The Ruling on Listening to Songs

Q: What is the ruling on listening to songs?
There is no doubt that listening to songs is forbidden. This is because it leads to many sins, various trials, and to love, falling into unlawful sexual intercourse, lewd acts, and sodomy. It also leads to other sins such as drinking intoxicants, gambling, and keeping the company of evildoers. It may even lead to associating partners with Allah and disbelief in Allah, depending on the nature of the singing and the differences in its types. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says in His great Book: And when Our verses are recited to him, he turns away in arrogance, as if he had not heard them, as if there were deafness in his ears. So give him tidings of a painful punishment [Luqman: 6-7].
Thus, He (Glorified and Exalted is He) informed that some people buy idle talk in order to mislead from the path of Allah. It is read "li-yudilla" with a dammah on the ya, and it is read "li-yudilla" with a fathah on the ya and a kasrah on the dad in both cases. The lam is for causation, and the meaning is that by engaging in and taking idle talk—which is singing—as a substitute, it leads him to mislead himself and mislead others. He is misled by the hardness and sickness that occur in his heart, so he strays from the truth due to his laxity regarding the sins of Allah and his direct engagement in them, and his abandonment of some of what Allah has made obligatory upon him, such as abandoning prayer in congregation, abandoning dutifulness to parents, and such as gambling and inclining toward unlawful sexual intercourse, lewd acts, and sodomy, among other things that may occur due to songs.
Most of the exegetes said: (The meaning of *lahw al-hadith* in the verse is singing). And a group of others said: (Every reprehensible sound from the sounds of entertainment is included in that, such as the flute, the *rubab*, the *'ud*, the violin, and the like, and all of this diverts from the path of Allah and causes misguidance and leading astray). And it is established from 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) the noble Companion, one of the scholars of the Companions that he said in interpreting the verse: It is, by Allah, singing, and he said that it causes hypocrisy to grow in the heart just as water causes herbs to grow. And the verse indicates this meaning, for Allah said: [Luqman: 6] meaning: it blinds him to the path like a drunkard, because singing intoxicates the hearts and leads to following desires and falsehood, so one becomes blind to the truth if he becomes accustomed to it, until he falls into falsehood without being aware of the cause, due to his preoccupation with singing, and his heart being filled with it, and his inclination toward falsehood, and toward the love of so-and-so and so-and-so, and toward the companionship of so-and-so and so-and-so, and the friendship of so-and-so and so-and-so. Its meaning is: taking the path of Allah in mockery. And the path of Allah is His religion, and the word "path" is mentioned in both masculine and feminine forms. So singing and amusement lead to taking the path of Allah as amusement and play, and a lack of concern for it. And when the Qur'an is recited to him, he turns away and is arrogant, and hearing it is heavy for him; because he has become accustomed to hearing singing and instruments of entertainment, so hearing the Qur'an is heavy for him and he does not find comfort in hearing it, and this is among the immediate punishments.
So it is obligatory for the believer to beware of that, and likewise every believing woman should beware of that. There are many hadiths in this meaning, all of which indicate the prohibition of singing and instruments of amusement and pleasure, and that they are a means to much evil and dire consequences. The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) elaborated in his book [Ighathat al-Lahfan] on the ruling of songs and instruments of amusement. So whoever wants more benefit should refer to it, for it is very beneficial. And Allah is the One to be asked for help, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.