In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Allah, The Most High, said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

O you who believe! Do not put (yourselves) forward before Allah and His Messenger, and fear Allah. Verily! Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ

O you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet.

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

When it is the case that Allah forbade us from giving precedence to (ourselves) over the Messenger, then which type of giving precedence to oneself over the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, can be more severe than giving precedence to one’s intellect over the revelation he was sent with? Many of the pious predecessors have stated that this Ayah means: “Do not say anything (about the religion) until the Messenger speaks and do not act until he commands you”. The most disobedient person among the people and the most severe with regards to giving precedence to himself over the Messenger is the one who gives precedence to his intellect or the intellect of another person over the revelation. And when it is the case that Allah has forbidden them (i.e. humankind) from raising their voices above the voice of the Messenger, then how about raising their intellects above the statements of the Messenger and the revelation he conveyed?! [1]

Allah, The Most High, said:

لَّا تَجۡعَلُواْ دُعَآءَ ٱلرَّسُولِ بَيۡنَڪُمۡ كَدُعَآءِ بَعۡضِكُم بَعۡضً۬ا‌ۚ قَدۡ يَعۡلَمُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَسَلَّلُونَ مِنكُمۡ لِوَاذً۬ا‌ۚ فَلۡيَحۡذَرِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنۡ أَمۡرِهِۦۤ أَن تُصِيبَہُمۡ فِتۡنَةٌ أَوۡ يُصِيبَہُمۡ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

Make not the calling of the Messenger (Muhammad) among you as your calling of one another. Allah knows those of you who slip away under shelter (of some excuse without taking the permission to leave, from the Messenger). And let those who oppose the Messenger’s (Muhammad) commandment (i.e. his Sunnah legal ways, orders, acts of worship, statements, etc.) (among the sects) beware, lest some Fitnah befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them. [An-Nur 63]

Allah said: [فَلۡيَحۡذَرِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنۡ أَمۡرِهِۦۤ -And let those who oppose the Messenger’s (Muhammad) commandment (i.e. his Sunnah, orders, acts of worship, statements) beware]; [أَن تُصِيبَہُمۡ فِتۡنَةٌ – lest some Fitnah befall them]: Meaning: [Lest] misguidance, calamity in the worldly life or disbelief befall them. [أَوۡ يُصِيبَہُمۡ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ – or a painful torment be inflicted on them]: Meaning: Killed [i.e. by enemies] in the worldly life or punished in the hell fire in the afterlife. [2]

Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy upon him, said about this Ayah: Do you know what Al-Fitnah is? Al-Fitnah is Shirk. Perhaps if he [i.e. the person] rejects some of his [i.e. the Prophet’s] statements, then something of deviation enters his heart, so he is destroyed. [3]

Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

All praise is due to Allah, who in every age and interval between the Prophets, raises up a group from the people of knowledge, who call the misguided to guidance, patiently bear ill-treatment and harm. With the Book of Allah they give life to the dead and with the Light of Allah they give sight to the blind. How many a person killed by Iblees (the Devil) they have revived, how beautiful their effect has been upon the people, and how vile the people have been towards them! They remove from Allah’s Book the alterations of those going beyond bounds, the false claims of the liars and the false interpretations of the ignoramus- those who uphold the banner of Bidah and let loose the trials and discords, who oppose the Book and agree upon opposing the Book. They speak about Allah and his Book without knowledge, argue about what is ambiguous in the Book and deceive the ignorant ones with such ambiguities. We seek refuge in Allah from the trials of the misguided ones. [4]

Ed Husain claims to fight against extremism and radicalisation. However, in his efforts, he adopts stances that also lead him to the opposite extreme, which is extreme negligence. He said:

Allah, The Most High, said:

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَشۡتَرِى لَهۡوَ ٱلۡحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ بِغَيۡرِ عِلۡمٍ۬ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا‌ۚ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ لَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ۬ مُّهِينٌ۬
وَإِذَا تُتۡلَىٰ عَلَيۡهِ ءَايَـٰتُنَا وَلَّىٰ مُسۡتَڪۡبِرً۬ا كَأَن لَّمۡ يَسۡمَعۡهَا كَأَنَّ فِىٓ أُذُنَيۡهِ وَقۡرً۬ا‌ۖ فَبَشِّرۡهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

And of mankind is he who purchases idle speech to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah without knowledge, and takes it (the Path of Allah, the Verses of the Qur’an) by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment (in the Hell-fire). And when Our Verses (of the Qur’an) are recited to such a one, he turns away in pride, as if he heard them not, as if there were deafness in his ear. So announce to him a painful torment. [Luqman 6-7]

Imam Abdul Aziz Bin Baz, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

The majority of the scholars stated that the intent behind [لَهۡوَ ٱلۡحَدِيثِ – idle speech (in this verse)] refers to music. Some of them stated in addition that this refers to the sounds of the flutes and (forbidden) instruments of amusement. This is the idle speech intended in this verse and it is one of the causes of misguidance from the path of Allah and being misguided.

Indeed, when the hearts are satiated with music, they become sick and hardened (i.e. corrupted)- deviated, thus fall into misguidance. Listening to the Qur’an becomes difficult and they haughtly turn away from listening to it. It leads those preoccupied with it towards corruption and deviation of the hearts, becomes hard for them to listen to the Qur’an and make them heedless through music. Abdullah Bin Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Singing (or music) grows hypocrisy in the heart as water makes plants grow”. This demonstrates to us the danger and evil of music and musical instruments.

It been transmitted in the Prophetic reports whose meaning demonstrates that music is forbidden, and from this reports is that Imam Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy upon him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “There will be people among my Ummah who will make lawful illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk (i.e. for men even though only women are allowed to wear it), the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments”. [Al-Bukhari 5590]

So the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, informed us that during the end of time a people will make it permissible- even though it is forbidden – because of their weak Iman. [5]

Abu Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari, may Allah be pleased with both of them, reported that he heard the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, 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, 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.” [al-Bukhari 5590]

Shaikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated regarding the effect of music upon the souls: “It is the intoxicant of the souls. When the souls are intoxicated with the sounds (from music and musical instruments), Shirk (gradually) comes to them, they incline towards lewd acts and oppression, thus they begin to commit Shirk, murder and fornication. These three deeds are present – a lot – amongst the people who listen to music”. [6]

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: That which we and others have witnessed and acquainted with based on experience, is that indeed musical instruments and instruments used for forbidden amusement do not appear amongst a people, spread amongst them and they busy themselves with it, except that Allah (allows) their enemy to overcome them, and they are afflicted with famine, drought and evil rulers. [Footnote a] Therefore, the sensible person reflects on the state of affairs of the world and examines. And Allah’s Aid is sought! [7]

Footnote a:

https://salafidawahmanchester.com/2021/02/10/believers-bahaviour-towards-muslim-rulers-advisegiven-in-private-supplicate-for-them-and-refrain-from-rebellion-so-beware-of-spiteful-foreign-instigatorsand-some-dangerous-social-media-networ/

[1] “Al-Wabil As-Sayyib” page 21

[2] “Zad Al-Maseer Fee Ilm at-Tafseer” By Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy upon him.

[3] Reported by Ibn Battah in Al-Ibaanah Al-Kubraa 97

[4] Ar-Radd Alal Jahmiyyah Waz-Zanaadiqah. p. 2

[5]https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/7763/%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%AAD8%AD%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1 paraphrased

الجواب: نعم، يقول الله جل وعلا في كتابه المبين: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ ۝ وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا وَلَّى مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَعْهَا كَأَنَّ فِي أُذُنَيْهِ وَقْرًا فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ [لقمان:6-7].
قال أكثر أهل العلم: إن المراد بـ(لهو الحديث) الغناء فهو لهو الحديث.
وقال بعضهم إضافة إلى ذلك: أيضًا أصوات المزامير و الملاهي ……. ………. هذا هو لهو الحديث و….. وهو من أسباب الضلالة عن سبيل الله والإضلال، فإن القلوب إذا تشبعت بالأغاني مرضت وقست وانحرفت فوقعت في الضلال والإضلال وثقل عليها سماع القرآن واستكبرت عن سماعه فهو يفضي بأهله إلى فساد القلوب وانحرافها وتثاقلها عن سماع القرآن وأنسها بالغناء …. من الكلام حتى قال عبد الله بن مسعود : «إن الغناء ينبت النفاق في القلب كما ينبت الماء الزرع » فهذا يبين لنا خطر الأغاني وشرها وآلات الملاهي.
وقد جاء في المعنى أحاديث تدل على تحريم الأغاني والملاهي ومن ذلك ما رواه البخاري في الصحيح عن النبي ﷺ أنه قال: ليكونن من أمتي أقوام يستحلون الحر والحرير والخمر والمعازف.
الحر: هو الفرج الحرام الزنا، الحرير معروف وهو محرم على الرجال، والخمر معروف وهو كل مسكر، والمعازف: الأغاني والملاهي فأخبر النبي ﷺ أنه يأتي في آخر الزمان قوم يستحلونها وهي محرمة لضعف إيمانهم وقلة مبالاتهم، ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله. نعم

[6] Majmu Al-Fatawa 10/417

[7] Madarij As-Salikin 1/500