What is the ruling on singing? And is the hand drum permissible for men and women?

The questioner : What is the ruling on singing, with clarification?

The Shaykh : We have spoken about singing many times, and we have said that singing has two states: either singing with the voice of the singer only, or singing accompanied by some musical instruments. As for the first category, which is not accompanied by a musical instrument, it is looked into: if it is singing with words that are not permissible to utter or pronounce, then it is even more so that it is not permissible to sing with them. The Messenger (peace be upon him) points to this in his statement regarding poetry: And he (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding speech in general: And it is even more so that we say: whoever wants to sing with some words or poetry, let him sing with good, or else let him be silent. This means that many issues all take one ruling, but the sin of this ruling increases according to what is attached to it. For example, if the words are bad but are said in a way that moves the emotions of some people more than if they were simply spoken, then there is no doubt that the matter increases in sin at that time. So, if the singing that the singer sings, as we said, is not accompanied by a musical instrument, and the words are from what is permissible to pronounce, then singing with them is permissible. However, it should not be a craft or profession that he displays and earns from in front of people until he takes the name of a singer. It is difficult for us to imagine a singer who adheres to the limits of the Shari'ah in his singing. This is our statement regarding the singer as a profession, which is theoretical and not practical. But our statement includes every person who wants to sing, even in his place, to amuse himself with it. We say that, with the condition mentioned above, there is no harm in singing with words and poetry that do not contain a violation of the Shari'ah, by way of amusement. As for singing with musical instruments, this is not permissible at all, because the use of musical instruments is forbidden by the Shari'ah in many texts. Therefore, the four Imams and others agreed on the prohibition of using musical instruments, except for the hand drum only, and on specific days only, which are the day of the wedding, the day of Eid al-Fitr, and the day of Eid al-Adha. It is permissible to use the hand drum among all musical instruments on these three days. As we said, the four Imams and others agreed on this, and it is the truth from which a Muslim is not allowed to deviate by a hair's breadth. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the explicit prohibition of musical instruments, to the extent that he associated them with what is definitively forbidden by the Shari'ah, such as intoxicants and zina. I mean by this his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): - meaning zina - - meaning domesticated animals - , which are musical instruments. So we find the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) associating musical instruments with the forbidden things whose prohibition is definitive: zina, intoxicants, and animal silk. I do not argue, I warn, and I say: I do not argue for the mentioned prohibition merely by the association of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of musical instruments with the preceding forbidden things. Rather, I argue by his statement (peace be upon him): And the meaning of "they make lawful" is: what was forbidden by the Shari'ah. Then he gave four examples of that and said: I say this because the argument I mentioned with this hadith regarding the prohibition of musical instruments was difficult for some, both in the past and present. They said that the hadith only indicates the prohibition of the gathering of these four things in amusement and play. Our answer was what I mentioned earlier from his statement (peace be upon him): So the word "they make lawful" is a text indicating that these mentioned things, in sequence, are forbidden by the Shari'ah. Here lies the argument with the hadith. As for their becoming transformed into monkeys and pigs, that is indeed due to their gathering on all these wrongs. But the statement of the Messenger (peace be upon him), "they make lawful," indicates that these four things are forbidden by the Shari'ah. And this is confirmed by the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly prohibited some musical instruments, associated with some of the forbidden things mentioned in the previous hadith. I mean by this his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): - which was mentioned in the previous hadith - and gambling, which was not mentioned in the previous hadith - which is the drum, and it is among the musical instruments. So this confirms that his statement (peace be upon him) in the previous hadith means that these four things are forbidden. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) confirmed that in this second hadith: , and the kubah is the drum. And there are other hadiths that explicitly state the prohibition of musical instruments and musical tools, and although there is weakness in their chains, we cannot argue with one of them individually, but we argue with their totality, especially since the hadith of precedes them. This is what comes to our mind of evidence regarding the prohibition of singing in its two categories: singing with words that are not permissible to be uttered, whether accompanied by a musical instrument or not, and the use of musical instruments, even if separate from singing with the voice, because they are forbidden by the texts of the Shari'ah, some of which we have mentioned. This is what I have in answer to this question.

The questioner : Regarding the hand drum, is it permissible for women and men equally?

The Shaykh : For women only.