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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm, Alhamdulillāhi Rabbil ‘Alāmīn, Wa salātu wa salāmu ‘alā ashrafil anbiyā’ wal mursalīn, Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh ṣallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Tasliman kathīr, Fahm ābādun. The question is: first of all, is music haram or not? Second, if it is haram, then seeing it used in content creation, advertising, and different contexts by Muslims and Muslim content creators—is this correct? If it is incorrect, is it a sin? And if it is a sin, does the punishment carry on for as long as that thing remains?
Alhamdulillah, Jazākallahu khair for the very good question. First of all, we have to understand that music is haram. Rasulullah ṣallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam made it haram. Allah subḥānahu wa ta’ālā made it haram. We have clear evidence (Zar) in the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
Especially, Nabi ṣallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam prohibited string and wind instruments.
Therefore, when you say “the instrument,” Nabi ṣallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did not prohibit the physical object itself. When you say “instrument,” it means the sound produced by the instrument. For example, if you have a flute on your table, it is not haram. What is a flute? It is an empty tube. So, possessing tubes is not haram; it is what you do with them—the sound—that matters.
Consequently, today people sometimes make the sound with their mouth. Just the sound, not singing.
For example, Nana Shid and so forth. Hamnat.
If that involves poetry with Taranam, done within limits depending on the content, then it is permissible. But if you just take the sound of a guitar or a flute—something prohibited—and make that sound with your mouth, then the sound is still haram. You cannot say, “Well, I didn’t use the instrument.” No, then you are trying to fool Allah and play games with the law.
When something is haram, it remains haram in all its contexts. It does not become halal because you claim to be using it for some Islamic purpose. That is why I say: even if I am making this for da’wah, using a haram thing to achieve a halal goal is wrong. If it was done without this, it would be considered ibadah (worship) or good da’wah. This is actually worse because you are adulterating and contaminating something beautiful, pious, and good with something which is haram. So, definitely, this must be avoided.
Then regarding the question about whether people use it because it is attractive—I really don’t think so. There is no value. For example, I have seen many khutbahs and bayans from Maranath Tareem Jameel, or other respected scholars, where music runs in the background. Many times it sounds like somebody is moaning, or God knows, dying. What value does it add? It detracts because I want to listen to what the speaker is saying, but I get distracted by this nonsense in the background. So, what value does it have? It adds absolutely no value at all. We have been conditioned by these things; we have been told they are acceptable.
Sound of humming also. Humming by itself is okay, right? But not if it involves beatboxing or similar rhythmic vocalizations. Exactly. This is not correct according to our understanding. People do it, even in Islamic videos, and then justify themselves by saying, “We are doing it with our mouth.” What difference does it make? My logical question is very simple: If you say an instrument is banned, what exactly are you banning? Suppose I take a guitar and convert that into a coffee table, put four legs under it, and place a glass top on it. Is it haram? No, making furniture out of wood is fine. Playing the guitar is when sound comes out. That sound is what is banned. It’s not the box (the physical object). So, if people try to fool the world by saying, “Oh no, we aren’t using the guitar; we are just making the sound,” who are they fooling? Right?
This whole issue stems from the first hadith in Bukhari Sharif: Innama ‘amalun bin niyyah. First and foremost, intention (niyyah). What is my niyyah? If my niyyah is to convey a good Islamic message to the world, do it in the way which is halal, and Allah subḥānahu wa ta’ālā will make it reach where He wants it to reach. When Allah told Ibrahim alayhi salam to call the adhan, he called the adhan 4,000 years ago. Till today, people are going to the mosque for prayer. So, do it with the good niyyah. Khalas. Yes. At any point, don’t use it.
The next question concerns the lower garment being below the level of the ankles for men. The hadith states that there are three kinds of people whom Allah subḥānahu wa ta’ālā will not look at, will not purify, and will not have mercy on them on the Day of Judgment, and they will be given the worst punishment. One is whose garments are below his ankle. Another is the one who does ihsan, gives a gift, and then reminds the person of that favor—saying, “I did all this for you; today you should say salam to me first.” Because of him, you are here. These kind of statements. And the third one is somebody who swears falsely in order to sell something. May Allah have mercy. It’s like this almost covers all our advertising today. Right? You make false claims to sell something. Three people: the one whose garment is below his ankle, the one who does something good and reiterates it, and the third one is false swearing to sell something. This is such a serious matter, not a simple one.
Number one, number two: the hadith is very clear. Somebody who has their lower garment below the knee. So, it’s a general statement. Whether he has it below the knee when sitting in the house, or whether he is on the street, selling something, or in a masjid makes no difference. So, people who pull up their garment only when they come to the masjid is nonsense because you are not supposed to have it below your ankle in the first place—not below the knee, but below the ankle. In the first place.
Now, some ulama have said that this refers to doing it as a sign of arrogance—to show superiority over people. Well, I mean, that is the biggest issue. Again, this is not out of the blue. They take it from the question that Abu Qar Siddiq Ardal Anu asked Rasulullah ṣallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. When Nabi ṣallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said this, Abu Qar Siddiq said, “Ardal Anu,” he said that my trouser always slips down. I don’t do it deliberately; it just slips.
Down below my ankle. So, what about me? Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said it does not apply to you because this is for those who do it out of arrogance. So, Insha’Allah, if you are not doing it out of arrogance, Insha’Allah, you are safe. You are safe, Insha’Allah, but see, the whole thing is try to do as much as you can. You know, this is the whole basic fundamental principle in Islam.
Surah Al-Hashr, Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la said, وَمَا آتَاكُمْ رُسُلُهُمْ فَخَوْفُكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ. Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la said, whatever your Rabb gives to you, take it. And whatever He stops you from, stop. Have fear of Allah, and Allah’s punishment is severe. Now, the principle there is that all ma’ruf, all good things, whatever Rasulullah S.A.W. has commanded us to do, try to do it as much as you can.
حَزْبِ اِسْتَطَاعَةِ مَنْ اِسْتَطَاعَ. Right? Whatever He stopped you from, stop completely right then. The good thing, you don’t have to do it to the maximum level starting immediately. For example, say Tahajjud. So, pray Tahajjud. It does not mean now that you should start praying Tahajjud and you must never miss it until the end of your life. If you do that, I’m going to be good for you. I mean, nothing wrong. But, at least try to do something. Right? But, supposing you are not praying. Now, you understood, I must pray. What must you do? Immediately, immediately start praying and never, never, don’t miss it. Right? Supposing you are doing khibat. This is a habit. You know, social talk, this, that. Now, you understood the problem with khibat. Then, what must you do? Immediately stop. It’s not to say, no, no, you know, I used to spend three hours today, I will spend two hours. No, no, no. I was smoking, I was drinking, I was doing whatever haram. I understood, I did not know I was smoking. Now, I know cigarettes are haram. What do you do? Immediately, throw all the cigarettes you have. You can’t say, no, no, you know, I have, I have got this big, I spent so many thousand dollars with these fancy cigarettes or Havana cigars and so on. Let me finish this box. No.
Throw everything, immediately stop. So, anything which is prohibited, stop immediately. Anything which is permitted, which is recommended, permitted, which you should do, good. Again, do as much as you can, but do as much as you can and Insha’Allah, try to increase, but there is the pressure of doing is not as much as the pressure of stopping. Stopping is very, very important. So, as soon as you know this, must stop. So, this thing, trouser beneath the ankle is a very important thing. Now, another very important thing to understand, Sheikh Al-Tantawi Al-Shahrawi puts it very beautifully. He said,
if you cannot do something and you are making a mistake,
he said, try your best and keep making istighfar and tawbah and you will be able to correct yourself as soon as you can. But don’t go into the position of saying, this is not important.
Don’t do that. Keep your tongue under control. So, you know you should do something, you are not doing it, okay, try your best, even if you can’t do it, maybe today, tomorrow, something will happen. But don’t say something against it by saying, this is not necessary.
Because if you say it is not necessary, if it is not important, then now you have entered the area of Kufr. You have left Islam.
Right? This is very important. What Allah commanded, what Allah commanded, this is something which we are absolutely sure there is no discussion, we have to fulfill that no matter what. Now, we are weak, we can’t do everything, try and do your best, but don’t extend your tongue. Don’t say, I don’t know this. You know, if you say something like this, if you have mocked Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, if you are making fun of what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, then you have left Islam. Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la revealed Quran about this. قَدْ كَفَرْتُمْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِكُمْ. Allah said, you have become kafir after you had been Muslim. After you had brought Iman. If there is not anybody in this fatwa, this is the ayat of the Quran. Allah said this. So don’t fall into that. Do your best. We are weak. Let it take time. It doesn’t matter. We keep on making istighfar. Ask Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la, Ya Allah, I am weak. I am trying.
But don’t extend your tongue. You are not doing it. I am just saying as an ihtiyat to say that people, sometimes people go into all this. What is this music? What is the word? What is that? Then you would have completely left Islam itself, which is the worst. People, if they are wearing socks and all that, because till they have to keep the trousers up and so on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The idea is if you are, see, the whole point is if you are doing it out of arrogance, then you should not do it at all. But otherwise, the ankle, meaning not the skin, meaning the ankle, even if there is socks, that trouser must end where the ankle, just above the ankle. So, ankle must be visible.
But if it is because you are not being arrogant or something, you are wearing a kind of trouser, it slips down. Or if you are wearing a kind of trouser where the style of the dress is such that if you have it up, then you will look very odd and stupid, then don’t do it. Do it to the extent you can do it. Insha’Allah. There is hadith. The hadith with regard to drinking water, the hadith which has the command. Rasulullah s.a.w. said,
don’t breathe into the vessel. So, when you are drinking, that is one. Second thing is, he said, drink in, don’t drink at one breath. Say three breaths or more. So, take your time and drink.
Imam Isha’Allah mentioned a hadith on a side note. He said that when you drink water, say Bismillah, drink once, say Alhamdulillah. Then say, say Bismillah again, drink once and say Alhamdulillah. Then he said, say Bismillah again and drink and say Alhamdulillah. He said, if you do that three times, Allah s.w.t. will forgive all your sins. So, such a beautiful thing. So small, so small, so easy.
So, therefore, drink in this way and then drink sitting down. This is the instruction given. Now, this does not mean that Rasulullah s.a.w. himself never drank water standing up. In his whole life, nobody can say that every time he had to drink. So, he would have drunk standing up also. But the preferred way, the instruction is to drink sitting down. So, drink sitting down. Someday, for some reason, you cannot drink sitting down, you drink standing up. Alhamdulillah, it’s not a sin in that sense. You can drink, but again, the same thing. Don’t say, don’t be defiant about it. Don’t say, where is it? You say, I have to sit. No. Alhamdulillah, I’m standing up. Alhamdulillah, consider this also as a sunnah. I’m standing up because Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam also stood up sometime. That’s it. Or say, Astaghfirullah, I should have sat down. I did not sit down. I was in a hurry, whatever. I drank standing up. Please forgive me. Next time, I sit down and drink. So, the attitude of humbleness with regard to the command of Allah and Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, this is very important. We must not get into an attitude of arrogance. Why should I do it? No. You should do it because you are a Muslim. I am a Muslim. I should do it because I am a Muslim. And what Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said is the best; it is best for me. All the command of Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la and His Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the beneficiary is me. Command is not for Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. It is for us. So, we should approach that with that humbleness and humility. Insha’Allah, Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la is the one to forgive.