The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) reminding of the evidence for the prohibition of singing.

The Shaykh : Now we say, as is said today in the sense of putting the dots on the letters, we bring the example that concerns us now. Is there evidence that forbids musical instruments? The answer is yes, but I will not say whether it is definitive or probable, because it is not permissible to engage the minds of the general Muslims with precise technical scientific matters that many students of knowledge do not understand, let alone the general Muslims. So, do we say: Is there a hadith that forbids instruments of entertainment and makes it not permissible for Muslims to use these instruments on the occasion of a wedding or on the occasion of one of the Islamic festivals? The answer is that the evidence is known, namely several hadiths. The most famous, strongest, and most comprehensive in meaning is what the Imam al-Bukhari narrated as a suspended narration. The word "suspended" is also a technical scientific term understood by some students.Those present : It does not concern us now to delve into explaining this specific word as a suspended narration. I only said this so that no one would correct me if I said, "Al-Bukhari narrated it," and I would then say, "Al-Bukhari narrated it as a suspended narration." Its chain is traced to Abu Malik al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning the private parts, meaning fornication. This hadith was narrated by Imam al-Bukhari, as we said, in his *Sahih* as a suspended narration. It was also narrated by famous imams, such as al-Isma'ili in his *Mustakhraj*, Imam al-Tabarani in his *Mu'jam*, and many, many others. Among them is Abu Dawud in *Sunan*, with a sound chain from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari. So the hadith is authentic. Even though the Imam of the Imams of hadith scholars, al-Bukhari, narrated it in his *Sahih* as a suspended narration, it has come through connected chains, and the hadith is thereby authentic, and praise be to Allah. Is it said that this hadith is definitive in its establishment? This is a foreign philosophy in Islam. It does not concern us whether the hadith is definitive in its establishment or not. What is not definitive in its establishment is referred to in the terminology of scholars as "probable in its establishment." I hope you clarify the meaning of "probable in its establishment." It does not mean that the scholars and jurists, by saying that the evidence for a ruling is probable in its establishment, are referring to the conjecture that is condemned in the Noble Qur'an when the Lord of the Worlds said regarding the polytheists: And when He said: The jurists do not mean this kind of conjecture that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) also condemned in the authentic hadith agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim,The Shaykh : which is his saying: The jurists, when they say that an authentic hadith conveys probability, do not mean this condemned probability in the Book and the Sunnah. Rather, they mean the predominant probability, the most likely probability, the probability upon which all people act. When you hear news from a person you trust, you build a long and extensive transaction upon it: travel, Hajj, 'Umrah, marriage, friendship, and so on. Is there certainty? You may have dealt with a person for a long time as a righteous man, then his true nature is revealed and it becomes clear to you that he is a wicked, unrighteous man. But does this possibility cause people's transactions with one another to be suspended? The answer is no. This is what is called by the jurists "predominant probability," and it is what an authentic hadith conveys. The hadith prohibiting musical instruments is an authentic hadith, and it instills in the scholars the predominant probability that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said this hadith. Therefore, we found the four Imams of the famous Imams of Islam, and their followers to this day, acting upon the ruling of the prohibition of musical instruments in all their types and forms. Where did these Imams and those who followed them with excellence take this ruling from? From hadiths that came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), including this hadith which you first learned has a sound chain, even though it is suspended in *Sahih al-Bukhari*, and you heard its text explicitly prohibiting it. The explicitness here is taken from two indications. The first indication is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The meaning of "they make lawful" is that it is forbidden, yet they make it lawful. So this is a decisive text. This is definitive in its indication, even though it is probable in its establishment, as we mentioned. So the prohibition of musical instruments is taken from this hadith, as I said earlier, from two aspects. The first aspect is his saying (peace be upon him): The other aspect is that he paired musical instruments with prohibitions whose prohibition is known to the scholars from the Book and the Sunnah. When he (peace be upon him) said: meaning fornication. So fornication is forbidden by the consensus of the scholars based on its prohibition in the Qur'an and the hadiths, and there is no need to delve into any of these texts. meaning fornication. And the prohibition of silk is established by authentic hadiths, among which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And he paired in this hadith his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The hadiths explicitly stating the prohibition of silk are numerous and very numerous. The point is that this second indication is what is known by the jurists as the indication of association. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) paired musical instruments with these forbidden matters, which are...

The questioner : and the brothers, so that no one among the brothers has anything in their heart, and everything is by divine decree. And we say that we wished to delay so that we could hear a word fromThe Shaykh : and benefit scientifically. And it is known that this formalization is a superficial thing, something incidental to the nation. As for the Shari'ah contract, as we learned from our Shaykh, it is the offer and acceptance from both parties, and the guardian, meaning the guardian and the witnesses. So this thing is facilitated, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. It has happened by the grace of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). But this legal contract is what we are now dealing with. So no one should blame us. May Allah guide our brother and forgive him.The Shaykh : Meaning, we are now on the path to announcing the marriage in a scientific way. As for the Shari'ah contract, it took place before. Subhan Allah.

The Shaykh: It means we are now on the path to announcing the marriage in a scholarly manner, whereas the Shari'ah contract took place previously. Subhan Allah.

The questioner: So that, meaning for the sake of knowledge and the leniency of Islam, so that we benefit and learn. The brother, after we accepted him to be the husband of my daughter, with the presence of her father and the testimony of two women, the contract was made. And my son Abdullah... one witness and two women as witnesses for the man, and the contract was made easily, as it is said, "on a moonless night." So praise be to Allah for the leniency. And I told him, "I love what we learned from our Shaykh, may Allah reward you. You can decide regarding the mahr what you are able to, and I do not restrict you." On this occasion, Shaykh, I read a hadith in the book *Tuhfat al-'Aris* that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), when he asked for Fatimah from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: So we said, "Let us verify the authenticity of this hadith." And after consulting our Shaykh to benefit, if this hadith is said to be...The Shaykh : not authentic, we benefit from the fact that this hadith is not authentic, but the meaning is good.

The Shaykh: And we ask Allah to bless you all, because you facilitated the marriage and entrusted the suitor to pay whatever mahr is easy for him. This is what facilitates for the young Muslim today to realize some of the authentic hadiths that encourage marriage. The brother Abu al-Harith mentioned a hadith, and I praise him for it, which is his saying (peace be upon him): So this approach of leniency with the suitors for our daughters is what solves the knot and problem of the withdrawal and turning away of young men from marriage due to the high cost of mahr and the many expenses of preparing homes and the like. So we say, may Allah bless you and bless upon you, and unite the two of you in goodness.

The questioner : Yes, bride.

The Shaykh : The brother Sabri al-Afghani is the groom for my daughter. I mean the groom, to correct the language and not get used to common terms. He is the groom for my daughter. So he speaks before you with what his soul offers regarding the mahr, so that we do not impose an advance or a deferred portion. What does he impose on himself so that you can hear, so that we apply the Sunnah practically.

The questioner : May Allah reward our Shaykh Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Din al-Albani with all reward. And we apologize on behalf of our family for what came from our brother Fawaz. I ask for your forgiveness. This is first. And may Allah bless you in the good word that he and our brother 'Ali delivered. May Allah bless you all. We have, if Allah wills, accepted the marriage of our brother Abdullah's daughter with a mahr that we set for ourselves of one thousand dinars, if Allah wills. Also, the furniture of the house is three thousand dinars. And there is no deferred mahr. And thereby we accepted, if Allah wills, to apply the Sunnah.

The questioner: May Allah reward our Shaykh Muhammad ibn Nasir al-Din al-Albani with every reward. And we apologize on behalf of our family for what came from our brother Fawaz. I hope for your forgiveness. This is first. And may Allah reward you for the good word that he and our brother Ali delivered. May Allah reward you all. We have, if Allah wills, accepted the marriage of our brother Abdullah's daughter with a mahr that we assessed as within our means: one thousand dinars, if Allah wills. Also, the furniture for the house is three thousand dinars. And there is no deferred mahr. And thereby we have accepted, if Allah wills, the application of the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. You presented this as a gift, meaning with a generous heart. May Allah reward you.

The questioner : Ibn al-Qayyim said that the other half of taqwa (mindfulness of Allah) is the tongue.

The Shaykh : No, it is not.

The questioner : He cited this as evidence regarding the people.

The Shaykh : No, it is broader than that. I do not know if Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned anything of this, but without a doubt, the second half is broader than that. What were we discussing regarding the hadith?
We said that the indication of the hadith regarding the prohibition of musical instruments is from two aspects. The first aspect is his statement "they make lawful," and the second aspect is the indication of association. The jurists say that the indication of association is not strong, and this is correct. However, when it comes in a context like this, which contains the first explicit indication, the indication of association takes on strength. So, his statement, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, meaning zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), meaning local silk, these three matters are definitively forbidden because the hadiths regarding zina, we said, are supported by the Qur'an, and the prohibition of silk is by hadiths whose total reaches the level of tawatur (mass transmission). As for the prohibition of khamr (intoxicants), you know that it is forbidden by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. These three things, whose prohibition is definitive, were associated with the prohibition of musical instruments. Therefore, it is not permissible to say that there is no text in the Shari'ah that forbids musical instruments. And unfortunately, some Islamic writers today say there is no definitive evidence for the prohibition of musical instruments. We say, if you mean definitive in the technical juristic sense, this is not necessary, because many matters are forbidden and their indication is not definitive in the sense of being certain in establishment and certain in indication. With this, I wanted to draw attention to support what our brother Abu al-Harith mentioned earlier, that what is practiced today in many wedding ceremonies is bringing in a musical band. This is among the forbidden things that the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, informed us would occur in this Ummah (the Muslim community). So every Muslim should take a lesson from this hadith. If he has a marriage contract for someone he is responsible for, it is not permissible for him to allow beating on musical instruments or any of these instruments at all, except beating on the duff (the hand drum) only, and only by women, due to his statement, peace and blessings be upon him, So beating on the duff, as you heard, is specific to women and not men. As for musical instruments other than the duff, from the instruments of entertainment, they fall under the generality of this hadith So all musical instruments are forbidden at all times. The only exception is the duff in weddings and in the festivals only, due to the hadith of Aisha in *the two Sahihs* (al-Bukhari and Muslim) when Abu Bakr al-Siddiq entered upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, while he was lying down, and there were two slave girls singing with the singing of Ba'ath. So Abu Bakr said, "Is there a flute of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family?" So the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, raised his head and said So if the duff is the only thing excepted from musical instruments, and beating on the duff is excepted from all days of the year only on the occasion of a wedding, the marriage contract, and on the occasion of two festivals only, which are 'Id al-Fitr (the festival at the end of Ramadan) and 'Id al-Adha (the festival of sacrifice), there is nothing beyond that in terms of exceptions. And now, since we have reached the middle of the night, we seek permission from our brother Abu 'Abdullah to leave, if Allah wills, and we leave the matter to Abu 'Abdullah to look into it, if Allah wills, and to grant us permission to leave.