﷽ السلام عليكم
I pray you're all well and in the best of imaan. This is something i've wanted to speak about for so long and feel like i can't go on to talk about praying and getting close to Allah, if we're glued onto music.
Understand this, music is always and has always been forbidden. There's always this debate in Islam from a lot of people who often say music to some extent is halal, and that it's only the instruments which are forbidden. Yes maybe back in the day when music had only just begun, it may have been permissible to some extent with just the lyrics and halal instruments because the lyrics were clean. It wasn't the sort of music that we listen to today; dirty, filthy, explicit lyrics. Every single song is just advocating towards indecency, immodesty, immorality, nudity, wealth, fame, etc. All the things that drive us away from Allah. Now that's not to say that music which doesn't mention this stuff is halal, or allowed. It's all forbidden.
It's sad and worrying to see how many of us are addicted to music, and i say addicted because we're so glued to it. We can't do anything, go anywhere, watch anything, be anywhere without music being played; then when we try and tell people we don't listen to it, or if they can switch it off, we get looked at funnily or seen to be so 'holy'.
Origins of music:
Music began soon after Adam (as)' demise. It involved the two clans of Sheeth (as) and Qabil (as). Sheeth was Adam (as)'s favourite son, and after his demise, he was the son who had created the love for Allah, while Qabil was the one who had developed greed, arrogance and a tough character. However, he was the one with a growing nation.
They lived in mountainous regions, however Qabil decided to go to the flat lands and further away from sheeth and his group. Allah had therefore given Sheeth a command, when the other group had separated, they must not intermingle with them.
So anyways, on Qabils side, the men weren't very good looking, but the women were, and on Sheeths side, the men were very good looking while the women weren't. So because opposite genders were good looking in both groups, you know the sort of tricks shaytaan would attempt to play.
Iblees then made himself into the form of a young boy and went to a blacksmith. He became an apprentice for him and decided to create a flute. Once he made that, he decided to create a bass, along with many other instruments. He created sounds through those instruments and when people heard this, they loved it because they had never heard something of the sort before, and they got so engrossed, to the extent that they started forgetting the commands of Allah. Sheeth (as), however, kept reminding his people about the right path. When he (iblees) brought the flute to them, they began to dance and their body began to move through the effects of the music. They set aside saturday evening where they would play these sounds and party- and saturday night still remains till today, about partying and getting together... Until shaytaan visited some of the youth of sheeth, who created a doubt in their minds, questioning the law of Allah, as to say, 'why are we not allowed to mix with our elders and cousins'.
The people of the mountain (sheeth), began hearing the sound- they heard it, followed to where the noise was going, and it took them to Qabils side. These men saw the women, and it pulled them, they went closer. These men were good looking, and the women were good looking. These women started to display their beauty in order to attract and intermingle through the music- which resulted in haraam and zina. Free mixing began to occur and zina and adultery began. Slowly and slowly through the introduction of music, was zina carried out. When the men went back, they told the other men about it, who then went back to Qabils side and kept bringing more people to engage in such sins. Then zina and fornication occurred on a large scale, while other sins on an individual level. However shirk wasn't committed just yet.
The ill effects music had on the people was that they, including sheeth (as)'s clan, were involved in zina and adultery. There was free mixing with the opposite gender, and there was mixing with the other clan which Allah had commanded against. All of this put together, earned His wrath and took both groups further away from Allah.
From then, music has been something Allah has forbidden against. So if this is how music begun and earned Allahs displeasure, then when we listen to it today, it also earns His displeasure.
Effects:
I want to address the physical affects music has on a person; so firstly, it has a negative affect on the nervous system- it causes imbalance in the body through the beat. It raises and causes the fluctuation of emotions, sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes happy, sometimes sad. It increases us in certain hormones- especially adrenaline, depending on the type of music. You'll notice, when listening to music, you're never at peace with yourself. You don't know what your true emotions are at the time. You're constantly feeling uneasy, and that's because music is depriving us of that peace. We'll only ever find that peace with Allah and his Deen. It's with no one and nothing else.
Have you ever thought about this for a second, why am i struggling to pray salaah, pray Quran, duas, zikr, etc, or why am i finding islam to be a burden? What must i be doing with my life which is causing me to feel like this?
And i tell you, if you listen to music, without a doubt i guarantee you it's the ill effects of that.
By listening to music while cooking, cleaning, revising, working, we'll never see any success or barakah in what we're doing. Science says certain music is good to listen to while revising because it stimulates you and aids your revision, but islam is against it, so which one do we want to follow? Believe me, i know, i was once in that boat.
What does the Quran say about music?
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ
وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ
"And of the people there is he who buys a ‘vain talk’ so that he may lead others astray from the path of Allah without (real) knowledge and takes it (the revelation of Allah) for a mockery for these shall be a disgracing chastisement (punishment)."
Allah mentions about 'lahw' in surah Luqman, which means anything that diverts the mind from serious thinking. In this ayaat, vain talk is interpreted as some talk, sound/thing which diverts the attention of man from his ultimate creation. In this, Allah is saying, of the people who purchase such 'vain talk', ie listen, download, etc, and lead others astray through such sounds, then for him shall be a disgracing punishment.
This ayaat was revealed at the time when a Quraysh, a complete kaafir was about to accept islam. He was going to Nabi (saw) to accept islam, when the rest of the Mushriqeen heard this, and thought about doing something to divert him. So as we all know, a mans weakness is a woman, so they lined up some women for him, and made them sing for him. Upon this, the Quraysh man became misguided and died on kufr, and didn't accept islam.
By Allah, this is why music is forbidden and will always, always divert us from islam, whether we wish to accept it or not, and whether we experience it or not, eventually it will take us off the right path. Believe me, i say this from experience, if you're listening to music on one side, and praying on the other, by no means are you truly experiencing the true beauty of salaah, there's no taqwa (awareness of Allah). Not to say, stop praying because you're listening to music, because insha'Allah through the genuine fear, worry and concern of wanting to abandon music, Allah will slowly enlighten you through the barakah of your praying.
But again, do we have a leaking bucket cancelling out our good deeds through all the intentional sins we're doing?
Think about this, light and darkness can't be found in the same vessel. You can't have something light and dark together, as one definitely outshines the other. In the same way, music and Quran can't be found in the same heart. You can't listen to music but also open the book of Allah and read his glorious speech, if the same tongue utters such filthy lyrics. It's not possible. Rather, music grows hypocrisy in the heart. the same way as water grows plants. It starts off small, until it becomes a leaf, then a plant, then a whole tree, which later becomes the hardest thing to uproot. That's exactly what's happening to our heart with music. Music and the music industry, is filthy and very dirty and indecent. We see how many celebrities and singers committing suicide, joining illuminati, losing their innocence after joining the music industry etc, and eventually this filth and indecency transmits onto us.
We wouldn't even let our own kids/nieces/cousins listen to such music because of the lyrics, then why should we listen to it and corrupt our minds? Whatever the content of the music is, it's haraam. We know this. Come Ramadhan, we don't listen for 30 days. When we go past a masjid, we stop playing it. At the time of adhaan, we stop our music. So if we know it's forbidden, why do we still listen? and more importantly, if we can do it for 30 days, we can do it our whole life.
Personal experience:
I'm sharing my experience with music and how i got off it only because i feel like this topic is something serious and needs some sort of practical steps, although i dont wish to expose too much of my past.
So i don't know about you, but when i used to listen, i'd constantly have mixed emotions, i was never at peace with myself, and i had lost a sense of direction. When i'd listen to it for so long, it would eventually get to my head and i'd need to switch it off because it would get so much. This same music over time has such an affect on us and our mood, and we don't realise because we've fallen so deep. At the time, i was still praying salaah and going to mosque and i felt like music wasn't having a bad effect on me; i was almost giving myself an excuse to say i'm still spiritually elevated, even though i wasn't, and i began to lose focus of my real purpose in life. However, looking back, i can't believe i was that far from Allah, even though i felt like i was so close. I honestly never want to feel like that again. We will only ever admit to such things once we come out of music and reflect back.
So for a long time, my apa would constantly tell us to get off music, she would explain it's harmful effects that it will eventually have on us and our imaan; to the extent where she broke down in tears at one point, out of worry for us. At this point, i knew this was something very serious. It hit me, and i told myself from today i'm going home and i'm going to stop listening. So i done good for a few days, maybe a week, then i dont know what happened but i was back on it. (and this is what i mean by the further you fall, the harder the tree is to uproot). Anyways, this was about 2 years ago. I felt as though there was no way out of it, and that im trapped in this constant cycle. 2 years on it was an over night thing that made me stop. I came across the ayaat which i've mentioned below, in a video, and over night, i made the intention of giving it up. Alhumdullilah, ever since, i've not listened to music. Now for everyone it's different but i didn't delete all my music so drastically. I simply replaced it with nazaams, and it's usually not an over night thing.
At the time, i thought how is music taking me away from Allah? It's not true, i still pray, i'm still praying salaah. But no, i swear to you, if you're listening to music and praying, you're not experiencing the true beauty. Rather you're simply fulfilling a fardh, going up and down, while your heart and mind is somewhere else. Because if you were praying to Allah with ikhlaas, you'd understand music is forbidden and something He hates. Think about this, music is the sound of shaytaan, who's aim is to divert us. So how do we think by listening to music, we'll attain some sort of 'peace', if it's the instruments of shaytaan.
You know, it puts me to shame to think how can we be so selfish and choose such a life? Allah is the one who's created us, sustained us, blessed our every single day. Given us ears to listen , eyes to see, hands to touch, legs to walk, a heart which beats and gives us life etc. you get my point. So why are we using those ni'mats (blessings) to gain Allahs wrath. Rather we need to be using those blessings to praise and submit to Allah. He's given us all these bounties. We're so lucky He hasn't left us out on the streets begging, but rather he's sheltered us every night. Yet, we still do what we want, and please and satisfy our own desires, even it means going against His commands. That's ignorance.
I say this first and foremost for myself, we look down at others for the sins they commit openly, or even in hiding, such as drinking, zina, haraam relationships, etc, yet on the other hand, we're there listening to music thinking they're doing such bad haraams. Not to say those sins are all equal, but at the same time, we're listening to haraam, and one sin always leads to another, and you slowly fall deeper and deeper into that sin you're committing. Like i said, i felt like i was trapped in this vicious, never ending cycle.
I used to find it so hard to read quran, i'd tell myself every day that today i'm going to pray some after so and so salaah, but once i'd finish my namaaz, i was like ahh not today i'm too tired, i can't be bothered. I'd be there just making excuses for myself trying to make myself feel better, and in that time when i couldve prayed, i would probably just be sitting on my phone wasting hours. I sometimes look back in regret, to say why did i waste my years, but then i also use that as a learning point to deter me, in the sense that i never want to go back to such a life because looking at where i am now, i never want to feel like that again. Once i gave up music, i swear to you everything else fell into place. From no where, i grew the confidence to wear a hijab, removed my pictures off social media, started praying more etc and Alhumdullilah for the realisation that music will take me to Jahannam if i don't ask for forgiveness and make an effort to stop.
Lets forget about us for a second. Lets think about our kids and the generations to come. Islam is being washed away, and in the next couple of generations, islam isn't going to be as widespread as it is now. We may say that i'm not going to let my children listen to such music, but if we're listening to it now, and struggling to get out of it, or never even thought of it as something wrong, then how do we think about saving our children. We'll start playing it around the house, instilling it into them from such a young age, and then they'll grow up in such an environment, believing there's nothing wrong with music. Like this, Islam will no longer have a place in peoples hearts. The generations to come won't see anything wrong with listening to music, because when they'll be told to stop listening to it, they'll say our forefathers (ie us), used to listen to it also so what's the problem. Our actions always, always have a consequence, whether we see it now or not.
This one is for my girls, when you reach that age of having your own child, they will copy and imitate, and you don't want it that you've created the love for music in their hearts, and they become disobedient to you and Allah, already, all because you would listen and dance to music whilst carrying your child in the womb. It's possible because they're attached to you and all you fed them whilst being pregnant was haraam music, instead of the words of Allah. Rather, to have pious children, we should pray and listen to Quran, do Allahs zikr, while carrying the child, so insha'Allah this way, Allah will bless us with pious offsprings.
We're told, we'll be resurrected on the day of judgement amongst those whom we associated with in this world. Do we want it that Allah resurrects us amongst the kaafir and amongst those whom Allahs wrath is upon? We always make dua for death on imaan, death with the khalimah on our tongue, death on the siratul mustaqeem, but our actions speak otherwise. It truly is about the condition of our heart rather than whats on our tongue. When we die, it'll be our souls that speaks. If we don't have Allah in our hearts, how do we expect to answer the three questions at the time of death. If all we're singing is song lyrics, then how do we expect to say the khalimah on our death bed; because what if we die whilst uttering those words. None of us know when we're going to pass away besides Allah. I remember hearing this very frightening story of this muslim man who was on his death bed. His family around him were trying to play some Quran and the words of Allah to help soothe and aid him in saying the khalimah, but instead his reaction was that he commanded his family to switch this 'rubbish' off instantly and play some music to soothe him. Like this, he passed away. May Allah truly save us. He couldn't stand the sound of Quran being played, because his whole life, he had listened to music and found it rather 'soothing'. This is something that still scares me till today, and was probably the biggest thing that made me give it up. I never want to go back to music because it's the worst trap you can never be saved from. By Allah, death can take us tomorrow, but are we ready for it?
Allah is telling us;
لا يكلف الله نفسا الا وسعها
Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear.
Just follow His commands and orders, and Allah will sort the rest out for us. He'll sort out our rizq, our spouse, our health, our income. Why make life hard for ourselves, and burden our souls with such sins and music, bringing the burden and hardship of praying and punishment BECAUSE of the music, when Allah is trying to make life easy for us.
Ways to come off music:
Be firm. Know that what you want to do is for the sake of Allah and you sincerely want to give up music and haraam. Through this, Allah will see your intentions and insha'Allah grant you the strength.
Be gradual. If you've been listening to music for a long time, initially, it'll be hard to come off it. You can't throw yourself in the deep end. I tell you, it's something that takes time. If you're someone who's constantly listening, at first, you'll miss that beat, you'll want a music bass, so listen to those so called nasheeds with music in the background, or those nasheeds that follow a tune of a song. Thereafter, slowly go to the nasheeds without music and keep listening to those. This way, you'll forget about that bass. Just don't go and delete all your music at first or else you'll have withdrawal symptoms.
Try your best to avoid those situations where music is played. If you hear any, start doing the zikr of Allah and divert your attention, rather than listening along and wishing you were still listening to music.
Look, and i say this from experience, once you abandon music, you'll feel this unexplainable bliss and peace which can't be found anywhere else besides with Allah. You won't even miss it. Ask anyone who doesn't listen to music, how at peace they are with themselves, how content they are with the little that they have, and how they've found Allah and the love for islam. It's a massive weight off your shoulders, you'll begin to experience this love to pray and you'll feel upset when you displease Allah or haven't remembered him enough.
It's hard, especially when you have family who still listen to it, watch movies around you etc, but you have to be strong in yourself and know what you're doing is only for the sake of Allah and His pleasure. Doing things for His sake and abandoning sin for His sake will only take you closer to him and give you complete success and happiness in all that you do.
Take my advise, and start now. Make a firm intention to Allah, repent to Him, cry, explain to Him how you're feeling and how you wish to abandon music, and watch how He helps you. You will always have Him by your side when you make Him your priority. I promise you, once you stop listening to music, you'll find that peace you've been chasing for years, and you'll feel the happiest ever. Don't do it. Don't corrupt your mind and soul with this toxic music, it's not worth earning Allahs displeasure. Our goal in life is to get closer to Allah, not further away from him, and by listening to music.. that's what we're doing. Music will always destroy your soul.
I pray we can all take something from this and slowly but surely give up music for no other than Allah, our creator; the one who loves us 70 times more than our mother loves us. Music will always, always divert us from the straight path, but we must never lose hope in the mercy of Allah...
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Lots of love xxx
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