reading time ~11 mins

1. Music 
   1. Components of Music
2. Music / Melody in Quran
   1. Explicit Mention
   2. Implicit Mention
3. Music in Sunnah
4. Topics of Ijtihad / Ikhtilaf
   1. Avoiding Matters of Doubt
   2. Listening vs Hearing
   3. Modern types of Music
5. Summary
6. Additional Reading

Music 

Music is defined as vocal and/or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion

Components of Music

1. Vocals / Singing
2. Playing of Instruments

Music / Melody in Quran

Explicit Mention

1. The Prophet Dawud used to sing with the birds and the mountains praises of Allah. Allah says in the Quran
   • And We certainly gave Dawud from Us bounty. [We said], “O mountains, repeat [Our] praises with him, and the birds [as well].” And We made pliable for him iron,(Quran 34:10)
2. In another Surah of the Quran, Allah says of Prophet Dawud
   • Indeed, We subjected the mountains [to praise] with him, exalting [Allah] in the [late] afternoon and [after] sunrise. And the birds were assembled, all with him repeating [praises].And We strengthened his kingdom and gave him wisdom and discernment in speech. (Quran 38:18-20)

Implicit Mention

1. Allah says in the Quran
   • And of the people is he who buys the amusement of speech (لَهْوَ) (e.g. music) to mislead [others] from the way of Allah without knowledge and who takes it [i.e., His way] in ridicule. Those will have a humiliating punishment. (Quran 31:6)
   • The scholar of the ummah, Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: this means singing. Mujaahid (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this means playing the drum (tabl) (Tafseer al-Tabari, 21/40).
   • Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this aayah was revealed concerning singing and musical instruments (lit. woodwind instruments) (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/451).
   • Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The interpretation of the Sahaabah and Taabi’in, that ‘amusement of speech’ refers to singing, is sufficient. This was reported with saheeh isnaads from Ibn ‘Abbaas and Ibn Mas’ood
   • Abu’l-Sahbaa’ said: I asked Ibn Mas’ood about the aayah (interpretation of the meaning), ‘“And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks’ (Luqmaan 31:6). He said: By Allah, besides Whom there is no other god, this means singing – and he repeated it three times. It was also reported with a saheeh isnaad from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both) that this means singing. 
2. And Allah says in the Quran
   • And incite [to senselessness] whoever you can among them with your voice and assault them with your horses and foot soldiers and become a partner in their wealth and their children and promise them.” But Satan does not promise them except delusion (Quran 17:64)
   • It was said that this refers to singing. Mujahid said, “With idle entertainment and singing,” meaning, influence them with that (Tafsir ibn Kathir)

Music in Sunnah

Poetry, Singing & Drums

1. Narrated Abu ‘Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari: that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) 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.” (bukhari 5590) 
2. Narrated Ar-Rubai bint Muauwidh: The Prophet (ﷺ) came to me the night my marriage was consummated and sat down on my bed as you (the sub-narrator) are sitting now, and small girls were beating the tambourine and singing in lamentation of my father who had been killed on the day of the battle of Badr. Then one of the girls said, “There is a Prophet amongst us who knows what will happen tomorrow.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to her),” Do not say this, but go on saying what you have spoken before.” (bukhari 4001)
3. A girl vowed to beat the duff and sing, and the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed it. (tirmidhi 3690)
4. The famous Sahabi Hassan ibn Thabit used to recite poetry in the mosque of the Prophet (ﷺ).  Narrated Sa`id bin Al-Musaiyab: `Umar came to the Mosque while Hassan was reciting a poem. (`Umar disapproved of that). On that Hassan said, “I used to recite poetry in this very Mosque in the presence of one (i.e. the Prophet (ﷺ) ) who was better than you.” Then he turned towards Abu Huraira and said (to him), “I ask you by Allah, did you hear Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying (to me), “Retort on my behalf. O Allah! Support him (i.e. Hassan) with the Holy Spirit?” Abu Huraira said, “Yes.” (bukhari 3212) (nasa’i 716)

Topics of Ijtihad / Ikhtilaf

Avoiding Matters of Doubt

1. Nawwas b. Sam’an al-Ansari reported: I asked Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) about virtue and vice. He said: Virtue is a kind disposition and vice is what rankles in your heart and that you disapprove that people should come to know of it. (muslim 2553a)
2. Al-Hasan bin ‘Ali said: “I remember that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: ‘Leave what makes you in doubt for what does not make you in doubt. The truth brings tranquility while falsehood sows doubt.’ ” (tirmidhi 2518) (mishkat 2773) (nasa’i 5711)
3. An-Numan bin Bashir narrated that the Messenger of Allah (S) said: “The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between that are matters that are doubtful (not clear); many of the people do not know whether it is lawful or unlawful. So whoever leaves it to protect his religion and his honor, then he will be safe, and whoever falls into something from them, then he soon will have fallen into the unlawful. Just like if someone grazes (his animals) around a sanctuary, he would soon wind up in it. Indeed for every king is a sanctuary (pasture), and indeed Allah’s sanctuary is what He made unlawful.” (bukhari 52) (bukhari 2051) (muslim 1599a) (abi dawud 3329) (nasa’i 5710) (nasa’i 4453) (tirmidhi 1205) (ibn majah 3984)

Listening vs Hearing

The scholars differentiate between listening and hearing.

1. Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Concerning (music) which a person does not intend to listen to, there is no prohibition or blame, according to scholarly consensus. 
2. Hence blame or praise is connected to listening, not to hearing. The one who listens to the Qur’an will be rewarded for it, whereas the one who hears it without intending or wanting to will not be rewarded for that, because actions are judged by intentions. The same applies to musical instruments which are forbidden: if a person hears them without intending to, that does not matter. (al-Majmoo’, 10/78)

Modern types of Music

There are some gray areas which require further research and scholars disagree whether they are permissible. Some examples such as

1. Electronic music e.g. ringing of a door bell, ringtone of a mobile phone, etc. 
2. A person having the skill to produce sounds with his mouth which are very similar to musical instruments e.g. beatboxing, acapella, etc.

Summary

1. Quran – There is no direct mention of Music in the Quran, but there are ayat which mention لَهْوَ “amusement of speech or Idle talk” that can mislead people. Mufasireen like Ibn Masud and Ibn Abbas believe that this refers to music
2. Sunnah – In Hadith, singing (appropriate/decent poetry) and using drum instruments are permitted, but all others instruments are prohibited (the parable of “musical instruments” is to consuming alcohol and Adultery)
3. Majority View – As long as the lyrics are in line with Islamic principles and only drum instruments are used, this is permissible
4. Minority View – There are a minority of scholars who believe that usage of other instruments like wind / strings are also permissible 
5. Recommendation – In order to avoid matters of doubt, it is better to follow the majority view
6. The lyrics and poetry used in most popular music today is indecent, vulgar, promotes relations outside marriage and promotes a culture of shamelessness. A lot of phrases are exaggerated and borderline on shirk as well
7. Today’s music generally is a tool of shaytan to invite people to other evil acts such as mixing of opposite genders, being forgetful of one’s moral duties, alcohol, adultery, and so on 

Additional Reading

1. Music, Singing & Dancing (An article from IslamQA on music)
2. When is the daff permissible (An article from IslamQA on beating the daff)