I have a friend who loves poetry and writes it, and he asked me whether poetry is forbidden in Islam, having read the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And the poets, the lost ones follow them.”
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The questioner : This is a questioner who sent this message and did not mention his name here. He says: “May the Shaykh be honored, I have a friend who loves poetry and writes it, and he asked me whether poetry is forbidden in Islam, having read the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: [Ash-Shu'ara 26:224] What is your opinion on this? Please inform us. May Allah reward you with good?”
The Shaykh : Poetry, its good is good and its bad is bad. There is nothing wrong with a person being a poet if he composes useful matters, such as composing the Islamic legal sciences and the Arabic sciences that support them, as well as the science of the oneness of Allah.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Here is “Al-Kafiyyah al-Shafiyyah fi 'Aqidat al-Firqah al-Najiyyah”, which is the poem of Ibn al-Qayyim, entirely in verse, and it is on the oneness of Allah. And here is Ibn 'Abd al-Qawi (may Allah have mercy on him), who had a long poem on the rhyme of the letter dāl on jurisprudence, reaching approximately fourteen thousand verses, and scholars continue to do this. As for the dislike of poetry by citing the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Ash-Shu'ara 26:224], we say: read the verses until you complete them, and the matter will become clear to you: [Ash-Shu'ara 26:224-227] So Allah the Mighty and Majestic excepted from the poets those who believed and did righteous deeds, and He made it clear that the lost ones follow the poets and that they wander in every valley. If a person is not of this description, then there is nothing wrong with him. And here is Hassan ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) reciting poetry in the mosque of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
And the poets - [only] the deviators follow them;
وَالشُّعَراءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الغاوونَThe Shaykh : Poetry, its good is good and its bad is bad. There is nothing wrong with a person being a poet if he composes useful matters, such as composing the Islamic legal sciences and the Arabic sciences that support them, as well as the science of the oneness of Allah.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Here is “Al-Kafiyyah al-Shafiyyah fi 'Aqidat al-Firqah al-Najiyyah”, which is the poem of Ibn al-Qayyim, entirely in verse, and it is on the oneness of Allah. And here is Ibn 'Abd al-Qawi (may Allah have mercy on him), who had a long poem on the rhyme of the letter dāl on jurisprudence, reaching approximately fourteen thousand verses, and scholars continue to do this. As for the dislike of poetry by citing the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And the poets - [only] the deviators follow them;
وَالشُّعَراءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الغاوونَ(224) And the poets - [only] the deviators follow them; (225) Do you not see that in every valley they roam (226) And that they say what they do not do? - (227) Except those [poets] who believe and do righteous deeds and remember Allah often and defend [the Muslims] after they were wronged.
وَالشُّعَراءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الغاوونَ * أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّهُم في كُلِّ وادٍ يَهيمونَ * وَأَنَّهُم يَقولونَ ما لا يَفعَلونَ * إِلَّا الَّذينَ ءامَنوا وَعَمِلُوا الصّالِحاتِ وَذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ كَثيرًا وَانتَصَروا مِن بَعدِ ما ظُلِمواThe questioner : May Allah bless you.