How authentic are the poems "Bānat Su'ād" and "Ṭala'a al-Badr 'Alaynā," and what are the regulations regarding anthems?
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The questioner : ... Ṭala'a al-Badr 'Alaynā.
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : What is the answer, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : First, your statement implies something in your mind; I think it is a limited expression.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : Because it suggests something in your mind about me or about what you heard from me, and it appears from your question that this is not your intention.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is your intention.
The questioner : No, that is not my intention.
The Shaykh : Well, if that is the case, then you should have qualified your statement to avoid ambiguity. It is clear.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Now, as for the answer to what you mentioned: what is between the narration of "Bānat Su'ād" and "Ṭala'a al-Badr 'Alaynā" is authentic, but the two ends are not authentic.
The questioner : What do you mean by the two ends?
The Shaykh : The first end, "Bānat Su'ād," from the reports and hadiths you mentioned.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The first end, I mentioned first "Bānat Su'ād."
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the last thing, "Ṭala'a al-Badr."
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : These two ends, the first and the last, are not authentic from the perspective of hadith.
As for what is between them, it is all authentic. This is answer number one.
As for answer number two: Do these texts you mentioned, both the authentic and the inauthentic ones, indicate that they were Islamic anthems and that they would sing them in their group gatherings and that they would place them in the position of reciting the Noble Qur'an, about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So the people today have abandoned the Qur'an and turned away from its recitation, and they have occupied their times and their leisure with what they call Islamic anthems. Is this clear up to here, and the speech has a continuation?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Do I say it is clear?
The questioner : It is clear up to here.
The Shaykh : Now, as for the continuation: It is well known in Islamic jurisprudence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), let alone those below him, if he did something rarely and infrequently, it is not from the Shari'ah for the Muslim to persist in doing it. Perhaps you know that some of the early Imams, like Imam Malik for example, would refrain from sacrificing on the Festival of Sacrifice for fear that people would understand from his persistence in this sacrifice that it is obligatory. That is how he was; he considered it not obligatory, while others, like the Hanafis, consider it obligatory. But the point is that he knew that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to sacrifice in every Festival of Sacrifice, yet out of fear that people would elevate this ruling to above what the Lawgiver legislated, he would leave it. Similarly, the Hanafis stated in their books that the Sunnah is to recite Surat al-Sajdah on Friday. They said: "But the Imams should sometimes leave it out so that it does not settle in the minds of the common people that it is obligatory and not permissible to leave it," and so on, with many, many examples. So these evidences I mentioned, of both types, the authentic and the weak, indicate the permissibility for the Muslim to sometimes sing with what was permissible to utter by Shari'ah. As for making that his constant habit and his daily routine, that is extremism in religion and introducing into religion what is not part of it.
Therefore, these evidences do not indicate what has become widespread in this time of naming many, many anthems as Islamic anthems. All this is said if we assume that these anthems do not contain anything that explicitly contradicts the Shari'ah. From that, for example, they have permitted beating the hand drum in them. Perhaps you have heard something of that?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, and in some of them there are words that are not permissible for a Muslim to utter in his ordinary speech, so how much more so to sing them? This is the summary of what comes to my mind in answer to what was in your mind regarding the issue, and not regarding me personally. May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Ah.
The questioner : What is the answer, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : First, your statement implies something in your mind; I think it is a limited expression.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : Because it suggests something in your mind about me or about what you heard from me, and it appears from your question that this is not your intention.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is your intention.
The questioner : No, that is not my intention.
The Shaykh : Well, if that is the case, then you should have qualified your statement to avoid ambiguity. It is clear.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Now, as for the answer to what you mentioned: what is between the narration of "Bānat Su'ād" and "Ṭala'a al-Badr 'Alaynā" is authentic, but the two ends are not authentic.
The questioner : What do you mean by the two ends?
The Shaykh : The first end, "Bānat Su'ād," from the reports and hadiths you mentioned.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The first end, I mentioned first "Bānat Su'ād."
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the last thing, "Ṭala'a al-Badr."
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : These two ends, the first and the last, are not authentic from the perspective of hadith.
As for what is between them, it is all authentic. This is answer number one.
As for answer number two: Do these texts you mentioned, both the authentic and the inauthentic ones, indicate that they were Islamic anthems and that they would sing them in their group gatherings and that they would place them in the position of reciting the Noble Qur'an, about which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Keep this Qur'an in mind and sing with it. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, it is more likely to slip from the hearts of men than a camel from its tether.
تعاهدوا هذا القرآن وتغنوا به فو الذي نفس محمد بيده إنه أشد تفلتا من صدور الرجال من عقلهاThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Do I say it is clear?
The questioner : It is clear up to here.
The Shaykh : Now, as for the continuation: It is well known in Islamic jurisprudence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), let alone those below him, if he did something rarely and infrequently, it is not from the Shari'ah for the Muslim to persist in doing it. Perhaps you know that some of the early Imams, like Imam Malik for example, would refrain from sacrificing on the Festival of Sacrifice for fear that people would understand from his persistence in this sacrifice that it is obligatory. That is how he was; he considered it not obligatory, while others, like the Hanafis, consider it obligatory. But the point is that he knew that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to sacrifice in every Festival of Sacrifice, yet out of fear that people would elevate this ruling to above what the Lawgiver legislated, he would leave it. Similarly, the Hanafis stated in their books that the Sunnah is to recite Surat al-Sajdah on Friday. They said: "But the Imams should sometimes leave it out so that it does not settle in the minds of the common people that it is obligatory and not permissible to leave it," and so on, with many, many examples. So these evidences I mentioned, of both types, the authentic and the weak, indicate the permissibility for the Muslim to sometimes sing with what was permissible to utter by Shari'ah. As for making that his constant habit and his daily routine, that is extremism in religion and introducing into religion what is not part of it.
Therefore, these evidences do not indicate what has become widespread in this time of naming many, many anthems as Islamic anthems. All this is said if we assume that these anthems do not contain anything that explicitly contradicts the Shari'ah. From that, for example, they have permitted beating the hand drum in them. Perhaps you have heard something of that?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Ah, and in some of them there are words that are not permissible for a Muslim to utter in his ordinary speech, so how much more so to sing them? This is the summary of what comes to my mind in answer to what was in your mind regarding the issue, and not regarding me personally. May Allah reward you.