Is music haram?

What exactly is being ruled on

The Arabic word in the texts is al-ghina' (singing) and al-ma'azif (musical instruments). The scholars treat these as two separate things with two separate rulings, and collapsing them is what makes the question confusing.

• Instruments are forbidden in themselves. IslamWeb states that singing accompanied by a musical instrument is haram "whether the singer is one of the spouses or someone else, and whether the words are forbidden love poetry or not" (fatwa 151981). The instrument is the deciding factor, not the lyrics and not the singer.
• Singing without instruments is judged by its words and its effect. If the words are free of indecency, and listening does not lead to temptation or keep you from prayer and remembrance, it is permitted. If the words describe women, wine or sin, it is forbidden by agreement.
• The duff is the one instrument excepted. The scholars explicitly exclude it. Ibn Baz permits it at a wedding with ordinary singing, for women only, to announce the marriage — and he adds that a tabl (a larger drum) may not be used even there.

Why the scholars hold this

Two texts carry the ruling, and the scholars lean on both.

The first is the verse in Surah Luqman. Allah says:

"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talk to mislead from the path of Allah without knowledge"— Qur'an 31:6

Ibn Baz reports that most of the commentators — and Ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه, who used to swear to it — held that "idle talk" here means singing, and that every instrument of amusement is joined to it.

The second is the narration of Abu Malik al-Ash'ari رضي الله عنه:

"There will be among my nation people who make lawful unlawful intercourse, silk, wine and musical instruments."— Sahih al-Bukhari 5590

The scholars draw two arguments from this. The word al-ma'azif is general and covers all instruments of amusement, so nothing is excepted unless a text excepts it — and only the duff is excepted. And the Prophet ﷺ placed instruments alongside adultery and wine, which are forbidden beyond doubt; IslamWeb notes that pairing a thing with what is definitively haram indicates it is haram too. Ibn Baz adds that the very word "make lawful" proves the point: no one "makes lawful" what was already lawful.

The harm the scholars describe

The ruling is not arbitrary, and the scholars explain what it does to a person. Ibn Baz writes that singing and instruments turn the heart from the path of Allah, harden it, and make it averse to hearing the Qur'an — and that when a heart grows used to songs it is blocked from the truth. He cites the words of Ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه:

"Singing causes hypocrisy to grow in the heart as water causes crops to grow."— reported by Ibn Baz in Majmu' al-Fatawa (6/491)

IslamWeb records a similar saying of some scholars: the Qur'an of al-Rahman and the Qur'an of Shaytan — meaning singing — do not gather in one heart. The practical sign they point to is that a person will sit for hours with songs and cannot bear a single hour of Qur'an.

What is permitted

• The duff at a wedding: permitted for women, with ordinary singing that neither invites to sin nor praises what is forbidden, and without men mixing with them. Ibn Baz calls it recommended, because it announces the marriage and distinguishes it from an illicit union.
• Singing among women at weddings and on the Eids: permitted, including a young girl singing among women on the day of Eid.
• Unaccompanied songs with sound words: permitted if the words are free of shirk, indecency and invitation to sin, and if listening does not tempt you or distract you from obligatory worship.
• Nasheeds with no instrument: IslamWeb states the scholars agreed in general on permitting these. Where a duff is added, they differed, and the weightier view is that it is permitted.
• A woman singing to her husband: permitted if the singing itself is free of what is forbidden.

Two conditions cut across all of this. The ruling on listening follows the ruling on the thing itself — what is haram to perform is haram to hear. And excess is never praised even in what is permitted.

The one real disagreement

A genuine difference exists on a narrow point: singing whose words are clean but which is accompanied by an instrument. Ibn Hazm held it permissible. The scholars rejected this, and IslamWeb says they answered him comprehensively, relying on the narration of al-Ma'azif and other authentic texts. Ibn Baz is direct about it: whoever says it is permissible has erred, and we ask Allah to forgive him.

Note that the disagreement does not touch songs containing indecency, dancing or immodest imagery — IslamWeb states there is no difference among scholars on those, ancient or modern.

In practice

If what you are listening to has instruments in it, the ruling is that it is haram, and this does not change because the words praise the Prophet ﷺ or Islam — IslamWeb addresses that case directly and says the ruling stands. If it has no instruments, look at the words and at what it does to you: does it pull you toward sin, or away from prayer and Qur'an? That is the test the scholars give. And the fact that many people listen to it changes nothing; the scholars say a person is told to follow the righteous, not the sinners.

Key takeaways

• Musical instruments are haram, and this is the position of Ibn Baz, the majority of scholars, and the four schools as reported by IslamWeb.
• The duff is the only instrument excepted, permitted for women at weddings and on the Eids, without men mixing and without forbidden words.
• Singing without instruments is judged by its words and its effect — permitted when clean and undistracting, forbidden when it describes sin or pulls you from worship.
• Ibn Hazm alone permitted instruments with clean words, and the scholars rejected his view; the disagreement does not extend to indecent songs.
• Listening takes the ruling of the thing listened to, so what is haram to perform is haram to hear.

Further reading

• Ibn al-Qayyim, Ighathat al-Lahfan min Masa'id al-Shaytan
• Ibn Rajab, Nuzhat al-Asma' fi Mas'alat al-Sama'

And Allah knows best.