Question

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَ بَرَكَاتُه

I would just like to enquire regarding certain nasheeds which say that they have “no music” however, they are vocal sounds made and played with which may make it sound like music, is it permissible to listen to this.

Below is a link with an example of a nasheed that has no music but behind the voice you can hear short bursts of vocals is this permissible?

Answer

In Islam using musical instruments for entertainment in a manner which impacts the emotional state of a person is impermissible. Many times we see that nasheeds which claim to not have music also have the same impact on a person due to similar sounds being created. The only difference is that the sounds are created from the mouth as opposed to from an instrument. This difference would not render creating and listening to those sounds permissible.

Hence, in response to your question, if the sounds being produced just resemble sounds from musical instruments then we would consider that to be impermissible and it would be impermissible to listen to those nasheeds.

البحر الرائق شرح كنز الدقائق ومنحة الخالق وتكملة الطوري (7/ 88)
وَفِي الْمِعْرَاجِ الْمَلَاهِي نَوْعَانِ مُحَرَّمٌ وَهُوَ الْآلَاتُ الْمُطْرِبَةُ مِنْ غَيْرِ الْغِنَاءِ كَالْمِزْمَارِ سَوَاءٌ كَانَ مِنْ عُودٍ أَوْ قَصَبٍ كَالشَّبَّابَةِ أَوْ غَيْرِهِ كَالْعُودِ وَالطُّنْبُورِ لِمَا رَوَى أَبُو أُمَامَةَ أَنَّهُ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – قَالَ «إنَّ اللَّهَ بَعَثَنِي رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ وَأَمَرَنِي بِمَحْقِ الْمَعَازِفِ وَالْمَزَامِيرِ» وَلِأَنَّهُ مُطْرِبٌ مُصِدٌّ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَالنَّوْعُ الثَّانِي مُبَاحٌ وَهُوَ الدُّفُّ فِي النِّكَاحِ وَفِي مَعْنَاهُ مَا كَانَ مِنْ حَادِثِ سُرُورٍ وَيُكْرَهُ فِي غَيْرِهِ لِمَا رُوِيَ عَنْ عُمَرَ – رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ – أَنَّهُ لَمَّا سَمِعَ صَوْتَ الدُّفِّ بَعَثَ فَنَظَرَ فَإِنْ كَانَ فِي وَلِيمَةٍ سَكَتَ وَإِنْ كَانَ فِي غَيْرِهِ عَمَدَهُ بِالدِّرَّةِ وَهُوَ مَكْرُوهٌ لِلرِّجَالِ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ لِلتَّشَبُّهِ بِالنِّسَاءِ اهـ.
وَنَقَلَهُ فِي فَتْحِ الْقَدِيرِ وَلَمْ يَتَعَقَّبْهُ وَنَقَلَ الْبَزَّازِيُّ فِي الْمَنَاقِبِ الْإِجْمَاعَ عَلَى حُرْمَةِ الْغِنَاءِ إذَا كَانَ عَلَى آلَةٍ كَالْعُودِ، وَأَمَّا إذَا كَانَ بِغَيْرِهَا فَقَدْ عَلِمْت الِاخْتِلَافَ وَلَمْ يُصَرِّحْ الشَّارِحُونَ بِالْمَذْهَبِ وَفِي الْبِنَايَةِ وَالْعِنَايَةِ التَّغَنِّي لِلَّهْوِ مَعْصِيَةٌ فِي جَمِيعِ الْأَدْيَانِ قَالَ فِي الزِّيَادَاتِ إذَا أَوْصَى بِمَا هُوَ مَعْصِيَةٌ عِنْدَنَا وَعِنْدَ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَذَكَرَ مِنْهَا الْوَصِيَّةَ لِلْمُغَنِّيِينَ وَالْمُغَنِّيَاتِ خُصُوصًا إذَا كَانَ مِنْ الْمَرْأَةِ اهـ.

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel