It is generally believed that the attitude of Islam towards the fine arts is not very encouraging; it does not nurture the aesthetic sense found in human nature; thus, for example, it totally prohibits singing and music.

Unfortunately, this view is not consistent with the sources of Islam.

In this regard, it is necessary to bear in mind two important principles of interpreting the shariah.

Firstly, it is only the Quran which prohibits anything in Islam. As far as the Ahadith are concerned, they only explain something alluded to by the Quran or state the corollary of some principle mentioned in the Quran. They are not an independent source of Islam and must have some basis in the Quran, the Sunnah or the established principles of sense and reason. Consequently, if some Ahadith mention the prohibition of something, it is imperative to look up its basis in the original sources.

Secondly, if a particular matter has been elaborated upon in the Ahadith, it is necessary to have a complete picture of it by collecting and analyzing all the Ahadith on the subject. This is essential in order to get some idea of the context and background of what has actually been said or implied.

In the light of these two principles, it is evident that:

1. As far as the Quran is concerned, there is no mention of any absolute prohibition of music. On the contrary, it is a known fact that one of the other divinely revealed scriptures, the Psalms of David is basically a collection of hymns. The Prophet David (sws) used to sing on his harp the various Psalms revealed to him:

The Psalms mention:

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation (Psalms, 95:1)

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. (Psalms, 96:1)

I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, (Psalms, 144:9)

The Qur’ān refers to this in the following words:

وَسَخَّرْنَا مَعَ دَاوُودَ الْجِبَالَ يُسَبِّحْنَ وَالطَّيْرَ وَكُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ (79:21)

And We caused the mountains and the birds to join with David in singing Our praise. And all these things could have been done only by Us. (21:79)

2. If the Quran does not apparently mention this absolute prohibition, it is necessary to re-analyze all the Ahadith on this subject to see whether they have been interpreted correctly.

If all Ahadith pertaining to music are examined, the real picture which comes to light is that musical gatherings possessed various objectionable elements in them. The most prominent among them included lewdness and liquor consumption. Slave-girls used to dance before inebriated gatherings, where lewdness was rampant and promiscuity prevailed. They were a means of stimulating base emotions in people. There has been narrated in the Sahīh of Al-Bukhārī one such incident from which the extent to which such gatherings of music and dance had reached can be imagined. It took place right after the battle of Badr:

حُسَيْنَ بن عَلِيٍّ عليهم السَّلَام أخبره أَنَّ عَلِيًّا قال كانت لي شَارِفٌ من نَصِيبِي من الْمَغْنَمِ يوم بَدْرٍ وكان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أَعْطَانِي مِمَّا أَفَاءَ الله عليه من الْخُمُسِ يَوْمَئِذٍ فلما أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَبْتَنِيَ بِفَاطِمَةَ عليها السَّلَام بِنْتِ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وَاعَدْتُ رَجُلًا صَوَّاغًا في بَنِي قَيْنُقَاعَ أَنْ يَرْتَحِلَ مَعِي فَنَأْتِيَ بِإِذْخِرٍ فَأَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَبِيعَهُ من الصَّوَّاغِينَ فَنَسْتَعِينَ بِهِ في وَلِيمَةِ عُرْسِي فَبَيْنَا أنا أَجْمَعُ لِشَارِفَيَّ من الْأَقْتَابِ وَالْغَرَائِرِ وَالْحِبَالِ وَشَارِفَايَ مُنَاخَانِ إلى جَنْبِ حُجْرَةِ رَجُلٍ من الْأَنْصَارِ حتى جَمَعْتُ ما جَمَعْتُ فإذا أنا بِشَارِفَيَّ قد أُجِبَّتْ أسنمتهما وَبُقِرَتْ خَوَاصِرُهُمَا وَأُخِذَ من أَكْبَادِهِمَا فلم أَمْلِكْ عَيْنَيَّ حين رأيت الْمَنْظَرَ قلت من فَعَلَ هذا قالوا فَعَلَهُ حَمْزَةُ بن عبد الْمُطَّلِبِ وهو في الْبَيْتِ في شَرْبٍ من الْأَنْصَارِ عِنْدَهُ قَيْنَةٌ وَأَصْحَابُهُ فقالت في غِنَائِهَاألا يا حَمْزُ لِلشُّرُفِ النِّوَاءِفَوَثَبَ حَمْزَةُ إلى السَّيْفِ فَأَجَبَّ أَسْنِمَتَهُمَا وَبَقَرَ خَوَاصِرَهُمَا وَأَخَذَ من أَكْبَادِهِمَا

Husayn ibn ‘Alī reported that ‘Alī said: “From among the spoils of Badr, a she-camel was given to me as my share. Besides her, the Prophet (sws) also gave me another she-camel from [the gains of] khums . When my marriage was decided with Fatimah the daughter of the Prophet (sws), I made a deal with a goldsmith belonging to the tribe of Qaynuqa‘ that he would go with me to bring a special type of grass by loading it on the camels. By selling this grass to the goldsmiths I wanted to throw my walimah . For this, I arranged for ropes and packsaddle for my she-camels. These camels were sitting in the house of a person from the Ansār tribe. After gathering these things I went to the camels, I saw that someone had chopped off their humps and taken out their livers by cutting open their stomachs. I could not restrain my tears at this situation. I asked people: ‘Who is responsible for this?’ They replied: ‘Hamzah ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib; he is drinking liquor in this house along with many people of the Ansār. A songstress is also present there along with his friends. What happened was that when she sang the following words: “Hamzah! Get up and slay these robust she-camels,” he immediately pounced on them with a sword and chopped off their humps, and took out their livers by slicing open their stomachs.”

In other words, musical gatherings were not disallowed per se. it was because of these forbidden elements found in them that they were forbidden. Thus in some narratives musical instruments are censured because of this aspect. They were used in gatherings which were vulgar and lecherous. Their positive use was never forbidden: We find narratives which show that such music and songs were not disallowed by the Prophet (sws):

عن عُرْوَةَ عن عَائِشَةَ قالت دخل عَلَيَّ رسول اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَعِنْدِي جَارِيَتَانِ تُغَنِّيَانِ بِغِنَاءِ بُعَاثَ فَاضْطَجَعَ على الْفِرَاشِ وَحَوَّلَ وَجْهَهُ وَدَخَلَ أبو بَكْرٍ فَانْتَهَرَنِي وقال مِزْمَارَةُ الشَّيْطَانِ عِنْدَ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَقْبَلَ عليه رسول اللَّهِ عليه السَّلَام فقال دَعْهُمَا فلما غَفَلَ غَمَزْتُهُمَا فَخَرَجَتَا وكان يوم عِيدٍ

‘Urwah reports that ‘Ā’ishah said: “The Prophet (sws) [once] came over to me. On this occasion, two slave-girls were singing the songs related to the battle of Bu‘āth. He lay down on a bed, and turned himself to the other side. [In the meantime], Abū Bakr came along and scolded me [for what was going on] and said: ‘Why these devilish musical instruments in the presence of the Prophet (sws)?’ The Prophet turned and said: ‘Leave them alone [and let them sing]. When Abū Bakr got involved in some work, I gestured towards these songstresses to go. So they went away. This was the day of id.

It is evident from the above narrative that the Prophet (sws) did not prohibit singing and music on the occasion of ‘īd. Not only did he not express any resentment on the two slave-girls singing, he even stopped Abū Bakr (rta) from asking them to discontinue.

The following narrative shows that singing with a musical instrument (tambourine) common in those times was also not prohibited by the Prophet (sws):

عن الرُّبَيِّعِ بِنْتِ مُعَوِّذٍ قالت دخل عَلَيَّ النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم غَدَاةَ بُنِيَ عَلَيَّ فَجَلَسَ على فِرَاشِي كَمَجْلِسِكَ مِنِّي وَجُوَيْرِيَاتٌ يَضْرِبْنَ بِالدُّفِّ يَنْدُبْنَ من قُتِلَ من آبَائِهِنَّ يوم بَدْرٍ حتى قالت جَارِيَةٌ وَفِينَا نَبِيٌّ يَعْلَمُ ما في غَدٍ فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم لَا تَقُولِي هَكَذَا وَقُولِي ما كُنْتِ تَقُولِينَ

Al-Rabī‘ bint Mu‘awwidh said: “When I departed as a bride [to my husband’s house], the Prophet (sws) came over to me and sat on my bedding the way you are sitting on it. At this time, our slave-girls were singing an elegy to the martyrs of Badr on a small tambourine. On this occasion, one of the slave-girls [while singing said the words]: ‘Present amongst us is the Prophet who knows what is going to happen in the future.’ At this the Prophet said: ‘Do not say this but sing what you were singing before.’”

It is evident from some narratives that the Prophet (sws) had kept a person called Anjashah who was a camel-driver who would sing marching tunes to boost the speed of the camels. During one journey, when these camels were impelled to trudge faster by his chants, the Prophet (sws) lovingly chided him that he should think of the women riding the camels lest they should fall down because of their fast speed:

حدثنا إِسْحَاقُ أخبرنا حَبَّانُ حدثنا هَمَّامٌ حدثنا قَتَادَةُ حدثنا أَنَسُ بن مَالِكٍ قال كان لِلنَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَادٍ يُقَالُ له أَنْجَشَةُ وكان حَسَنَ الصَّوْتِ فقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم رُوَيْدَكَ يا أَنْجَشَةُ لَا تَكْسِرْ الْقَوَارِيرَ قال قَتَادَةُ يَعْنِي ضَعَفَةَ النِّسَاءِ

Anas reported that the Prophet had a camel-driver called Anjashah and he had a very melodious voice. [In one journey], the Prophet (sws) said to him: “Sing slowly O Anjashah lest you might break these delicate crystals.” Qatādah clarified that this refers to delicate women.

In the light of this analysis, the prohibition of music can be easily understood: only music and songs which possessed an element of immorality in them had been forbidden. Music, it is clear, was not condemned because of any intrinsic evil in it but because it was responsible for stimulating base sentiments in a person. The main object of the religion revealed to the Prophet (sws) was to cleanse and purify human souls from evil. All means which promote base emotions in people certainly could not be allowed in the society. He, therefore, strongly took exception to the gatherings of music and dance in order to rebuild the society on healthy lines.

In short, the prohibition of music and songs pertains to a few specific forms of this art; if they are not vulgar and lewd in nature, they cannot be regarded as forbidden.

Related topic: Principles for determining Haram : Discussion 1749