In his book Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, which is devoted to Hadiths concerned with morality and good manners, Al-Bukhari gives a heading: “A chapter on singing and pastime.” We should note that in this book, which is independent of his other great work, known as Sahih, Al-Bukhari applies a criterion for the acceptance of Hadiths which is less stringent than that he applies in the Sahih. Some Hadiths he relates in both books, which means that they are highly authentic. Those which are related only in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad are reliable, but some of them may be of a degree less than absolutely authentic.
The first Hadith in this chapter may be translated as follows: “Abdullah ibn Dinar reports: ‘I went to the market place with Abdullah ibn Umar where we passed by a girl who was singing.’ He said, ‘Had Satan left anyone alone, he would have left this girl alone’.” This is certainly not a Hadith attributed to the Prophet. It simply quotes a scholar of high repute who was one of the Prophet’s companions. Scholars of Hadith consider that the Prophet’s companions would not have said something directly related to religion unless they were absolutely certain of their grounds, relying on guidance from the Prophet. Hence, they treat their statements as if they were attributed to the Prophet.
Some people quote this Hadith in support of their view that singing is forbidden, but this Hadith does not signify prohibition. It is well known that to pronounce anything as forbidden, we need very clear evidence, because the authority to prohibit anything belongs to God alone. All that this statement by Abdullah ibn Umar signifies is that the girl’s action has been encouraged by Satan. This may refer to what the girl was singing, which means that the words or the poetry she was singing was not appropriate, or to the fact that she was singing in the market place.
As for singing itself, it is subject to different rules according to the words, the person singing and the way the singing is done. If the singing is of the chanting type, like one does when repeating a poem or saying some poetry with affected voice, to indicate one’s pleasure or to give pleasure to his audience, all this is permissible. If, on the other hand, one is singing something that describes a certain woman’s beauty, or a poem describing wine and its effect on one’s mind so as to encourage drinking or to associate it with pleasure and happiness, or to arouse some other evil thoughts, then such singing is forbidden.
All this shows that singing may be permissible in certain situations and forbidden in others. What influences the verdict is the type of the song, its words, the aim of the singer and the way it is sung.
When singing is only a pastime, then the ruling differs according to situation. If we are listening to singing in order to have some relaxation, after which we go back to our serious work, then that is perfectly legitimate. If we are just killing time by listening to singing, we may be close to committing something forbidden, because killing time aimlessly and without benefit is close to prohibition. It is in this framework that we should understand the next Hadith in this chapter which quotes the Prophet as saying: “I do not belong to idle play and idle play does not belong to me in any way.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad).
This Hadith makes it clear that the Prophet does not approve of killing time in any profitless pursuit. Islam is serious and it wants people to benefit by their time so that they improve their situation in this life and in the life to come.
Another Hadith given in this chapter quotes Abdullah ibn Abbas commenting on a verse which may be rendered in translation as follows: “Among men there is many a one who prefers a mere play with words so as to lead others astray.” (31: 6) Explaining what “play with words” refers to here, Ibn Abbas said: “It is singing and similar things.” Scholars agree that the verse has a much broader significance. It is anything that people use to divert others from following God’s guidance and to lead them astray. This applies to any temptation or seduction that encourages people to abandon God’s guidance in preference to something that draws them away from the right path. Some singing falls in this category and some does not. If it does, it is forbidden.
Al-Bukhari mentions two more Hadiths in this chapter. The first of these quotes the Prophet as saying: “Spread the greeting of peace and you will attain safety. Idle play is evil.” Apart from Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, the first sentence of this Hadith is related by Ibn Hibban. This Hadith encourages us to spread the greeting of peace, which is characteristic of Muslims. It encourages friendly relations, since we tell people that we wish them peace and happiness the first moment we see them. It is a much better greeting than what other communities have, such as “good morning” and its equivalents. However only the second sentence relates to the title of this chapter, and it is relevant only to wasting time which the Prophet describes as evil. It has nothing to do with singing.
The last Hadith in this chapter mentions that Fudhalah ibn Ubayd was with a group of people when he was informed that some people were playing with dice, or backgammon. He was very angry and he spoke against it in the strongest of terms. He said, “A person who plays it to devor what it brings him is like one who eats the flesh of swine or performs his ablution with blood.”
This Hadith is more specific than the earlier ones, but it is related merely to playing games with a dice. Scholars say that games that rely merely on chance, like those decided with the throw of a dice, such as backgammon, cards and the like, are forbidden.
They are not only a way to pass time in useless pursuits; they often lead to friction between friends. But when such a game is used as a means of gambling, as when the two players or parties to the game pledge a wager which the winner of the game receives, while the loser gets nothing, then they are doubly forbidden. This is what Fudhalah spoke about very strongly, likening the game of taking such reward to eating pork or using blood for ablution. Both are obviously forbidden.
As we see, there is nothing in the Hadiths quoted by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad that may be interpreted as clear prohibition of all singing. As we have said above, singing may have different rulings according to the words sung and the way they are sung.