Music and Singing: A Detailed Fatwa (SunniPath)
According to the above fatwa, Islam forbids music for the following reasons:
Music is a direct ploy of the Non-Muslims. One of the main causes for the decline of the Muslims is their involvement in useless entertainment. Today we see that Muslims are involved, and at the forefront perhaps, of many immoralities and evils. The spiritual power which once was the trait of a Muslim is nowhere to be seen. One of the main reasons for this is music and useless entertainment.
In conclusion, music and the instruments used for singing are a cause for arousing the sexual desire of an individual. It could lead a person to adultery and fornication. Therefore, Islam takes the preventive measure rather than suffer the consequences. This is also one of the principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, namely 'blocking the means' (sadd al-dhara'i). This is based on the idea of preventing an evil before it actually materializes, and is taken from the heart of the guidance of the Qur?an and Sunnah that, "Preventing harm is given precedence even to achieving possible benefits."
One of the harms of music is that it distracts one from his Creator. It serves as a temporary means of pleasure and satisfaction, which makes one forget who he really is and why he was created. This is the reason why musical instruments are known in the Arabic language as 'malaahi' meaning instruments that prevent one from the remembrance of Allah Almighty.
Another harm of music is that it instills the ideologies of the Non-Muslims in the heart and mind. The messages of today's music follow a general theme of love, fornication, drugs and freedom.
We find that the whole world is obsessed with the Kufr idea of unrestrained freedom, i.e. freedom of speech and movement, etc... This idea of freedom, "it's my life, I'll do what I want" is a predominant theme of music today. It is used as a means of drilling western ideologies into the hearts and minds, which are totally contrary to Islamic values and teachings.
Musical instruments that are exclusively designed for entertainment and dancing, and create charm, pleasure and bliss on their own (even without the singing), such as the drum, violin, guitar, fiddle, flute, lute, mandolin, harmonium, piano, string, etc... are impermissible to use under any circumstance.
There is a consensus of the whole Ummah on this. Since the first century, the Companions (sahaba), their followers (tabi'een), jurists (fuqaha) and the scholars have been generally unanimous on this ruling.
The author of the fatwa goes onto cite and analyze several references from the Quran and Sunnah. He also quotes extensively from the works of many renowned scholars and jurists.
Topic: RANT: What Is So Evil About Music?