PROHIBITION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Question: I have a doubt about playing of musical instruments. Is this an act of

Satan?
Faiz-ullah-Khan, Jammu and Kashmir.

A. Prohibition of music is recorded in many authentic Ahadith.

Narrated Abu Malik Al-Ashari:

"The Messenger (pbuh) of Allah (SWT) said, "Some people of my Ummah will drink
wine, calling it by other than its real name, merriment will be made for them through
the playing of musical instruments and the singing of lady singers. Allah will cleave
the earth under them and turn others into monkeys and swines.
[Ibn Ma'jah Vol.5 Hadith No.4020]

Narrated Abu Amir or Abu Malik Al Ashari that he heard the Prophet 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 there will be some people 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 to us 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 Al-Bukhari Vol.7 Hadith No.5590]

However, there are some Ahadith which indicate that it is permissible to beat the
‘daff’ i.e. the tambourine (which is open on one side and covered on the other).

Narrated Urwa on the authority of Aisha

“On the days of Mina, (11th, 12th, and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah) Abu Bakr came to her
while two young girls were beating the tambourine (daff) and the Prophet was lying
covered with his clothes. Abu Bakr scolded them. The Prophet uncovered his face
and said to Abu Bakr, "Leave them, for these days are the days of 'Id and the days of
Mina."
[Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol.2 Hadith No.987]

Narrated Ar Rabi (the daughter of Muawwidh bin Afra):

“After the consummation of my marriage, the Prophet came and sat on my bed as far
from me as you are sitting now, and our little girls started beating the tambourines
(daff) and reciting elegiac verses mourning my father, who had been killed in the
battle of Badr. One of them said, ‘Among us is a Prophet who knows what will
happen tomorrow.’ On that the Prophet said, ‘Leave this (saying) and keep on saying
the verses which you had been saying before.’ [Sahih Al-Bukhari Vol.7 Hadith
No.5147]
Therefore from the above evidence it is concluded that the use of musical
instruments in general is forbidden in Islam, with the exception of the 'Daff'.

Music usually intoxicates a person and takes one away from the path of Allah (swt).
Music engages a person’s mind and takes him/her away from the remembrance of
his/her Creator and from realizing and focusing his/her attention on the purpose of
his/her creation. In musical songs, most of the times the listeners even appreciate
illogical, incorrect and blasphemous matter and content. A person will realize this
when he starts pondering over the meaning of many Hindi and English songs, lyrics
and ghazals. Here we find that it is because of music that the person’s mind is
intoxicated and the person deviates from the straight path. And Allah Knows the Best.