Chapter: On Beneficial Speech and Avoiding Idle Talk

باب الغناء وما یلحقہ والکلام والغرض وحال المستمع — گانے اور کلام کے بارے میں

بَابُ الْغِنَاءِ وَمَا يَلْحَقُهُ وَالْكَلَامُ وَالْغَرَضِ وَحَالِ الْمُسْتَمِعِ — On Music, Speech, and the Listener's State

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحَرِّمُوا طَيِّبَاتِ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ

"O you who have believed, do not prohibit the good things which Allah has made lawful for you." (Al-Ma'ida, 5:87)

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ

"And He makes lawful for them the good things and forbids for them the evil things." (Al-A'raf, 7:157)

The author gives an extended scholarly discussion of sama' (spiritual audition/music) in the Sufi tradition. He carefully traces the scholarly debate among jurists, hadith scholars, and Sufis regarding the permissibility or prohibition of musical instruments (al-ma'azif). He cites Imam Malik's reported tolerance of the duff (tambourine) for festive occasions, the mainstream Hanbali, Shafi'i and Hanafi opinions favouring restriction, and Ibn Hazm's more permissive analysis. He concludes that the context, intention, content, and effect upon the listener are all determinative, and that what leads to heedlessness, sin, or intoxication is forbidden regardless of its form. Music or poetry that arouses love for Allah, the Prophet, and the Hereafter, and that increases the listener's spiritual states, may be permissible under specific conditions.

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: فَبَشِّرْ عِبَادِ ۝ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ

"So give good tidings to My servants — those who listen to speech and follow the best of it." (Al-Zumar, 39:17–18)