# Is listening to music haram? *Is music haram? No conclusive text, the 'entertainment' hadith, and the ontology of religion* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/axxub9lxfoc/s/3/ - Date: 2019-09-18 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: In Depth: Is Music allowed in Islam? | Mufti Abu Layth (10:31–15:47) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXXuB9lxFoc&t=631s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/axxub9lxfoc/ **Topics:** Music; Reason and revelation **Question as asked:** Is music haram? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** In Mufti Abu Layth's understanding music is not forbidden, because no text is at once conclusive, sahih and explicit: the Bukhari hadith speaks of entertainment, not music, and the texts naming music are not authentic. People find this hard to accept because they come to religion expecting it to oppose entertainment and desire. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that in his understanding music is not forbidden, since nothing in Islam is at once conclusive, sahih and explicit in prohibiting it, the Bukhari hadith speaks of entertainment rather than music, and the texts that name music are not authentic. **Evidence, his words at 12:09:** “the word doesn't actually say music it actually says entertainment but you seen that this the leave of interpretation going on and all the texts actually say music are not authentic” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXXuB9lxFoc&t=729s) ## Longer summary An audience member asks whether music is haram, and Mufti Abu Layth senses that the room already thinks it clearly is. He says he has answered this before at length and that there is a difference of opinion, but that in his understanding music is not forbidden: nothing in Islam is both conclusive, sahih and explicit in declaring it haram; the many hadith are either not sahih or not conclusive in wording, such as the one in Bukhari that towards the end of time people will consider certain things permissible, which is translated as music though the word means entertainment, a leap of interpretation, while the texts that actually say music are not authentic. The difficulty, he says, is that before approaching religion people already carry an understanding of what religion with a capital R will demand: worship, suffering, sacrifice, asceticism, hostility to desires and to entertainment. With that backdrop no text is needed to make music haram, and being shown that religion is not like that produces cognitive dissonance, which is why people so easily say music is haram even when given evidence. He adds that several scholars from the Prophet's time on allowed it: a hadith in al-Tirmidhi [?] has the Prophet hearing a flute, covering his ears and asking Ibn Umar to tell him when it stopped, which shows personal dislike rather than prohibition, since he would not have told someone to do something forbidden; companions like Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr are known for it; and al-Shawkani in Nayl al-Awtar gathered all the narrations and concluded, though he did not himself advise music, that honesty with the literature requires saying there is no clear text prohibiting it. ## Sources and names cited - haram - Sahih al-Bukhari - report: at the end of time people will consider maazif permissible (Sahih al-Bukhari, number not stated) - ma'azif (musical instruments; read as 'entertainment') - sahih - sarih (explicit) - the 'ontology of religion': preconceptions of what religion must be shape how Islam is read - al-Tirmidhi [?] - report: the prophet heard a flute blocked his ears and asked ibn umar to tell him when it stopped - Ibn Umar - Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr - al-Shawkani - Nayl al-Awtar ## Transcript (machine tier, 10:31–15:47) [10:17] incredibly weak a Chinese look dire for me to correct the Salafi on on hadith not being sorry it doesn't not nice you know this one no nice that helps is music Haram no look at [10:51] that okay so what a question that must all right so it's music Haram okay what am i sensing already in this crowd clearly Haram yes take out the violin industry right so the thing is I've answered this previously and I gave a whole kind of a kind of Annex went into in see this is the issue when you go into something so then you think oh I [11:30] don't want to just bore the hell out of everyone and there is a difference of opinion on these things okay to start off with in my understanding I think music so miserable is not forbidden there's nothing in Islam that is both conclusive sahi and sorry which states music to be Haram there are plenty of a hadith but they are either not sorry they are not all sorry or they're not conclusive in their wording there's a there's a leap of interpretation in them like the one in Bihari which says towards the end of time people will you know consider these things permissible [12:09] but then they translate that as music but the word doesn't actually say music it actually says entertainment but you seen that this the leave of interpretation going on and all the texts actually say music are not authentic so I've explained that okay what is the problem with things like music the problem with things like music is it's an uphill battle right because people you see before you approach religion you have this ontology of religion you have this understanding of I I saw I learned I don't mean it's like an academic opinion or an understanding it's [12:48] something we all have you already have an understanding of what religion with the capital r is going to provide for you or provide for people so let's say today [ __ ] comes then he wants to learn about Islam doesn't know anything about Islam or somebody wants to come about and learn about Christianity or the one to learn about anything don't know anything about the religion but they will already have expectations so they would already think okay there's gonna be worship involved they can already have certain concepts they're carrying about the word religion one of those [13:27] will definitely be like so they'll amongst them will be things like they believe suffering a part of it people believe sacrifice will be a part of religion people believe that and this is interesting they believe being anti world like kind of ascetic not of the worldly stuff Israel will be one of the concepts of religion this is without even being taught this you would really think this so they would think desires or anti religion without even being [14:06] taught that and in desires they would think and this is another one that entertainment is anti religion without even being taught that so now you don't even need a single text in Islam to tell you that music is Haram the fact that you carry that ontology of religion you would easily be so susceptible to that view because you carry this perspective that religion ought to ban it or to sorry you ought to be anti entertainment anti desires anti gratification anti [14:43] world aunty so when somebody shows you well actually religion isn't like that this is a what we call cognitive dissonance takes place it's difficult to reconcile them because that's not your understanding of what religion ought to be so this is why people will so easily always say music is Haram and struggle or with even the even when they given evidences of why it's okay [15:11] several scholars have said this beginning with from the time of the prophet you've got a hadith in third movie for example the Prophet is walking and somebody's playing a flute and the Prophet says with if not Omar and he puts his you know the Prophet didn't like the music and so he he put his you know it kind of block this thing and it says to Eve not a model of listen tell me when we can't hear it so then if Norma says okay we can't hear it a certain point now this in itself okay some people say oh look what the Prophet didn't like music but that's his personal think you don't like why would he tell somebody to do something forbidden why would he say listen you ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment AXXuB9lxFoc/s/3. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/axxub9lxfoc/s/3/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.