Is it prescribed for women to play the hand drum only on the festival and at the wedding?

The questioner : Is it permissible for men to play the hand drum?

The Shaykh: No.

The questioner : Are there any other occasions besides marriage on which the hand drum is played in Islam?

The Shaykh : Only on the festival. There is nothing but marriage and the festival. Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked Abu Bakr al-Siddiq when Abu Bakr entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on a festival day, and he was lying down, i.e., covered, and there were two slave girls singing and playing the hand drum for him. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq entered, and when he heard the sound of the hand drum in the house of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he said, with a tone of disapproval, "Is this the flute of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head and said: . Therefore, the scholars said that playing the hand drum is permissible at weddings based on his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. It is also permissible on the festival based on the hadith of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. This is because Abu Bakr was excused in his disapproval of the two slave girls playing the hand drum, because the default ruling is that playing the hand drum is among the entertainments whose practice is forbidden forever, as indicated by the general texts of the Islamic Shari'ah. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) had learned from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), among other things, the prohibition of entertainments. Therefore, when he entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and heard the two slave girls playing the hand drum, he applied the previous knowledge that this is among the entertainments that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had forbidden. However, after Abu Bakr al-Siddiq learned that the Wise Lawgiver had made an exception to the entertainments forbidden forever, namely the hand drum, not only at the wedding but also on the festival day, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq had not known this before. It is covered with leather on one side only, and it does not have the round metal piece that gives an additional tone to the natural sound of playing this hand drum. This is the only type, no more.