The Shaykh’s remarks on the reason that prompted him to author his treatise, “The Prohibition of Musical Instruments.”

The Shaykh : ... thirty-nine years.

The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!

The Shaykh : In refuting Ibn Hazm, who permitted musical instruments, in a draft that I have.

The questioner : It has not been printed.

The Shaykh : It has not been printed, and it is written on paper, so we praise Allah for the state we were in at that time, a state of extreme poverty, and the treatise was written on the kind of paper they use for wrapping.

The questioner : It is known.

Another questioner : Strange!

The Shaykh : Ah, a smooth side and a rough side. Exactly thirty-nine years ago, I authored this treatise, and there was an occasion for it. It was “Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun” magazine, which was published in Cairo since the time of “Hassan Al-Banna” (may Allah have mercy on him). The truth is that the magazine represented, so to speak, the methodology of the Muslim Brotherhood in dealing with jurisprudential issues, especially those with which the present age has been afflicted. Glory be to Allah; they are still on the same methodology, even though it is supposed that “Hassan Al-Banna” was better than those who inherited his party.

The questioner: Correct.

The Shaykh : The important thing is that in one of the early issues, I think number seventeen, they published a question from a young Egyptian who said: I am a young, religious Muslim, they even put it in quotation marks: , but I like listening to music and musical instruments, even though I have memorized so many parts of the Qur'an; is that permissible for me or not? They referred the question to the Shaykh “Muhammad Abu Zahra.” Oh Professor, I do not believe that an Al-Azhar scholar, as you know from our view of Al-Azhar and the scholars of Al-Azhar, except for whom Allah has protected, would utter such words. I cannot imagine that he would say such things; very, very weak words.
Abu Malik: The words of jurists.

The Shaykh : Oh, if only!
Abu Malik: The words of jurists, meaning the rationalists.

The Shaykh : If you said “those who study jurisprudence,” that would be closer to the reality. Glory be to Allah; because the jurists, oh Professor, are in consensus on the prohibition of musical instruments.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : They do not exclude from this except the hand drum on the day of the festival and on the day of a wedding, and some of them may include the drum, for example, in war; even though we see this as contrary to the Sunnah, contrary to the Qur'an. The important thing is that this is not something said by an imam of the four imams of the Muslims, or the forty, or the four hundred. It is something they say in Syria: “nonsense and fabrication,” it has no measure at all. The important thing is what does he say? He says: I do not find in the Shari'ah anything that prevents listening to singing, and from that the hand drum, and music is included with that, on the condition that it does not arouse the sexual instinct. Then he rambled on and said: When the Muslims connected with Persia, and types of music entered the Muslim community, some of them were inclined to listen, and some were not inclined. The issue is, so to speak, inclination!

The questioner : Personal.

The Shaykh : Personal or individual.

The questioner : Nature, nature.

The Shaykh : Yes, it has no relation to religion. When I read this fatwa, I was moved to refute it; this was thirty-nine years ago. Then, after a year or so—this is mentioned in the introduction—some of our brothers brought to my attention “The Collection of Treatises of Ibn Hazm,” and in it is “A Treatise on the Permissibility of Amusements.” He, meaning Ibn Hazm, addressed this topic in his book “Al-Muhalla” with some detail, and there he mentioned about ten hadiths and weakened them all. Then, as is known about Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him),

The questioner : ... of the figurative interpretation of the Qur'an ... .

The Shaykh : ... to an extreme, very dangerous degree, so he ruled them to be fabricated; even though the transmission of hadith does not reach the point where one can say that a hadith is fabricated, but rather that it is weak.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So I was moved to refute Ibn Hazm as well, in large pages, the important thing is the treatise is not organized, I do not care about it.
Abu Malik: Our Shaykh, this is the time for its wedding.

The Shaykh : Did we not say earlier: If Allah wills a matter, He prepares its causes. We began months ago to reprint the first volume of “Silsilat Al-Ahadith As-Sahihah.”

The questioner : What Allah willed!

The Shaykh : And in it, with number , is the hadith of al-Bukhari: . This hadith is among the hadiths in which this man refuted me; we ask for his guidance, or that Allah break his back.

The questioner: Amen.

The Shaykh : “Ibn Abd Al-Mannan” this one; he wrote an article in “Al-Rabita” newspaper.
Abu Malik: Or “Al-Sabil.”

The Shaykh : No, after that it became “Sabil.”

The questioner : In that time, oh Shaykh.

The Shaykh : At the beginning.

The questioner : A Jordanian magazine.

The Shaykh : Soon, yes, an article in about three long columns about this hadith in weakening it, and he came here with wonders of concealing knowledge and claiming what he has no knowledge of, and the like. I said to myself: We must refute him, but the book had been printed. When I looked at the article, the book had already been printed, so I made corrections at the end of this volume, which is currently under printing, and I refuted the man with some detail in several pages.
I said: Then why should I not seize this opportunity and review the treatise, and link it to this reality, and publish it to the people? And I am now in this regard.
Abu Malik: Praise be to Allah.

The Shaykh : I mean, I clarified the treatise, and I have only finished the first chapter, which is specifically about listing the authentic hadiths from those hadiths that “Ibn Hazm” weakened; because he cited about ten hadiths and weakened them all, including the hadith of al-Bukhari. And there is no room now, due to the shortness of time, to explain the error of “Ibn Hazm” in weakening the hadith.
Likewise, his imitator “Ibn Abd Al-Mannan.” But the point is, I have finished the first chapter in listing these hadiths and tracing them to their sources with some scientific detail. And I am in this regard—and here is the point—we come upon a treatise authored by me here, from the year one thousand four hundred and seven, in refuting Al-Ghamari, who authored a treatise on authenticating the hadith: , which they raised.

The questioner : Our companion.

The Shaykh : “Al-Tahhan,” by Allah—may Allah reward him with good—our brother “AliAl-Halabi : reminded me, he said to me: Oh Shaykh, this is its occasion now, review the treatise, and in the introduction refute this “Al-Tahhan” and publish it. I said: By Allah, you are right, if Allah wills, after I finish “The Treatise on Amusements” and the refutation of Ibn Hazm, we will begin with that and publish it, if Allah wills. This is what I wanted to ... .