Qur'an) as friend could be one of them. May Allah save us from this.

Islam is not a hard religion to practice. We are the ones trying to make it hard for ourselves by insisting on the wishes of our hearts (hawannafs). Whatever Allah and His Messenger say is haram, let us abtain. Whatever they say is halal, let us stick to them with seriousness.

It is not a sin upon you if you unavoidably listen to music on the street or in another person's vehicle that you have no power to stop. But if you play it by yourself, you are committing sins because music is haram. Replace the music you have on your phones with beneficial lectures of trustworthy scholars of this deen. You can listen to the Qur'an and some wise saying of scholars in form of poems (without musical instruments) that would remind you about Allah.

May Allah make the Qur'an our companion. May He make memorization and recitation of the Qur'an our hobby. May He guide us against the evil of music and its people.

Wassalamu alaikum warahamatuLohi wabarakaatuh

Ibn 'Abdillah As-sudaisiy
22/04/13

Jazakumllahukhayran