What does online hadith literature say...
On researching hadith literature I found
sahih authentic hadiths were very easily accessible. It was easy to access other websites to verify if a certain hadith had authenticity to it. There were many websites which were dedicated to just displaying hadith literature and as these were in English they were very easy to understand. Although the list seemed endless these are just four of the interesting websites I found;
Following on from this I wanted to narrow my search to hadiths which related to 'music and Islam.
For e.g. I came across the following website;
http://www.inter-islam.org/Prohibitions/Mansy_music.htm. This website had a disclaimer which has a copyright of inter-Islam. There is no acknowledgement of who has written the article. In an article such as this one of the main negative viewpoints is the identity of the writer cannot be validated. The hadiths used in this article are mainly concerned with trying to prove how music has a negative impact on a Muslims life. The writer talks of the negativity of the physical effects and how professionals such as Doctors have carried out experiments to prove these negative effects.
Reading this material you are drawn to believe this interpretation is very biased in its analysis and is truly a viewpoint from the heart rather than a scholarly view.
However, when I accessed a different website;
http://www.islamawareness.net/Music/music_fatwa005.html the material was very convincing to prove music to be halal. It was validated by the person's name who was a Shiekh (teacher) who had written the script alongside other websites which gave further details on the subject. The Shiekh clearly gave examples of hadiths in he which he verified music is allowed. He further writes about how the interpretations are classed to be halal. In his writing he mentions other Jurists who have interpreted the hadiths in this way and what they say.
Even though I am in no position to comment, I feel the issues discussed in this website seem to be more reliable and trusting, as they are backed by authentic material which is validated by other Sheikhs.
An interesting hadith, repeated on a number of
websites, has been reported by
Aisha (a wife of The Prophet)
Sahih Al-Bukhari vol 2, Book 15, hadith number 70.
"Abu Bakr came to my house while two small Ansari girls were singing beside me the stories of the Ansar concerning the Day of Buath. And they were not singers. Abu Bakr said protesting, "Musical instruments of Satan in the house of Allah's Apostle! It happened on Id day and Allah's Apostle said, "O Abu Bakr! There is an Id for every nation and this is our Id."
Here, we see music is openly being demonstrated but the Prophet did not forbid it. It is most definite that The Prophet would never have allowed anything haram to be taken place in His presence, and music was played in his presence. So how can it be haram? This becomes evident from this hadith that The Prophet did not dislike music as Aisha was very happily listening to the songs and the Prophet was happy to let her continue. Indeed it can be said music which incites the love for Allah and His Prophet, is not forbidden. However if the music propagates intoxication, sexual desires, alcohol consumption, adultery and other sinful acts cannot in any way relate to the religion.
