0
Want this question answered?
Be notified when an answer is posted
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
Is a flute haram for Muslims?
The right anwser is: it's haram.The Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) said:“Among my ummah (nation) there will certainly be people who permit zinaa (adultery), silk, alcohol and musical instruments…” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari ta’leeqan, no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi. See al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 91).This hadeeth indicates in two ways that musical instruments and enjoyment of listening to music are haraam. The first is the fact that the Prophet ( be upon him) said: “[they] permit” which clearly indicates that the things mentioned, including musical instruments, are haraam according to sharee’ah, but those people will permit them. The second is the fact that musical instruments are mentioned alongside things which are definitely known to be haraam, i.e., zinaa and alcohol: if they (musical instruments) were not haraam, why would they be mentioned alongside these things? (adapted from al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1/140-141)Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) said: This hadeeth indicates that ma’aazif are haraam, and ma’aazif means musical instruments according to the scholars of (Arabic) language. This word includes all such instruments. (al-Majmoo’, 11/535).
Is dating or boyfriend-girlfriend allowed in Islam?
That's a long answer, that someone else replied with, but the short answer is no. Having a girlfriend or a boyfriend, or any type of relationship before marriage is not allowed.Praise be to Allah.Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):"… Wed them with the permission of their own folk and give them their mahr (dowry) according to what is reasonable; they should be chaste, not adulterous, nor taking boyfriends…" [al-Nisaa' 4:25]In his commentary on this aayah, Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:"Muhsanaat [translated as "chaste"] means that they should be pure, not indulging in zinaa (unlawful sexual conduct), hence they are described as not being musaafihaat, which means promiscuous women who do not refuse anyone who wants to commit immoral acts with them. Regarding the phrase WA laa muttakhidhaati akhdaan ('nor taking boyfriends'), Ibn 'Abbaas said: 'al-musaafihaat means those who are known to commit zinaa, meaning those who will not refuse anyone who wants to commit immoral acts with them.' Ibn 'Abbaas also said: 'muttakhidhaati akhdaan means lovers.' A similar interpretation was narrated from Abu Hurayrah, Mujaahid, al-Sha'bi, al-Dahhaak, 'Ataa' al-Khurasaani, Yahyaa ibn Abi Katheer, Muqaatil ibn Hayyaan and al-Saddi. They said: (it means) lovers. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: 'It means a (male) friend.' Al-Dahhaak also said: 'WA laa muttakhidhaati akhdaan also means a woman who has just one boyfriend or lover with whom she is happy. Allaah has also forbidden this, meaning marrying her so long as she is in that situation…'"Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):"Made lawful to you this day are al-tayyibaat [all kinds of halaal (lawful) foods…]. The food of the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) is lawful to you and yours is lawful to them. (Lawful to you in marriage) are chaste women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians) before your time, when you have given their due mahr (bridal money given by the husband to the wife at the time of marriage), desiring chastity (i.e., taking them in legal wedlock), not committing illegal sexual intercourse, nor taking them as girlfriends. And whosoever disbelieves in the Oneness of Allaah and in all the other Articles of Faith, the fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be among the losers." [al-Maa'idah 5:5]Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:"Muhsineen ghayr musaafiheen WA laa muttakhidhi akhdaan ('desiring chastity (i.e., taking them in legal wedlock), not committing illegal sexual intercourse, nor taking them as girlfriends'). Just as Allaah imposed the condition of chastity on women, meaning that they refrain from zinaa, so it is also imposed on men. The man must also be pure and chaste. So they should be ghayr musaafiheen, meaning they should not be adulterers who do not refrain from sin and do not refuse any who come to them (for immoral purposes). Nor should they be muttakhidhi akhdaan, meaning those who have girlfriends or female lovers with whom they have an exclusive relationship, as quoted above from Soorat al-Nisaa'. (The one with many lovers or the one with just one lover) are both the same. For this reason Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allaah have mercy on him) said that it is not right to marry a promiscuous woman unless she has repented, or to arrange a marriage of such a woman to a chaste man, so long as she is still conducting herself in this manner. Similarly, he (Ahmad) says that it is not right for a promiscuous man to marry a chaste woman unless he repents and gives up his immoral conduct, because of this aayah… We will discuss this matter in further detail after quoting the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):"Let no man guilty of fornication or adultery marry any but a woman similarly guilty, or an unbeliever: nor let any but such a man or an unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden." [al-Noor 24:3]Among the stories that show that it is forbidden to have girlfriends or to marry them is the story of Marthad ibn Abi Marthad, who used to smuggle Muslim prisoners-of-war from Makkah to Madeenah. There was a prostitute in Makkah, called 'Anaaq, who had been a friend of Marthad's. Marthad had promised to take one of the prisoners from Makkah to Madeenah. He said: "I came to the shade of one of the gardens of Makkah on a moonlit night, then 'Anaaq came and saw my shadow by the garden. When she reached me, she recognized me and said: 'Marthad?' I said, 'Marthad.' She said: 'Welcome! Stay with us tonight.' I said, 'O 'Anaaq, Allaah has forbidden zinaa (unlawful sexual relations)' … I came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and asked him, 'O Messenger of Allaah, should I marry 'Anaaq?' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) remained silent and did not answer me at all, until the aayah 'Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever; nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman; to the Believers such a thing is forbidden' [al-Noor 24:3 - Yusuf 'Ali's translation]was revealed. Then the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 'O Marthad, Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly guilty, or an Unbeliever; nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman, so do not marry her.'"(Reported by al-Tirmidhi, 3101; he said: it is a hasan ghareeb hadeeth).'Abd-Allaah ibn Maghfal reported that there was a woman who had been a prostitute during the days of ignorance (before Islam). A man passed by her, or she passed by him, and he touched her. She said: "Stop it! (Mah! A word connoting a rebuke or denunciation). Allaah has done away with shirk and had brought Islam." So he left her alone and went away, still looking at her, until he walked into a wall, hitting his face. He came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and told him what had happened. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "You are a man for whom Allaah wishes good. When Allaah, may He be blessed and exalted, wishes good for His slave, He hastens the punishment for his sin, so that it is dealt with before the Day of Resurrection." (Reported by al-Haakim, 1/349, who said this hadeeth is saheeh according to the conditions of Muslim, and al-Dhahabi agreed with him. See Saheeh al-Jaami', 308).These aayaat and ahaadeeth clearly indicate that it is haraam (forbidden) for men to have any kind of friendship or relationship with non-mahram women (women to whom they are not closely-related and to whom they could get married). The evil consequences and misery caused by such relationships are obvious to anyone who observes real life. We ask Allaah to keep us far away from that which is forbidden, to protect us from all that may earn His wrath and to keep us safe from a painful punishment. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad.Islam Q&ASheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Why did the Islamic World become much more conservative between the 1960s and 1980s?
If you were to look at the Arab World in the 1960s, you had a high degree of secularism. Most Egyptian women were uncovered, you had literary works that were critical of Islamic practices, you had countenanced discussions of minority rights, etc. You could actually believe that Conservatism was going to disappear. However, a vast number of changes occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, which led ultimately in a rise of Conservatism and increasing belligerence and fundamentalism. The change in the 1970s happened over the entire decade, such that the Islamic World of 1965 and the Islamic World of 1985 were quite different and the latter was much more conservative. Some particularly poignant events in my view were:1) Saudi Investment -- Saudi Arabia helped to build mosques across the Islamic World and places in the West, helping to further disseminate a more fundamentalist understanding of Islam. By the 1970s, the Saudis had raised (internationally) the first crop of children who were, on average, more conservative than their parents.2) Israel 1967-1973 - The Secular Arab States demonstrated that they could not remove Israel, which led many citizens to lose faith in the viability of these states to represent their will. When Egyptian President Anwar Sadat made peace with Israel in 1979, this really infuriated the Egyptian population (and that of the Arab World in general). When Islamists assassinated him in 1980, it helped gain them popular legitimacy.3) Turkey 1969 - The creation of the Millî Görüş movement which sought to move Turkey away from Secularism and towards Islamism, eventually lead by Erbakan in the 1990s.4) Iraq 1975 - While Saddam did not officially come to power until 1979, he was the primary actor in Iraqi politics as President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was ill for much of his presidency. While the Ba'ath party was historically non-religious, Saddam was more religious than his predecessors and helped to stoke sectarian tensions, especially against groups that he considered to be Non-Muslims (such as the Kurds or Marsh Arabs, even though many of them were Muslims) using Islamic rhetoric. (This is why the Kurdish genocide in the early 1980s is called the Anfal Campaign, after the 8th Sura of the Qur'an which talks about taking the booty of Non-Muslims.)5) Lebanon 1975 - The Lebanese Civil War strengthened the sectarian feelings of the various parties in Lebanon, which were divided along religious lines. As identities shifted from being common Lebanese citizens to Maronites, Sunnis, Shiites, Druze, Alawites, Melkites, or Orthodox Christians and the clerical leaders gained power in turn.6) Pakistan 1978 - Zia ul-Haq, who had a strongly Islamizing political leadership became the President of Pakistan. It was under him that equal rights for women in Pakistan was rescinded in order to allow for the "Islamic" laws of Zinaa and Hudud. Blasphemy Laws were promulgated and Imams were given more power and more license to act on local levels.7) Iran 1979 - The capture by Islamists of the Iranian Revolution (even though that revolution was actually caused by Communists and Feminists more than the Islamists). This capture set the tone for a new Islamist state and a modern Islamist State.8) Afghanistan 1979 - When the Soviet Union co-opted the Afghanistan government, the only strong Afghan resistance were the religious Mujaheddin who came to embody the strength of the Afghan people in resisting the Communists. Investments by the US in these Mujaheddin allowed them to grow further and become dominant in regional politics.
What is the meaning of Islam?
Islam means peaceIslam means "Surrender to Almighty" i.e., a person will be no more dependent on his own desires and passions.. but he will be totally dependent on Almighty's pleasure... surrendering to God comes through following the messengers teaches, they all preached monotheism and righteous actions."Islam" and "peace" share the same root letters "slm".Muslims's religion is Islam. Islam religion is that religion per God (Allah) revelation of Quran to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the angel Gabriel (Jibril) started in year 610 AD. Refer to the related question below for more information.Muslims religion is IslamMuslims practice the religion of Islam. The word Islammeans "submission" and Muslim means "one who is in a state of submission." It is understood that this submission is to the will of God. It is stated in the Quran that all of the prophets including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were in this state of submission and thus Muslims.God has given human beings free choice and the choices are to follow the way that God chose for the human being and the other choice is to reject and follow your own way. and god promised whoever follows god's way he will live in paradise forever. and the one who live his own life god will open for him all the doors of happiness all the bless of this world and he will live life the fullest. but in the hear after he will be one of the loosers and will live in hell forever. so Islam is a way which god chose for human being for the prophets and everything that exists.
A Muslim couple who cannot give natural birth to a child wants to go for a surrogacy from a non Muslim women Is it allowed in Islam?
Praise be to Allaah. Shaykh 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Abd al-Rahmaan al-Jibreen answered this question as follows: We say that this is something innovated and reprehensible. The scholars have not spoken of it previously and it is not narrated that any of the scholars or imams of this ummah permitted that, or that it crossed their minds, or that they were asked about any such thing, even though the means and the motive existed that may have called for such a thing. This is something that has come up recently, within the last few years, where the idea of renting wombs been made attractive (by the Shaytaan) to some people and they say there is nothing wrong with it and so on. Undoubtedly this is haraam, primarily because Allaah has commanded us to guard our chastity, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): "And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts, from illegal sexual acts) Except from their wives or (the slaves) that their right hands possess, for then, they are free from blame" [al-Mu'minoon 23:5-6] So Allaah has forbidden us to engage in sexual activity with anyone except our wives and female slaves, i.e., having intercourse with them (female slaves) on the basis of possession. Secondly, Allaah tells us that man is enjoined to protect his lineage and his children. Undoubtedly this womb-renting will lead to confusion of lineage and not knowing who the father or mother is. This confusion of lineage will lead to disputes between the original wife and the woman whose womb is rented, and it will not be known to whom the child belongs. Even if we say that he belongs to one of them, the matter still will not be certain. Hence we advise women to keep away from such things. Moreover, this undoubtedly requires looking at 'awrahs and at the private parts which it is forbidden to see, and it also requires collecting sperm and extracting the eggs and placing them in other wombs. All of that is not allowed in sharee'ah, indeed it comes under prohibition mentioned in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts)" [al-Noor 24:30] What is meant is to protect them by covering them so that no one will see the 'awrah of another. This is the way of Islam and we pay no attention to those who deviate and go against that, and permit this borrowing and this renting of wombs, the consequences of which will undoubtedly be disastrous. -- Renting wombs is one of the innovations of western civilization, which is a purely materialistic civilization which does not give any weight to moral values and principles. The issue is not things that may affect inherited characteristics or confuse lineage; that is not the point of the shar'i ruling. Whether that leads to any effect on inherited characteristics or not, whether that results in confusion of lineage or not, it does not matter, because the shar'i ruling forbidding this innovation is based on something else, which is that the womb is a part of a woman's private parts and the private parts (i.e., sexual relations) are not permissible except through the shar'i contract whose conditions are fully met. So the womb is exclusively for the husband who is married to that woman according to a valid marriage contract, and no one else has any right to use it for an alien pregnancy. If the woman who rents out her womb is not married to that husband, then she is permitting her private parts and her womb to a man who is a stranger to her; she is not permissible for him and he is not permissible for her. Even if this is not full-scale zinaa (adultery), it is still definitely haraam because it is enabling a man who is a stranger to her (i.e., not married to her) to put his semen in her womb. Dr. 'Abd al-'Azeem al-Mat'ani, al-Azhaar University -- The foetus is nourished and is influenced by the womb and the environment that surrounds him. Bad habits on the part of the surrogate mother may lead to deformity of the foetus, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. Then what if the doctors discover some physical deformity in the foetus before birth and try to treat that by means of surgical intervention? Will the surrogate mother allow that? Will she put her life at risk for the sake of a child who does not belong to her? Moreover, there are some women who become sick as a result of pregnancy, suffering such diseases as a sudden rise in the level of blood sugar, or a rise in blood pressure, or toxaemia, some of which may take the life of the pregnant woman and which require medical intervention to sacrifice the foetus in order to save the life of the pregnant woman. How would the surrogate mother and the original mother work this out? How are we to deal with the ethical, legal, social and psychological problems that result from that? Therefore we can reach only one conclusion, which is that the mother who carries the pregnancy can only be the original mother, the child should be attributed to the marriage bed, and that she should conceive, nourish her foetus and give birth to it. Saying that renting wombs is like hiring wet-nurses has no basis in truth, for a wet-nurse breastfeeds a child whose lineage is known, and she can stop breastfeeding him when she wants or when the original mother wants, if she feels that there is any danger. Moreover, in the relationship between a husband and wife there is no room for any third party, no matter who he or she is, not for renting a womb or for donating sperm or donating eggs. Because of such things innumerable problems have arisen in western societies. In Britain an original mother gave twenty thousand pounds to a surrogate mother in return for renting her womb for nine months. When that time was over, the surrogate mother demanded many times that amount from the original mother in exchange for giving up possession of the child. So if this door is opened it will bring us innumerable legal and social problems. Prof. Jamaal Abu'l-Suroor - Dean of Medicine, al-Azhaar Islam Q&A Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid For reference visit the added link
Why music is haram?
Hazrath Anas (R.A.) reports that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: "There will certainly be people from my Ummah who will attempt to legalize fornication, the wearing of silk (for males), the consuming of wine and the use of musical instruments" (Al-Jaamius Sagheer - Pg. 139 Ruling on music, singing and dancingI have always heard that music, singing and dancing are haram in Islam. I went to this other site for the first time,XXX, and typed in music and all of these articles appeared which said music,dancing, and singing in Islam is halal??? They said "as long as the 2 sexes are not close together and their is no drinking going on" etc. and they even have hadiths that try to prove our Prophet Muhammed s.a.w was ok with this??? I am very confused now... Could you PLEASE give a full, detailed explanation about the Islamic ruling on music, singing and dancing and when it is allowed, if it is even allowed at all.Praise be to Allaah. Ma'aazif is the plural of mi'zafah, and refers to musical instruments (Fath al-Baari, 10/55), instruments which are played (al-Majmoo', 11/577). Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) narrated from al-Jawhari (may Allaah have mercy on him) that ma'aazif means singing. In his Sihaah it says that it means musical instruments. It was also said that it refers to the sound of the instruments. In al-Hawaashi by al-Dimyaati (may Allaah have mercy on him) it says: ma'aazif means drums (dufoof, sing. daff) and other instruments which are struck or beaten (Fath al-Baari, 10/55). Evidence of prohibition in the Qur'aan and Sunnah: Allaah says in Soorat Luqmaan (interpretation of the meaning): "And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah…" [Luqmaan 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). Al-Sa'di (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this includes all manner of haraam speech, all idle talk and falsehood, and all nonsense that encourages kufr and disobedience; the words of those who say things to refute the truth and argue in support of falsehood to defeat the truth; and backbiting, slander, lies, insults and curses; the singing and musical instruments of the Shaytaan; and musical instruments which are of no spiritual or worldly benefit. (Tafseer al-Sa'di, 6/150) Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The interpretation of the Sahaabah and Taabi'in, that 'idle talk' 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 Allaah, 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. There is no contradiction between the interpretation of "idle talk" as meaning singing and the interpretation of it as meaning stories of the Persians and their kings, and the kings of the Romans, and so on, such as al-Nadr ibn al-Haarith used to tell to the people of Makkah to distract them from the Qur'aan. Both of them are idle talk. Hence Ibn 'Abbaas said: "Idle talk" is falsehood and singing. Some of the Sahaabah said one and some said the other, and some said both. Singing is worse and more harmful than stories of kings, because it leads to zinaa and makes hypocrisy grow (in the heart); it is the trap of the Shaytaan, and it clouds the mind. The way in which it blocks people from the Qur'aan is worse than the way in which other kinds of false talk block them, because people are naturally inclined towards it and tend to want to listen to it. The aayaat condemn replacing the Qur'aan with idle talk in order to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah without knowledge and taking it as a joke, because when an aayah of the Qur'aan is recited to such a person, he turns his back as if he heard them not, as if there were deafness in his ear. If he hears anything of it, he makes fun of it. All of this happens only in the case of the people who are most stubbornly kaafirs and if some of it happens to singers and those who listen to them, they both have a share of this blame. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, 1/258-259). Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "[Allaah said to Iblees:] And befool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice (i.e. songs, music, and any other call for Allaah's disobedience)…" [al-Israa' 17:64] It was narrated that Mujaahid (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: "And befool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice" - his voice [the voice of Iblees/Shaytaan] is singing and falsehood. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This idaafah [possessive or genitive construction, i.e., your voice] serves to make the meaning specific, as with the phrases [translated as] "your cavalry" and "your infantry" [later in the same aayah]. Everyone who speaks in any way that is not obedient to Allaah, everyone who blows into a flute or other woodwind instrument, or who plays any haraam kind of drum, this is the voice of the Shaytaan. Everyone who walks to commit some act of disobedience towards Allaah is part of his [the Shaytaan's] infantry, and anyone who rides to commit sin is part of his cavalry. This is the view of the Salaf, as Ibn 'Abi Haatim narrated from Ibn 'Abbaas: his infantry is everyone who walks to disobey Allaah. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan). Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "Do you then wonder at this recitation (the Qur'aan)? And you laugh at it and weep not, Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)" [al-Najm 53:59-61] 'Ikrimah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: it was narrated from Ibn 'Abbaas that al-sumood [verbal noun from saamidoon, translated here as "Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)"] means "singing", in the dialect of Himyar; it might be said "Ismidi lanaa" ['sing for us' - from the same root as saamidoon/sumood] meaning "ghaniy" [sing]. And he said (may Allaah have mercy on him): When they [the kuffaar] heard the Qur'aan, they would sing, then this aayah was revealed. Ibn Katheer (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning) "Wasting your (precious) lifetime in pastime and amusements (singing)" - Sufyaan al-Thawri said, narrating from his father from Ibn 'Abbaas: (this means) singing. This is Yemeni (dialect): ismad lana means ghan lana [sing to us]. This was also the view of 'Ikrimah. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer). It was reported from Abu Umaamah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do not sell singing slave women, do not buy them and do not teach them. There is nothing good in this trade, and their price is haraam. Concerning such things as this the aayah was revealed (interpretation of the meaning): 'And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah…' [Luqmaan 31:6]." (Hasan hadeeth) The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments…" (Narrated by al-Bukhaari ta'leeqan, no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi. See al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 91). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This is a saheeh hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari in his Saheeh, where he quoted it as evidence and stated that it is mu'allaq and majzoom. He said: Chapter on what was narrated concerning those who permit alcohol and call it by another name. This hadeeth indicates in two ways that musical instruments and enjoyment of listening to music are haraam. The first is the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "[they] permit" which clearly indicates that the things mentioned, including musical instruments, are haraam according to sharee'ah, but those people will permit them. The second is the fact that musical instruments are mentioned alongside things which are definitely known to be haraam, i.e., zinaa and alcohol: if they (musical instruments) were not haraam, why would they be mentioned alongside these things? (adapted from al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 1/140-141) Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This hadeeth indicates that ma'aazif are haraam, and ma'aazif means musical instruments according to the scholars of (Arabic) language. This word includes all such instruments. (al-Majmoo', 11/535). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: And concerning the same topic similar comments were narrated from Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Saa'idi, 'Imraan ibn Husayn, 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr, 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Abbaas, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Umaamah al-Baahili, 'Aa'ishah Umm al-Mu'mineen, 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib, Anas ibn Maalik, 'Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Saabit and al-Ghaazi ibn Rabee'ah. Then he mentioned it in Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, and it indicates that they (musical instruments) are haraam. It was narrated that Naafi' (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Ibn 'Umar heard a woodwind instrument, and he put his fingers in his ears and kept away from that path. He said to me, O Naafi', can you hear anything? I said, No. So he took his fingers away from his ears and said: I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he heard something like this, and he did the same thing. (Saheeh Abi Dawood). Some insignificant person said that this hadeeth does not prove that musical instruments are haraam, because if that were so, the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have instructed Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both) to put his fingers in his ears as well, and Ibn 'Umar would have instructed Naafi' to do likewise! The response to this is: He was not listening to it, but he could hear it. There is a difference between listening and hearing. 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. Hence blame or praise is connected to listening, not to hearing. The one who listens to the Qur'aan 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). Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: the listener is the one who intends to hear, which was not the case with Ibn 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them both); what happened in his case was hearing. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) needed to know when the sound stopped because he had moved away from that path and blocked his ears. So he did not want to go back to that path or unblock his ears until the noise had stopped, so when he allowed Ibn 'Umar to continue hearing it, this was because of necessity. (al-Mughni, 10/173) (Even though the hearing referred to in the comments of the two imaams is makrooh, it was permitted because of necessity, as we will see below in the comments of Imaam Maalik (may Allaah have mercy on him). And Allaah knows best). The views of the scholars (imaams) of Islam Al-Qaasim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Singing is part of falsehood. Al-Hasan (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: if there is music involved in a dinner invitation (waleemah), do not accept the invitation (al-Jaami by al-Qayrawaani, p. 262-263). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The view of the four Imaams is that all kinds of musical instruments are haraam. It was reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaari and elsewhere that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that there would be among his ummah those who would allow zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments, and he said that they would be transformed into monkeys and pigs… None of the followers of the imaams mentioned any dispute concerning the matter of music. (al-Majmoo', 11/576). Al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The four madhhabs are agreed that all musical instruments are haraam. (al-Saheehah, 1/145). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The madhhab of Abu Haneefah is the strictest in this regard, and his comments are among the harshest. His companions clearly stated that it is haraam to listen to all musical instruments such as the flute and the drum, even tapping a stick. They stated that it is a sin which implies that a person is a faasiq (rebellious evil doer) whose testimony should be rejected. They went further than that and said that listening to music is fisq (rebellion, evildoing) and enjoying it is kufr (disbelief). This is their words. They narrated in support of that a hadeeth which could not be attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). They said: he should try not to hear it if he passes by it or it is in his vicinity. Abu Yoosuf said, concerning a house from which could be heard the sound of musical instruments: Go in without their permission, because forbidding evil actions is obligatory, and if it were not allowed to enter without permission, people could not have fulfilled the obligatory duty (of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil). (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, 1/425). Imaam Maalik (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked about playing the drum or flute, if a person happens to hear the sound and enjoy it whilst he is walking or sitting. He said: He should get up if he finds that he enjoys it, unless he is sitting down for a need or is unable to get up. If he is on the road, he should either go back or move on. (al-Jaami' by al-Qayrawaani, 262). He (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: "The only people who do things like that, in our view, are faasiqs." (Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 14/55). Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Among the types of earnings which are haraam by scholarly consensus are ribaa, the fee of a prostitute, anything forbidden, bribes, payment for wailing over the dead and singing, payments to fortune-tellers and those who claim to know the unseen and astrologers, payments for playing flutes, and all kinds of gambling. (al-Kaafi). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, explaining the view of Imaam al-Shaafa'i: His companions who know his madhhab (point of view) stated that it is haraam and denounced those who said that he permitted it. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan, 1/425). The author of Kifaayat al-Akhbaar, who was one of the Shaafa'is, counted musical instruments such as flutes and others, as being munkar (evil), and the one who is present (where they are being played) should denounce them. (He cannot be excused by the fact that there are bad scholars, because they are corrupting the sharee'ah, or evil faqeers - meaning the Sufis, because they call themselves fuqaraa' or faqeers - because they are ignorant and follow anyone who makes noise; they are not guided by the light of knowledge; rather they are blown about by every wind. (Kifaayat al-Akhbaar, 2/128). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: With regard to the view of Imaam Ahmad, his son 'Abd-Allaah said: I asked my father about singing. He said: Singing makes hypocrisy grow in the heart; I do not like it. Then he mentioned the words of Maalik: the evildoers (faasiqs) among us do that. (Ighaathat al-Lahfaan). Ibn Qudaamah, the researcher of the Hanbali madhhab - (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Musical instruments are of three types which are haraam. These are the strings and all kinds of flute, and the lute, drum and rabaab (stringed instrument) and so on. Whoever persists in listening to them, his testimony should be rejected. (al-Mughni, 10/173). And he said (may Allaah have mercy on him); If a person is invited to a gathering in which there is something objectionable, such as wine and musical instruments, and he is able to denounce it, then he should attend and speak out against it, because then he will be combining two obligatory duties. If he is not able to do that, then he should not attend. (al-Kaafi, 3/118) Al-Tabari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The scholars of all regions are agreed that singing is makrooh and should be prevented. Although Ibraaheem ibn Sa'd and 'Ubayd-Allaah al-'Anbari differed from the majority, (it should be noted that) the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Adhere to the majority." And whoever dies differing from the majority, dies as a jaahili. (Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 14/56). In earlier generations, the word "makrooh" was used to mean haraam, then it took on the meaning of "disliked". But this is to be understood as meaning that it is forbidden, because he [al-Tabari] said "it should be prevented", and nothing is to be prevented except that which is haraam; and because in the two hadeeths quoted, music is denounced in the strongest terms. Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) is the one who narrated this report, then he said: Abu'l-Faraj and al-Qaffaal among our companions said: the testimony of the singer and the dancer is not to be accepted. I say: if it is proven that this matter is not permissible, then accepting payment for it is not permissible either. Shaykh al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) said: What Ibraaheem ibn Sa'd and 'Ubayd-Allaah al-'Anbari said about singing is not like the kind of singing that is known nowadays, for they would never have allowed this kind of singing which is the utmost in immorality and obscenity. (al-I'laam) Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: It is not permissible to make musical instruments. (al-Majmoo', 22/140). And he said: According to the majority of fuqahaa', it is permissible to destroy musical instruments, such as the tanboor [a stringed instrument similar to a mandolin]. This is the view of Maalik and is the more famous of the two views narrated from Ahmad. (al-Majmoo', 28/113). And he said: …Ibn al-Mundhir mentioned that the scholars were agreed that it is not permissible to pay people to sing and wail… the consensus of all the scholars whose views we have learned about is that wailing and singing are not allowed. Al-Shu'bi, al-Nakha'i and Maalik regarded that as makrooh [i.e., haraam]. Abu Thawr, al-Nu'maan - Abu Haneefah (may Allaah have mercy on him) - and Ya'qoob and Muhammad, two of the students of Abu Haneefah said: it is not permissible to pay anything for singing and wailing. This is our view. And he said: musical instruments are the wine of the soul, and what it does to the soul is worse than what intoxicating drinks do. (Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 10/417). Ibn Abi Shaybah (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported that a man broke a mandolin belonging to another man, and the latter took his case to Shurayh. But Shurayh did not award him any compensation - i.e., he did not make the first man pay the cost of the mandolin, because it was haraam and had no value. (al-Musannaf, 5/395). Al-Baghawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) stated in a fatwa that it is haraam to sell all kinds of musical instruments such as mandolins, flutes, etc. Then he said: If the images are erased and the musical instruments are altered, then it is permissible to sell their parts, whether they are silver, iron, wood or whatever. (Sharh al-Sunnah, 8/28) An appropriate exception The exception to the above is the daff - without any rings (i.e., a hand-drum which looks like a tambourine, but without any rattles) - when used by women on Eids and at weddings. This is indicated by saheeh reports. Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made allowances for certain types of musical instruments at weddings and the like, and he made allowances for women to play the daff at weddings and on other joyful occasions. But the men at his time did not play the daff or clap with their hands. It was narrated in al-Saheeh that he said: "Clapping is for women and tasbeeh (saying Subhaan Allaah) is for men." And he cursed women who imitate men and men who imitate women. Because singing and playing the daff are things that women do, the Salaf used to call any man who did that a mukhannath (effeminate man), and they used to call male singers effeminate - and how many of them there are nowadays! It is well known that the Salaf said this. In a similar vein is the hadeeth of 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), when her father (may Allaah be pleased with him) entered upon her at the time of Eid, and there were two young girls with her who were singing the verses that the Ansaar had said on the day of Bu'aath - and any sensible person will know what people say about war. Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "Musical instruments of the Shaytaan in the house of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)!" The Messenger of Allaah had turned away from them and was facing the wall - hence some scholars said that Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) would not tell anybody off in front of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but he thought that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not paying attention to what was happening. And Allaah knows best. He (the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) said: "Leave them alone, O Abu Bakr, for every nation has its Eid, and this is our Eid, the people of Islam." This hadeeth shows that it was not the habit of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions to gather to listen to singing, hence Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq called it "the musical instruments of the Shaytaan". And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of this appellation and did not deny it when he said, "Leave them alone, for every nation has its Eid and this is our Eid." This indicates that the reason why this was permitted was because it was the time of Eid, and the prohibition remained in effect at times other than Eid, apart from the exceptions made for weddings in other ahaadeeth. Shaykh al-Albaani explained this in his valuable book Tahreem Aalaat al-Tarab (the Prohibition of Musical Instruments). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of young girls singing at Eid, as stated in the hadeeth: "So that the mushrikeen will know that in our religion there is room for relaxation." There is no indication in the hadeeth about the two young girls that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was listening to them. The commands and prohibitions have to do with listening, not merely hearing, just as in the case of seeing, the rules have to do with intentionally looking and not what happens by accident. So it is clear that this is for women only. Imaam Abu 'Ubayd (may Allaah have mercy on him) defined the daff as "that which is played by women." (Ghareeb al-Hadeeth, 3/64). An inappropriate exception Some of them make an exception for drums at times of war, and consequentially some modern scholars have said that military music is allowed. But there is no basis for this at all, for a number of reasons, the first of which is that this is making an exception with no clear evidence, apart from mere opinion and thinking that it is good, and this is wrong. The second reason is that what the Muslims should do at times of war is to turn their hearts towards their Lord. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): "They ask you (O Muhammad) about the spoils of war. Say: 'The spoils are for Allaah and the Messenger.' So fear Allaah and adjust all matters of difference among you…" [al-Anfaal 8:1]. But using music is the opposite of this idea of taqwa and it would distract them from remembering their Lord. Thirdly, using music is one of the customs of the kuffaar, and it is not permitted to imitate them, especially with regard to something that Allaah has forbidden to us in general, such as music. (al-Saheehah, 1/145) "No people go astray after having been guided except they developed arguments amongst themselves." (Saheeh) Some of them used the hadeeth about the Abyssinians playing in the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) as evidence that singing is allowed! Al-Bukhaari included this hadeeth in his Saheeh under the heading Baab al-Hiraab wa'l-Daraq Yawm al-'Eid (Chapter on Spears and Shields on the Day of Eid). Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This indicates that it is permissible to play with weapons and the like in the mosque, and he applied that to other activities connected with jihaad. (Sharh Muslim). But as al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: whoever speaks about something which is not his profession will come up with weird ideas such as these. Some of them use as evidence the hadeeth about the singing of the two young girls, which we have discussed above, but we will quote what Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, because it is valuable: I am amazed that you quote as evidence for allowing listening to sophisticated songs the report which we mentioned about how two young girls who were below the age of puberty sang to a young woman on the day of Eid some verses of Arab poetry about bravery in war and other noble characteristics. How can you compare this to that? What is strange is that this hadeeth is one of the strongest proofs against them. The greatest speaker of the truth [Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq] called them musical instruments of the Shaytaan, and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of that appellation, but he made an exception in the case of these two young girls who had not yet reached the age of responsibility and the words of whose songs could not corrupt anyone who listened to them. Can this be used as evidence to allow what you do and what you know of listening (to music) which includes (bad) things which are not hidden?! Subhaan Allaah! How people can be led astray! (Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/493). Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) was young at that time; nothing was transmitted from her after she reached the age of puberty except condemnation of singing. Her brother's son, al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad, condemned singing and said that it was not allowed to listen to it, and he took his knowledge from her. (Talbees Iblees, 229). Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: A group of the Sufis used this hadeeth - the hadeeth about the two young girls - as evidence that singing is allowed and it is allowed to listen to it, whether it is accompanied by instruments or not. This view is sufficiently refuted by the clear statement of 'Aa'ishah in the following hadeeth, where she says, "They were not singers." She made it clear that they were not singers as such, although this may be understood from the wording of the report. So we should limit it to what was narrated in the text as regards the occasion and the manner, so as to reduce the risk of going against the principle, i.e., the hadeeth. And Allaah knows best. (Fath al-Baari, 2/442-443). Some people even have the nerve to suggest that the Sahaabah and Taabi'een listened to singing, and that they saw nothing wrong with it! Al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) said: We demand them to show us saheeh isnaads going back to these Sahaabah and Taabi'een, proving what they attribute to them. Then he said: Imaam Muslim mentioned in his introduction to his Saheeh that 'Abd-Allaah ibn al-Mubaarak said: The isnaad is part of religion. Were it not for the isnaad, whoever wanted to could say whatever he wanted to. Some of them said that the ahaadeeth which forbid music are full of faults. No hadeeth was free of being criticized by some of the scholars. Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The ahaadeeth which were narrated concerning music being haraam are not full of faults as has been claimed. Some of them are in Saheeh al-Bukhaari which is the soundest of books after the Book of Allaah, and some of them are hasan and some are da'eef. But because they are so many, with different isnaads, they constitute definitive proof that singing and musical instruments are haraam. All the imaams agreed on the soundness of the ahaadeeth which forbid singing and musical instruments, apart from Abu Haamid al-Ghazzaali, but al-Ghazzaali did not have knowledge of hadeeth; and Ibn Hazam, but al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) explained where Ibn Hazam went wrong, and Ibn Hazam himself said that if any of (these ahaadeeth) were saheeh, he would follow that. But now they have proof that these reports are saheeh because there are so many books by the scholars which state that these ahaadeeth are saheeh, but they turn their backs on that. They are far more extreme than Ibn Hazam and they are nothing like him, for they are not qualified and cannot be referred to. Some of them said that the scholars forbade singing because it is mentioned alongside gatherings in which alcohol is drunk and where people stay up late at night for evil purposes. Al-Shawkaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The response to this is that mentioning these things in conjunction does not only mean that what is haraam is what is joined together in this manner. Otherwise this would mean that zinaa, as mentioned in the ahaadeeth, is not haraam unless it is accompanied by alcohol and the use of musical instruments. By the same token, an aayah such as the following (interpretation of the meaning): "Verily, he used not to believe in Allaah, the Most Great, And urged not on the feeding of Al‑Miskeen (the poor)." [al-Haaqqah 69:33-34] would imply that it is not haraam to disbelieve in Allaah unless that is accompanied by not encouraging the feeding of the poor. If it is said that the prohibition of such things one at a time is proven from other reports, the response to that is that the prohibition of musical instruments is also known from other evidence, as mentioned above. (Nayl al-Awtaar, 8/107). Some of them said that "idle talk" does not refer to singing; the refutation of that has been mentioned above. Al-Qurtubi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This - the view that it means singing - is the best that has been said concerning this aayah, and Ibn Mas'ood swore three times by Allaah besides Whom there is no other god, that it does refer to singing. Then he mentioned other imaams who said the same thing. Then he mentioned other views concerning the matter. Then he said: The first view is the best of all that has been said on this matter, because of the marfoo' hadeeth, and because of the view of the Sahaabah and the Taabi'een. (Tafseer al-Qurtubi). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him), after quoting this Tafseer, said: Al-Haakim Abu 'Abd-Allaah said in the Tafseer of Kitaab al-Mustadrak: Let the one who is seeking this knowledge know that the Tafseer of a Sahaabi who witnessed the revelation is a hadeeth with isnaad according to the two Shaykhs (al-Bukhaari and Muslim). Elsewhere in his book, he said: In our view this hadeeth has the same strength as a marfoo' report. Although their tafseer is still subject to further examination, it is still more readily acceptable than the tafseer of those who came after them, because they are the most knowledgeable among this ummah of what Allaah meant in his Book. It was revealed among them and they were the first people to be addressed by it. They heard the tafseer from the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in word and in deed. And they were Arabs who understood the true meanings of (Arabic) words, so Muslims should avoid resorting to any other interpretation as much as possible. Some of them said that singing is a form of worship if the intention is for it to help one to obey Allaah! Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: How strange! What type of faith, light, insight, guidance and knowledge can be gained from listening to tuneful verses and music in which most of what is said is haraam and deserves the wrath and punishment of Allaah and His Messenger? … How can anyone who has the least amount of insight and faith in his heart draw near to Allaah and increase his faith by enjoying something which is hated by Him, and He detests the one who says it and the one who accepts it? (Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/485) Shaykh al-Islam said, discussing the state of the person who has gotten used to listening to singing: Hence you find that those who have gotten used to it and for whom it is like food and drink will never have the desire to listen to the Qur'aan or feel joy when they hear it, and they never find in listening to its verses the same feeling that they find when listening to poetry. Indeed, if they hear the Qur'aan, they hear it with an inattentive heart and talk whilst it is being recited, but if they hear whistling and clapping of hands, they lower their voices and keep still, and pay attention. (Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 11/557 ff) Some say that music and musical instruments have the effect of softening people's hearts and creating gentle feelings. This is not true, because it provokes physical desires and whims. If it really did what they say, it would have softened the hearts of the musicians and made their attitude and behaviour better, but most of them, as we know, are astray and behave badly. Conclusion Perhaps - for fair-minded and objective readers - this summary will make it clear that the view that music is permissible has no firm basis. There are no two views on this matter. So we must advise in the best manner, and then take it step by step and denounce music, if we are able to do so. We should not be deceived by the fame of a man in our own times in which the people who are truly committed to Islam have become strangers. The one who says that singing and musical instruments are permitted is simply supporting the whims of people nowadays, as if the masses were issuing fatwas and he is simply signing them! If a matter arises, they will look at the views of fuqahaa' on this matter, then they will take the easiest view, as they claim. Then they will look for evidence, or just specious arguments which are worth no more than a lump of dead meat. How often have these people approved things in the name of sharee'ah which in fact have nothing to do with Islam! Strive to learn your Islam from the Book of your Lord and the Sunnah of your Prophet. Do not say, So-and-so said, for you cannot learn the truth only from men. Learn the truth and then measure people against it. This should be enough for the one who controls his whims and submits himself to his Lord. May what we have written above heal the hearts of the believers and dispel the whispers in the hearts of those who are stricken with insinuating whispers. May it expose everyone who is deviating from the path of Revelation and taking the easiest options, thinking that he has come up with something which none of the earlier generations ever achieved, and speaking about Allaah without knowledge. They sought to avoid fisq (evildoing) and ended up committing bid'ah - may Allaah not bless them in it. It would have been better for them to follow the path of the believers. And Allaah knows best. May Allaah bless and grant peace to His Messenger who made clear the path of the believers, and to his companions and those who follow them in truth until the Day of Judgement. Summary of a paper entitled al-Darb bi'l-Nawa li man abaaha al-Ma'aazif li'l-Hawa by Shaykh Sa'd al-Deen ibn Muhammad al-Kibbi. For more information, please see: Al-I'laam bi Naqd Kitaab al-Halaal wa'l-Haraam, by Shaykh al-'Allaamah Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan Al-Samaa' by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn al-Qayyim Tahreem Aalaat al-Tarab, by Shaykh Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him)Islam Q&ASheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjidhttp://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/5000
Married woman seeing another man.what punishment will she have to receives in Islam.?
The Islamic Ruling Concerning the Criminal Act of Zina[Adultery & Fornication]All praise is due to Allah, the One who said: " And do not come near to the unlawful sexual intercourse…"(1) And peace and blessings of Allah be upon His slave and Messenger Muhammad, who said: "When a person commits zina, Imaan (faith) leaves him, until it is like a cloud over his head…"(2) Undoubtedly, all Muslims have some knowledge of the prohibition of Adultery and fornication, however we are living in a western society whereby this crime has become widespread and commonly accepted. This acceptable crime has even crept into some of the Muslim homes, to the extent we find those who are proud to see their son entering the house with a girl accompanying them. This article will define what is considered as adultery and fornication in Islam, its punishment, marriage to one who commits it, repentance, and how to protect yourself from it.In today's English, the word used for a married person who engages in unlawful sexual intercourse is adultery; the single person who engages in sexual intercourse is fornication. Unlike English, Arabic has only one word for both cases - zina. Throughout the history of the religions, zina has been prohibited, however its prohibition is more emphatic and forceful, and is regarded as one of the gravest sins of all the major sins in Islam. Over fourteen hundred years ago, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) prophesied that from amongst the signs of the Day of Judgement is the prevalence of illegal sexual intercourse.(3) Imaam Adh-Dhahabi in his book 'The Major Sins', placed zina as the tenth major sin out of the seventy mentioned by him. However, we see in the following hadiths that zina is more likely ranked as the second major sin in Islam. The Prophet (s.a.w) said: "There is no sin after shirk (polytheism) greater in the eyes of Allah than a drop of semen which a man places in the womb which is not lawful for him."(4) Thus we find that zina was mentioned after the two grave sins of shirk and murder. A person has committed zina if they voluntarily and deliberately perform sexual intercourse with other than one's spouse. The act of zina has taken place when the full insertion of a male's sexual organ has been inserted inside a female's vagina, regardless of the number of times or whether contraception was used, such as a condom or separator between the couples organs.Proving zinaA person is convicted of zina by any one or more of the following ways: The first one is that the zaani (fornicator or adulterer) makes a confession, without going back on their word until they are awarded the punishment. If at some stage they retract their confession, they must not be subjected to any penal punishment. The second way a person can be convicted of zinais by four reliable and pious men testifying that they witnessed the sexual act. Each man must testify that he actually saw the male sexual organ inserted into the female's vagina. This stringent condition is to protect innocent Muslims and to block the road for those who want evil to spread amongst the Muslim society. As for the third way a person may be convicted of adultery, this is when a woman who has neither husband nor master is found pregnant.Punishment for zina in this lifeThere are definite penal punishments known as hadd or hudood (plural) which have been mentioned in the Qur'an and the Sunnah concerning those who engage in the criminal act. The following conditions must be fulfilled before the hadd is applied: 1. The offender must be sane; 2. They must be Muslim; 3. They have reached the age of puberty; 4. They must be free and not a slave. The Qur'anic injunctions with regards to those commit zina were revealed gradually, that is, bit by bit. The wisdom behind this was to make these injunctions easily acceptable to the new converts of Islam who were deeply engaged in zinaduring the days of Jaahiliyah (ignorance). The first revelation concerning the punishment of zina was that a woman guilty of zina was to be confined to their home until she died(5). The second revelation covered both men and women and was a little specific regarding punishment(6). Allah (s.w.t) then revealed: "The woman and the man guilty of illegal sexual intercourse, flog each of them with a hundred stripes. Let not pity withhold you in their case, in a punishment prescribed by Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day…"(7) The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) clarified this injunction by saying: "Take from me; Allah has made a decree for them. A virgin (committing zina) with a virgin: one hundred lashes (for each) and exiling for year (for the man). And a married (committing zina) with a married: one hundred lashes and stoning."(8)Difference of opinion exists among Muslim jurists concerning the combining of both stoning and lashing. The correct opinion (and Allah knows best) is that which the majority of the scholars have agreed to, and that is, the one who is to be punished by stoning should not be lashed. This is what has been mentioned by the two caliphs 'Umar and 'Uthman; Ibn Mas 'ud also holds the same view. Hence an unmarried person guilty of fornication is to be lashed one hundred times according to the above verse in addition to banishment for one year in the case of a man. There are also different opinions regarding the exiling of women. Those who hold the opinion that a woman should not be exiled argue that a woman is weaker than a man, and that she needs protection that may not be available for her if she is banished. Those who favor banishment base their opinion on the Prophet's general wording of the hadith, which does not exclude women from being exiled.The penal punishment of a married adulterer under Islamic jurisdiction is by stoning to death, as per the preceding hadith and other hadiths. Ibn Mus 'ud (r.a) reported that Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "The blood of a Muslim, who testifies that there is no (true) god except Allah and that I am Allah's Messenger, does not become permissible except for one of three acts: a married person who commits zina, one soul for another (killed) soul, and a man who abandons his deen(religion) and departs from the Jamaa 'ah (of Muslims)."(9) The Prophet (s.a.w) applied stoning to a number of people during his time. Maa 'iz bin Maalik is one of them as per the hadith collected by Bukhari, Muslim and others; another person stoned to death was the woman from the Ghamid tribe who came to the Prophet (s.a.w) demanding him to purify her from her sin.(10)Know that punishment for the crime of zina acts an atonement of this sin. The Prophet (s.a.w) said regarding the woman from Ghamid who was stoned to death: "She has repented such a repentance that, were it to be divided among seventy of Madina's residents it would cover them. Have you seen a better repentance than her giving away herself for Allah."(11) The idea behind the harsh and severe punishment does not contradict with the spirit of Islam, actually it serves as a deterrent to the society. It protects a person's family, lineage, and spread of moral decadence and diseases in society. When people realise the graveness of the sin, and that its punishment is most humiliating and painful, very few of them would dare to approach it.Punishment of zina in the hereafterThe punishment of those who die without repenting from zina begins in their grave. In a long hadith, Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) related a dream in which he saw two men accompanying him (Jibreel and Maalik), showing him how a number of sinners were being punished in al-Barzakh (life between death and Judgement day). The Prophet (s.a.w) said: "…We proceeded until we came across a hole in the ground that resembled a baking pit, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Babbling and voices were issuing from it. We looked in and saw naked men and women. Underneath the pit was a raging fire; whenever it flared up, the men and women screamed and rose with it until they almost fell out of the pit. As it subsided, they returned (to the bottom). I said: 'Who are these?' They said: '…As for the naked men and women who were in the pit, they are men and women who indulge in zina…"(12) In a similar narration Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "We moved on until I saw people who were awfully swollen, and had the most foul stench, their stench was like that of the sewers. I asked: 'Who are these?' They replied: 'Those are the male and female adulterers.'"(13) As for punishment in the hereafter, Allah Most High says: "And they (i.e. the servants of Allah) do not commit zina - And whoever does this shall meet a full penalty. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace."(14)Marriage to a person guilty of zinaAs for marriage between two who are guilty of zina, then this is permissible as per what Allah (s.w.t) has said: "The adulterer marries not but an adulteress or a Mushrikah, and the adulteress, none marries her except an adulterer or a Mushrik."(15) There is difference of opinion amongst the scholars with regards to a chaste man marrying an adulteress who has not repented or vice versa. Some of them said that is not lawful; this is the opinion of Ali, Al-Baraa', 'Aisha, and ibn Mas 'ud, (may Allah (s.w.t) be pleased with them all). The majority of the scholars including Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and ibn 'Abbaas, (may Allah (s.w.t) be pleased with them all) on the other hand permitted the marriage, adding however, that marriage to a chaste and pure person was more virtuous.RepentanceOne might think that the only way a person guilty of zinacan be forgiven is by being awarded the penal punishment (hadd). The scholars have said that a person who commits a sin should repent between himself and Allah (s.w.t). The repentance should be sincere, and the guilty person should perform lots of acts of worship and righteous actions. Furthermore, the person should feel remorse, and have no intention of ever committing the sin again. The repentance will not be accepted if it is done during the pangs of death, as Allah Most High says: "And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and says: 'Now I repent'…."(16) The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) informed us in the hadith collected by Muslim: "Whoever repents, before the sun rises from it's setting (i.e. the west), Allah will forgive him." This means the repentance of the one who repentance after this, will be of no avail.Protection against zinaThere are many ways a Muslim can protect them self from zina. From amongst the most important of means is remembering Allah. Know that the one who is away from the remembrance of Allah will be weak and is susceptible to the attacks of Satan. The one who does not speak from his own desire (s.a.w) said: "And I command you to remember Allah. The parable of this is like a man whose enemies were running after him and about to catch him. He then entered a well-fortified fortress and saved himself from them. This is the like of a servant (of Allah), he cannot save himself from Satan except by remembering Allah."(17)There are many actions a Muslim can do to protect themselves from zina. Salaat, both obligatory and supererogatory is one of the strongest fortresses against zina. Allah (s.w.t) said: "…and establish prayer, indeed prayer prevents from depravity and wrongdoing…."(18) Regular fasting is another way of suppressing the sexual desire, as Allah's Apostle (s.a.w) prescribed it for the young people who cannot afford marriage. Another way to keep away from zina is by reminding yourself of how you would abhor and dislike it for your mother, daughter, sister, and aunt; this was how the Prophet (s.a.w) put it to a man who came seeking permission for zina. Remember that Satan watches and waits for you to be distanced from your Muslim brethren, then he makes his attack. And so from amongst the things that will deter you from zina, is to always be in the company of the righteous, those people that will remind you of Allah (s.w.t). The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said in the hadith collected by Abu Dawud in his Sunan, "…indeed the wolf devours the lone sheep." Also, remember that when a believer refrains from committing a sin, his reward increases in proportion with the temptation that he faces. Remember that saying "No" to someone who invites you to commit zina will secure you a place of shelter under the shade of Allah's throne on the Day when their will be no shelter except His.(19) Abu Hurayrah (r.a) reported that Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Whoever Allah protects from the evil of what is between his jaws (i.e. his tongue) and the evil of what is between his legs (i.e. his private parts), he will enter Jannah (Paradise).(20)We ask Allah Most High to protect us from the evil of zina, accept our righteous actions, and shower us from His bounties in this life and in the Hereafter.And Allah knows best.Bilal Dannoun1- Al-Israa, 17: 322- Abu Dawud - authentic according to Albaani3- see hadith Anas in Saheeh Bukhari4- Saheeh Bukhari5- An-Nisaa, 4: 156- An-Nisaa, 4: 167- An-Noor, 24: 28- Saheeh Bukhari9- Saheeh Bukhari & Saheeh Muslim10- Saheeh Muslim, Abu Dawud & others11- See Sahih Muslim & Abu Dawud12- Saheeh Bukhari13- Ibn Khuzaymah & Ibn Hibbaan - authentic according to Albaani14- Al-Furqaan, 25: 68-6915- An-Noor, 24: 316- An-Nisaa, 4: 1817- Tirmidhi & An-Nasai - authentic according to Albaani18- Al-'Ankaboot, 29: 4519- see Bukhari & Muslim20- Tirmidhi - authentic according to AlbaaniSource: http://www.trosch.org/moh/sharia-law.HTMLhttp://www.missionislam.com/knowledge/ruling%20zina.htm
