The ruling on what is called religious songs.

The questioner : What is the ruling on singing in Islam?

The Shaykh : Singing in Islam?

The questioner : Without the hand drum, of course.

The Shaykh : Do you mean singing, or do you mean religious songs?

The questioner : Religious songs.

The Shaykh : Therefore, there is a difference between singing.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. May Allah bless you.

The questioner : What does the ruling of the religion mean regarding this method that the brothers programmed? The brothers from Saudi Arabia tasked me with this.

The questioner : ... ambulances and such.

The Shaykh : How is this question related to his question?

The questioner : No, the brother finished and withdrew his question.

The Shaykh : He did not finish.

The questioner : This is a new question.

The questioner : I asked him, and he told me he withdrew it.

The Shaykh : He withdrew it?

The questioner : He withdrew it. This is a new question.

The questioner : I asked him, and he said he withdrew it.

The Shaykh : What is your question?

The questioner : What is the ruling of Islam regarding religious songs?

The Shaykh : There are no religious songs in Islam.

The questioner : You mean they are forbidden?

The Shaykh : There are no religious songs in Islam, and that is because there was nothing of this kind in the era of the Salaf: songs that they would sing in gatherings that were religious gatherings, not gatherings for play, entertainment, or the like. This is what points to this, and it is what prompted me to clarify your question when you first said "songs" and then later said to me, "Your question is about songs, or religious songs?" I said "religious songs" because this question, which is repeated today and raised in the arena, was not known to the righteous Salaf, who are attested to as the best generation. Religious songs, and this, of course, when we say this, it is not permissible; rather, we are proceeding from observing a very important Salafi rule, which is what some scholars say about the well-known poetry: "And all good is in following those who came before, and all evil is in the innovation of those who came after." And if we distinguish between religious songs and songs in general, that is because songs in general are permissible and contain nothing wrong, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: But when we move from the topic of songs to religious songs, and especially since it may include describing the Messenger (peace be upon him) with what is not correct, or describing him with what he should not be described with, because that is not part of his perfection. For example, in Damascus, we had mawlid celebrations, and what remains in my memory from them, due to the passage of time, is their saying, which is both funny and sad at the same time: "His mother carried him for nine lunar months, what Allah willed. What is this great praise for this noble Prophet, that his mother carried him for nine lunar months, and everyone is like this except for a few."

The questioner : More.

The Shaykh : What is more?

The questioner : More than nine months.

The Shaykh : Never mind, the point is that this contains no praise for the Messenger (peace be upon him) that they aim for. Then they mention in this mawlid and others that he was born circumcised and joyful, and this is a lie and not true. So if religious songs contain such matters, their enormity is doubled. In some songs here, women sing them, unfortunately. It is enough for me if I can memorize a verse or a hadith, but as for memorizing a line of poetry, and some of it may be disbelief, perhaps you have heard it and memorized it more than I have. The world is in me, and I do not know what you will not hear like this?

The questioner : No, by Allah.

The questioner : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : Abu Ahmad.

The Shaykh : Abu Ahmad.

The questioner : Oh God ... .

The Shaykh : Correct, where are you? ... My lord, this was a man in that state of ours, one of our brothers, who was a Sufi deeply immersed in it. Allah the Exalted and Glorious saved him.

The questioner : He says, "We are proud by Allah the Exalted *** And the beloved who is close
Whoever wants to humble us *** From near or far
Our sword has a word, our saying *** Allah and the Prophet are sufficient for us."

The questioner: Allahu Akbar.

The Shaykh : Ah, Allah and the Prophet are sufficient for us.

The questioner : All will perish, and the One who remains is Alive.

The Shaykh : And the One who remains is Alive.

The questioner : That is what they say in it.

The Shaykh : Ah, and "the world is in me" is a reference to the most wicked of beliefs, which is the unity of existence. "The world is in imagination," meaning that as for the truth, as the extreme Sufis say, everything you see with your eye is Allah. The witness, if it is empty, and rarely are the poems they call today religious poems or religious songs empty of such exaggerations and lies. And if so, their enormity comes from the fact that the righteous Salaf did not know them. If an enormity in their meaning is added to this, it is a second darkness. And a third and fourth darkness may be associated with them. As for the third, its association has begun to appear in some Arab countries, even in Saudi Arabia, and that is that the hand drum is associated with them: religious songs associated with the hand drum. Then, in the meter of the songs, what do we call them? The obscene ones.

The questioner : Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, and I remember well, I think in the last Ramadan 'Umrah, I met with some female university students who were fully veiled in the complete hijab because they are Saudi. And among their questions was this question, and it was associated with beating the hand drum in the songs. And they brought a printed bulletin issued by some doctors who are guiding these girls at the university there, objecting to the story of the woman beating the hand drum on the head of the Messenger (peace be upon him). So we told them and explained the issue to them in a long explanation, but the point for now is that this darkness, I do not know if it is the third or the fourth, is the association of beating the hand drum in religious songs. My brothers, how can religion and the hand drum come together? This is in the name of religion, they introduced the instrument of pleasure, which is the hand drum. And the fifth darkness, and I hope it is the last, is that we have felt that some of the youth have become accustomed to and their desire is to listen to these songs, and they no longer care about listening to the Qur'an and the hadiths and the radio broadcasts that broadcast sermons and jurisprudence and the like. These are calamities And therefore, every Muslim youth should engrave, as it is said, in the depths of his heart that all good is in following and all evil is in innovation. As long as the Companions did not know this thing, we do not recognize it. And even if some people, or at least some people, suppose that there is good in it, as they claim, we, for example, deny in this present age the Tabligh group that they go out, they claim for da'wah, although we know that many of them are good-hearted. And what is sad is that they begin their words with a phrase that they wish they had applied. Who knows it?

The questioner : That our prosperity and success.

The Shaykh : Our prosperity and success by what?

The questioner : By the command of Allah.

The Shaykh : They do not know the commands of Allah or the commands of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, this is just a meeting of a Hanafi, a Shafi'i, one following a method different from the other's; there is no bond among them that unites them. Meanwhile, this title with which they begin their words is the unifying factor; it is the unifier for them. But how can it unite them when they know nothing of the Sunnah at all? Therefore, you find that religious innovations are widespread among them, and you may find from them every day an innovation that differs from the previous one. As for the innovation that has become a "Sunnah" for them, and they defend it with all the ignorance they can muster, it is this collective going out. It is said in the path of Allah: "Sit in the mosques and learn to read the Qur'an." One of them leads the people in prayer but does not know how to recite Surat al-Fatihah, let alone know the rulings that validate or invalidate the prayer, or those that require... or similar matters. Learn the Arabic language. They take the book *Riyad al-Salihin* and read from it a chapter that they do not know how to read properly. Then, even if they read it, they cannot say a single word from which the people would benefit. Perhaps he reads the hadith and does not understand it, because the group has not taken the path that leads to the goal. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So these people do not seek knowledge. But what is their answer? Here is the point: they will tell you that many people used not to pray, and now they pray. We do not deny this. Many people used not to pray, they joined the group, and now they pray. This is true. Why? Because people are good-hearted, but their desires and occupations divert them. However, if you see them with people whose outward appearance is righteousness and piety, they walk with them. But they are walking with them like sheep behind a shepherd. Do they think he is leading them to the pasture or to the slaughterhouse? They do not think about this at all. Therefore, all good is in following, and all evil is in innovation. I intended this example to show that it is not enough for us to see a benefit in it and, because of this benefit, justify this religious innovation. This is because a person does not know the consequences; only the Knower of the Unseen knows them. And therefore, the Lord of the Worlds, on the tongue of His noble Prophet, closed the door of innovation in the religion, saying: And therefore, out of their ignorance, when it is said to them, "How do you go out like this, my brother? People in the dozens, if not in the twenties..." they will say, "The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send the Companions." Well, I will tell you, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to send ten of the Companions in the path of calling people and teaching them. He sent Mu'adh alone. He sent Abu Musa alone. He sent the Trustworthy One of the Ummah, Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, to Bahrain alone, and so on. Because they were scholars. But as for sending imams with these groups, what is the benefit? They argue with things that are actually an argument against them. We say to them: Sit in the mosques and learn knowledge. When one of you learns something and feels that he has become qualified for da'wah, he may travel around the lands, strive, enter mosques, and enter communities. But they do not do that. And the reason is that Satan is sitting in the path of the person, making the path of good difficult for him and making the path of evil easy for him. Seeking knowledge requires, as you all know, jihad. And therefore he said: ... This is a long matter, and a long one that few can be patient with. But "Let's go out for three days every month," they will go out. But to what? They do not know. They are told to listen, right or wrong, they do not know. Because their leader, the one who leads them, has no knowledge of this. So if we find a benefit in some of the anthems that are recited in some gatherings, this does not mean that this is good. Because the matter is as the scholars also said regarding every innovation that is put forward: if it were good, they would have preceded us to it. This is my statement regarding educational anthems. Is that all?