Do you marvel at this statement ?, and laugh and do not weep,while you amuse yourselves [proudly] in vanities {saamidoon}  ? Rather, prostrate before Allah and Worship Him. [An-Najm 53: 59-62]

According to Ibn Abbaas (R.A) the word ³{saamidoon}² {vanities} refers to the mushrikeen¹s habit of singing and playing noisily whenever they heard Quraan being recited, in order to drown out the reciters voice so that others wouldn¹t hear it.

And there among men those who purchase idle talk in order to mislead others from Allah¹s path without knowledge, and who throw ridicule upon it. For such there will be a humiliating punishment. [Luqmaan 31:6]

Commenting on the above verse Ibn Abbaas (R.A) said, ³I swear by the One other than whom there is no God that it refers to singing (ghinaa).² he repeated it three times to emphasize his position. 

Sahl ibn Sa¹ad reported that Allah¹s messenger (S.A.W) said, what means ³At the end of the world, the earth will settle, there will be false accusations of unchastity, slander and transformation of people into monkeys and pigs.² It was asked, ³When, O Messenger of Allah? ² He said: ³When the musical entertainment and singers appear² (Ibn- Majah)

Narrated Abu 'Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash'ari:  that he heard the Prophet saying, "From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments {ma¹aazif}, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, 'Return to us tomorrow.' Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection."  (Bukhari Volume 7, Book 69, Number 494)

Most commentators agree that the word ma¹aazif ­ according to correct Arabic usage ­ indicates a specific number of things: (a) musical instruments, (b) the sounds of those musical instruments (music) and (c) singing to musical accompaniment.

Imam Shaafi¹ee is reported in the book Aadabul Qadaa, as saying ³Verily, song is loathsome [makrooh]; it resembles the false and vain things [al-baatil].  The one who partakes of it frequently is an incompetent fool whose testimony is to be rejected." Al-Haarith Al-Muhaasibi (a disciple of Imam Shaafi¹ee) said, ³Song is Haraam, just as the carcass {maytah} is.²

Music is a form of entertainment that people listen to every day. It is almost impossible not to hear it these days. More people than anytime in history hear it.  The musicians are famous and adored by people around the world.  Amongst them are some who openly proclaim their plan to subliminally control their listeners thoughts and minds.  Jimi Hendrix said:

³We¹re making our music into electric church music ­ A NEW KIND OF BIBLE, not like in a hotel, but a bible you carry in your hearts, one that will give you a physical feeling.  We try to make our music so loose and hard-hitting so that IT HITS YOUR SOUL HARD ENOUGH TO MAKE IT OPEN.  IT¹S LIKE SHOCK THERAPY OR A CAN OPENERŠ² Jimi Hendrix (³Scuze Me While I Kiss the Sky² ­Henderson, 1978.)

Musicians also promote sexual promiscuity in their songs.  The examples of the content of their songs are just too numerous to mention. The singer Prince sings the following about incest  ³ŠI was only16 / But I guess that¹s no excuse/ my sister was 32 / Lovely and looseŠ / my sister never made love to anyone but me / Incest is everything it¹s said to beŠ² ³Sister² ³Dirty Mind² ­ Prince (1980)

In fact most modern day singers open talk about their craft and the spontaneous composition of their music.  Michael Jackson says ³ Anyway, I don¹t do very many things until A CERTAIN FORCE tells me to do them.  THE FORCE tells me when and then I make my move.² 

To list the text of some of songs and the reasons for the song are too lengthy to discuss, suffice to say that the content is linked to Shaitaan.  There are number of messages reaching the listener from musicians. 

1. Subliminal messages that are recorded via back tracking and back masking.  Reversing the original song reveals cryptic satanic messages.

2. The use of musical videos to give graphical expression to their music.  The images are remembered thereafter whenever the song is heard.  The content of these videos have very symbolic gestures that give the viewer the ideals of the musician.

3. Idol worship of these musicians.  People often talk of their pop idol and favourite musician.  The fans build up a cult like following of their pop idols.  The result is generally that the pop idol is emulated in every possible way by the fans (fanatics).  

The listening of music by young Muslim teenagers is the reason we have dysfunctional youths in our communities.  They have poor communication skills and lack basic Islamic knowledge to recognise the dangers and pitfalls of listening and involving themselves in this useless activity.  The listening to music contributes to many social evils within any community.  The anarchist type environment can be trace d to many musicians who display and promote anarchy in their music.

As Muslims we should abstain from listening to the music.  We certainly know that the Nabee (S.A.W), his companions and our pious predecessors certainly did not listen to music.  We should try and replace music with constructive conversation, Zikrullah and propogation of Islamic values in our lives.  

May Allah guide us all and save us from the evils of Music.