We ask you to clarify the hadith of Hisham ibn 'Ammar regarding musical instruments found in al-Bukhari, including its chain, text, strength, and authenticity. May Allah reward you.

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. And may prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad. And after that, the truth is that I was honored to sit, get to know, and speak with the honorable scholarThe Shaykh .

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.

The questioner : Muhammad al-Nasir al-Albani.

The Shaykh : Welcome.

The questioner : This is my first session with you.

The Shaykh : Welcome, welcome. We gain strength through you.

The questioner : And through you, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.

The questioner : In fact, I have eight questions, and I will not ask them all unless you allow me to.

The Shaykh : Yes, bring the first question, and then Allah will create what you do not know.

The questioner : Of course, your student is the imam of a mosque.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner : Praise be to Allah, then many questions come to me...

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.

The questioner : The issue of music and the hadith of Hisham ibn 'Ammar in Sahih al-Bukhari. There is a statement or book I read by Shaykh al-Ghazali in which he says: "I listen to music and Umm Kulthum."

The Shaykh : May Allah guide him.

The questioner: Amen.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : So we ask you to clarify this hadith found in al-Bukhari, its chain, its text, its strength, and its authenticity. May Allah reward you. This is the first question.

Another questioner : The answer to this question will take up the entire session.

The Shaykh : From you, my brother, from you. It is in "Sahih al-Bukhari" and it is one of the authentic hadiths that rightly escaped the criticism of some of the early critics. Consequently, some of the contemporary critics have no value because they have no knowledge of the science of hadith, whether in authenticating, weakening, vindicating, or criticizing. The Imam al-Dhahiri, Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm, spoke about this hadith of al-Bukhari in a treatise of his that was printed in "al-Mala'ih." In it, he holds the view that musical instruments of various forms and types are permissible, relying on his apparentist methodology, which requires him not to use opinion, analogical reasoning, or correct consideration of the generalities of the Shari'ah and its evidence. This is from one side. From the other side, he was not knowledgeable about hadith as he was knowledgeable about the Shari'ah in general. This is because he lived in the Maghreb, and Islamic knowledge was mostly confined to the Mashriq of the lands of Islam, and only a part of it reached the lands of the Maghreb long ago over a long period of time. Therefore, it is no surprise that someone like Ibn Hazm did not hear some of the books of the Sunnah known as the Six Books. For example, he did not know "Sunan Ibn Majah" and did not know "Sunan al-Tirmidhi." For this reason, his criticism of hadiths and chains is such that it cannot be relied upon alone. He criticized the hadith of al-Bukhari from two sides, both of which—and may Allah have mercy on you—revolve around his claim that the hadith is broken between al-Bukhari and his shaykh Hisham ibn 'Ammar. He says: "And the truth of what he says is that it is the custom of al-Bukhari, when narrating from Hisham ibn 'Ammar, who is one of his shaykhs, to say: 'Hisham ibn 'Ammar narrated to me' or 'Hisham ibn 'Ammar narrated to us.' But in this hadith, he did not say any of this; rather, he said: 'Hisham ibn 'Ammar said.' So Ibn Hazm considered this statement of al-Bukhari to be a break between him and his shaykh Hisham. The Imams, all the Imams who came after him from the scholars of hadith, none of them agreed with him in declaring this hadith defective due to the break between al-Bukhari and his shaykh Hisham ibn 'Ammar. The reason for this is that Ibn Hazm's consideration of this narration as broken means that Imam al-Bukhari was a practitioner of tadlis, meaning he narrated from his shaykh what he had not heard from him. And no one—also—spoke about al-Bukhari or accused him of such an accusation. The rule among the hadith scholars, including Ibn Hazm himself, is that if a narrator narrates from his shaykh or one of his shaykhs with the formula of narration and explicit mention of hearing from him, or with another formula that implies hearing from him, the narration is considered connected, provided that he is not known for tadlis. If the narrator is known for tadlis, meaning he narrates from some of his shaykhs what he has not heard from them, then at that time it is not considered, and the narration in which the hadith scholar who practices tadlis said 'so-and-so said' or 'from so-and-so' is criticized. But if he is not known for any tadlis, like Imam al-Bukhari, then at that time it is not permissible to declare the narration from that narrator from his shaykh defective with a formula other than the formula of narration or what conveys its meaning, such as saying 'I heard.' This is the first answer. The other answer is that Imam al-Bukhari did not narrate this hadith from Hisham ibn 'Ammar alone, but others who are trustworthy participated with him in that. So if it is assumed that al-Bukhari actually did not hear this specific hadith from his shaykh Hisham ibn 'Ammar, that does not harm the hadith in terms of its authenticity at all, because its connection and hearing from Hisham has been established from a group of other trustworthy people. The final answer is that Hisham himself did not narrate this hadith from his shaykh alone. Hisham himself did not narrate this hadith from the shaykh mentioned in al-Bukhari's narration alone, but he was also followed in that. Therefore, there is no room for declaring the hadith defective with any defect after it has been established that it is connected to Hisham and it has also been established that Hisham did not narrate this hadith alone. Yes.