The Ruling on Listening to Singing and Instruments of Amusement

Question:
One of the brothers brought a clipping from one of the daily newspapers, and in its corner, in the section for fatwas, it was written: What is the ruling in Islam regarding listening to music? Is listening to it, or teaching it, lawful or forbidden? The answer was: Man is emotional by nature, and the heavenly laws do not kill the instincts in man, nor do they extinguish his emotions, but their role in this regard is to hold the reins and limit the impulsiveness that causes a man to exceed the proper limit. He continued speaking on this topic until he said: And listening to music in this manner is permissible, and it is prescribed, taking into account what the Sunnah reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a group of people playing the hand drum, playing music, and singing songs on the occasion of a wedding, and 'Umar was with him. When 'Umar wanted to stop them, he said—may the prayers of Allah be upon him: Leave them, for this distinguishes between marriage and fornication. What is your opinion, Your Eminence?

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon whoever follows his guidance. As for what follows:
There is no doubt that this fatwa is an error on the part of its issuer, and there is no doubt that listening to music and instruments of amusement is from what is wrong. Some of the scholars have reported the consensus of the scholars that listening to singing and instruments of amusement, when they are combined, is from the forbidden things by consensus.
The Sunnah has indicated that musical instruments are among the forbidden things that people will consider lawful in the last of time. It is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: meaning in the last of time. Al-Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih as a suspended hadith with a definitive ending. Al-Hurr is the forbidden private part, meaning: fornication. Khamr is well known. Al-Ma'azif are instruments of amusement. Al-Harir is well known, forbidden for men other than women. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that there will be people in the last of time who consider this and that lawful, who consider fornication lawful, who consider wearing silk lawful for men, who consider khamr lawful, and who consider musical instruments lawful, which are singing and instruments of amusement. And there is no doubt that music is from the instruments of amusement and from the singers.
What the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made lawful is what pertains to women in weddings, ordinary singing that does not lead to corruption; rather, it is the singing of people among themselves with the hand drum for women in weddings, or by young slave girls on festivals. This is what came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as being lawful, but not for men.
And the intended meaning: is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) also made it lawful for the Abyssinians to play in the mosque with weapons, with shields, swords, and spears that are thrown, and the like of that, by way of training for war and instruments of amusement. And when 'Umar wanted to disapprove of that, he said: And in the story of the slave girls: .
So the intended meaning is that training with weapons of war, such as weapons, throwing shields, and defending against swords and shields, and the like of that; this is from the matters required by the Shari'ah for preparation for fighting, readiness for fighting, and training with weapons of war in the mosque and elsewhere.
As for listening to instruments of amusement, such as music, the 'ud, the violin, or other types of instruments of amusement, there is no doubt that this is wrong, and it is from the causes of the weakness of faith, and from the causes of the death of jealousy in the hearts. And there is no doubt that what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made lawful is only something pertaining to women and weddings, so that the difference between fornication and marriage is known. Fornication occurs through seclusion and lewd acts, while marriage occurs openly, with the hand drum for women, and ordinary singing for women, not in what pertains to songs that call to lewd acts, wrongs, khamr, and the like. And Allah is the One to be sought for help.