Part 14

Any such claims of permissibility made in reference to the noble companions or the four imams of the popular schools of jurisprudence have already been refuted in detail. It is mentioned in various classical works that certain fuqahaa saw no harm in singing. Some of these early scholars(*138) are: Ibraheem bin Sa'd from the people of Madeenah, Ubaidullah Ibnul-Hasan Al-Anbari from AlBasrah and Abu Bakr Ibnul-Khallaal from the Hanbalite scholars.(*139) The Shafi'ite faqeeh, Ibn Taahir, was mentioned earlier, and his claims were refuted in detail.(*140) Therefore, there is no need to mention him at this point. This reply regards what has been related in reference to the three above-mentioned scholars. It was narrated that they did not see any harm in simple ghinaa (singing), without musical accompaniment or licentious lyrics, etc. In addition to this, as has been previously detailed(*141) by Ibnul-Jowzi, Ibnul-Khallaal saw no harm in the recitation of spiritual poems (qasaaid zuhdiyaat) in a sweet and melodious voice. Therefore, even though those who would like to establish the ruling of permissibility sometimes exploit the positions of such scholars, it is futile, because what these scholars allowed is agreed upon by consensus and is not the point of contention (mahallun nizaa'). A group of later scholars often referred to as maintaining the view of permissiblility are Ibn Hazm,(*142) Ibnul-Arabi(*143) and Al-Ghazaali.(*144) Some of the gross misconceptions of the former two have already been refuted.(*145) A final reply to them is a quotation from the oft-repeated words of Ibn Hazm himself: "It is incumbent upon us that we do not accept the saying of any person after Allah's Messenger, unless such a person authentically relates it back to the Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him)." Being aware of the previously-established, clear ruling of prohibition given by the Prophet on this issue,(*146) it becomes one's obligation to reject all positions contradictory to his and to accept his decision as binding and final. Verily, Allah, the Majestic and Exalted, has made such an attitude of obedience to His Messenger the criterion of true faith (eeman). He says in His glorious Quraan: {But no, by thy Lord, they [Muslims] do not have [real] faith unless they make you [Oh Muhammad] judge of all disputes between them, and then find within themselves no dislike of your decision, but rather, submit with full submission.}(*147) The latter scholar of this group, Al-Ghazaali, is often quoted by some(*148) as having maintained a view of permissibility. It must be made clear that he argued in favor of only innocent singing, physical sport and entertainment. Nowhere did he mention or argue in favor of the permissibility of musical instruments or musical accompaniment to singing. Thus, those who quote him as a proof for the legality of music commit a gross error and do him a great injustice, for they impute to him that which he himself did not claim. As for the two traditions mentioned by Al-Ghazaali, neither one meets the criterion required as proof for permissibility. The first one refers to the 'Eed day festival when Aaishah listened to two young girls sing for her and beat upon a small hand drum (daff). The text of this tradition merely mentions an innocent form of singing Arabic poetry whose lyrics describe courage, noble manners and war.(*149) This is all permissible by unanimous consent and in no way lends itself as proof of the permissibility of music and/or singing to musical accompaniment.(*150) The second tradition mentions Aaishah as a child watching Ethiopian warriors perform physical feats and display their abilities with spears and shields. In Islam, physical exercises and exhibitions of skill and prowess are not only permissible but praiseworthy as well, especially if they are done for the purpose of keeping the body in physical and mental readiness for jihaad. It is essential to point out that in this hadith there is absolutely no mention of either music or singing and, therefore, is invalid as a defense for what has been claimed. Thus, one may surmise that Al-Ghazaali argued for nothing more than that for which legality has been established and agreed upon. For the sake of argument, if Al-Ghazaali or any other scholar had argued for the permissibility of music and/or singing to its accompaniment, the reply would be precisely what has been stated in the case of Ibn Hazm and Ibnul-Arabi: When it is in contradiction to the authentic sunnah, one cannot accept the view of any other person after Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be up on him.) From what has preceded, it is no exaggeration to state that there is a general consensus of the scholars of the Islamic ummah regarding the prohibition of music and singing to musical accompaniment. This is true because the consensus (ijmaa') was accomplished by those whose ijmaa' is esteemed and binding: the companions, taabi'een, and the four famous and respected imams. These were the best of generations, as is witnessed by Allah's Messenger when he said, "The best of people is my generation, and then those that follow them, and then those that follow them."(*151) The fact that a few later scholars differed with these pious predecessors has no effect on their previously-established consensus.