The Ruling on Singing

Question:
He says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, singing includes singing that arouses desire, and it includes beautiful singing that does not harm a person, whether male or female. Then, there is no explicit, clear evidence from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that specifies the prohibition of singing.

Answer:
All of this is forbidden; because what is in it, which they call innocent, leads to what is not innocent. It leads from one thing to another. Who is there with you who distinguishes for you between the lawful and the forbidden in the radio, or otherwise? It is all leading from one thing to another. It leads to flirting with women, praising women, praising so-and-so and so-and-so, their height and width, and so on. And perhaps it leads to praising young men and women. For this reason, in what the scholars reported regarding the saying of His Lord, “Among the people is one who harms you with his speech,” they understood from it that it is singing in its generality. Ibn Mas'ud said: This is singing that causes hypocrisy to grow in the heart, just as water causes a donkey's foal to grow in the crop. So the majority of scholars hold that singing is forbidden; because it leads from one thing to another, leading the good to the bad. If a person were found singing in what is permissible, it would lead him to the forbidden. Arabic poetry is permissible, permissible, and its forbidden part is forbidden. If the Arabic poetry is in what Allah has made lawful, praising bravery, praising generosity, there is no harm. And if the Arabic poetry is in praising wine and arrogance, it is forbidden.