Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
The sound of Shaitaan—a statement that Abu Bakr used when he described music. The Prophet didn't say that to Abu Bakr. Where did you get this from? Music is not Shaitaan.
Music is good. Listen to music. He didn't say that. And Nabiullah Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wasallam—if something is said in his presence and it is wrong, he would be the first to correct it.
Killing, drugs, prostitution—modern-day studies have shown a correlation between them and music. Shaitaan's voice is what? Music. When you are listening to that music and you're nodding to it and you're jumping up, you're enjoying the sound of Shaitaan.
In the seerah of our Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wasallam—the biography of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam—we were talking about the Prophet's relationship with our mother Aisha, how gentle and soft the Prophet was towards his wife Aisha. Al-Imam Al-Bukhari and also Muslim both narrated in their sahih on the authority of Aisha herself that she said:
"The Prophet entered the house whilst I was in the house. I had two servants from Ghaniyani, both of whom were singing; then two of the Jariyat were singing for me, and they were singing the song of the Day of Baath."
We spoke about the Day of Baath. It was a battle that took place between the two tribes of Aus and Khazraj. There was a song in which they were singing related to that fight—those two Jariyat. When the Prophet entered and saw them singing, he walked by; he lay on his bed, turned his head away from Aisha, and went to sleep. He wanted to sleep.
When Abu Bakr entered, he rebuked his daughter. He told her off. He told Aisha off. He said to her, "Are you going to listen to music and its songs of Shaitaan?" And on top of that, you're going to do it in the presence of the Prophet! You're going to listen to the song and you're going to do it in the presence of the Prophet!
The Prophet looked at Abu Bakr and said to him, "Leave them. Don't stop them."
It was a day of Eid. That day, Aisha said it was a day of Eid when the Abyssinians were playing on their spears outside. The Prophet said to me, "Do you want to watch what they are doing?" And she said, "Of course, O Messenger of Allah. I want to watch it." What the Prophet did was he took her, and they watched it together. She said her cheek and the Prophet's cheek were next to each other as they watched the Abyssinians playing on their spears, and the Prophet was saying, "Carry on. Oh, the people of Arafat." He was, you know, enjoying this with his beloved wife Aisha. And when she had enjoyed enough, he said, "You want to stop? Stop it here." She said, "Yes," and that's when she stopped watching it.
There's a lot to unpack from this story; there's a lot to take from it. First of all, the point we mentioned for the story is how the Prophet was with his wife. We have to take a lot from Nabiullah Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He had so much responsibility, so many things that he had to cater to and do, but he had time for his wife who just wanted to watch a play—and he, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, did that because she wanted it. This amazes a person—how Nabiullah Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, was a mercy, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is before Hollywood and Bollywood; this is before humans started to—way before all of that.
This is in the middle of the desert where women had no rights—they were buried alive. That is the context you have to understand, and he was like this, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Another thing we take from the story is how important it is that a father talks to his daughter about her marriage. If he sees that she might do something that may harm her marriage—if he sees that his daughter is falling, going astray—he reminds her and says, "Dad, don't do this. Don't upset your husband. Don't harm this marriage. Fear Allah in this." That is the role of the parent: to keep the marriage going well and not to play a role in dividing and destroying the marriage of your child. So you're always on their side, honey.
Tell your daughter to fulfill the rights of her husband, to do what is upon her. And if there's something you feel that her brother is falling short on, tell him without your daughter present. Talk to him privately and say, "Uncle, maybe these things—inshallah—be gentle; maybe observe these things." But tell her to listen to you, and tell her, inshallah ta'ala, to fulfill her obligations. That's what you tend to find from the story we mentioned last week about what Umar, r.a., said to his daughter Hafsa: "Fear Allah in your relationship with the Prophet. Do you not fear that a verse will come down on you and your situation, and on how you are towards the Prophet?"
This is also another benefit that we take, which we find from Shaykhan Abu Bakr and Umar—how they talk to their daughters. We also took another story last week where Abu Bakr scolded his daughter, and the Prophet had to stop him and say, "Don't get angry, Aisha." We spoke about that story last week.
Another benefit we take from here is a statement that Abu Bakr used when he described music. He called music "Mismar a Shaytan"—the sound of Shaytan—and the Prophet didn't correct him. He called music the sound of Shaytan, and the Prophet didn't say to Abu Bakr, "Where did you get this from? Music is not Shaytan. Music is good. Listen to music." He didn't say that. And maybe, if something is said in the presence of Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and it is wrong, he would be the first to correct it. He would never, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, watch a munkar—an evil—done in his presence and approve of it. No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't even delay the clarification.
تَأْخِيرُ الْبَيَانِ فِي وَقْتِ الْحَاجَةِ لَا يَجُوزُ فِي حَقِّهِ, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Delaying clarification at a time when it is needed is not permissible in its right. The Prophet will never do that. He will clarify when he comes to it. From the things that we can say, that is from the Sunnah—whatever was done in the Prophet's presence and he did not disagree with it—like something the sahabas did in his presence and he did not correct it—he didn't say anything about it. We can say that this is permissible, even if the Prophet didn't say or do it. This is considered an approval, a consent from the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
And, my brothers, modern-day studies have shown the correlation between many violences, many crimes, and music. That's what they found.
There are a lot of crimes: killing, drugs, and prostitution, and in many things there are haram and even illegal activities. They found a correlation between these and music. SubhanAllah, a lot of people who even commit crimes of killing others in Western countries like England and others will tell you, "We listen to music." Not only do they listen to music, but they listen to a certain type of music that drives them to commit these crimes. This then really proves the Nusul—the Quran and the Sunnah—that music is something to stay away from. In fact, there have been studies that showed that music increases depression and anxiety, and it also increases people having split personalities—not as a medical condition, but as a living double life.
And this is something Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said—it is not authentically attributed to the Prophet, lakin inna al-ghina yunbitu fil qalbi nifaq—that music brings hypocrisy into the heart. It brings about hypocrisy; you become something in public versus something in private. Let's take some of the evidences from the Quran regarding this issue, because many youngsters go to schools, colleges, and universities, and these are a lot of the places where people hear about music. So, inshallah ta'ala, let me mention some of the verses regarding this, and what I want you to pay attention to is the music that, at that time, these ayat were speaking about—the music they were listening to—versus the music today, which is filth. And, of course, I'm referring to the English language. I do not know about any other language; I'm referring specifically to the English language. It's filth. The people who do it, it's full of filth and indecent things.
So, let's take some of the ayat and the ahadith regarding this. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, said—pay attention to this:
"Wa minan-nāsi man yashtari lahwal hadīth"
(From amongst the people are those who buy lahwal hadīth.)
That's the word—lahwal hadīth. So, from amongst the people are those who buy lahwal hadīth. Why do they buy it? "Li yudhilla sa'ibī Allāh"—to misguide from the path of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, "bi ghayri 'ilmin"—without knowledge, "wa yattaqidahā huzuwan." And they take it as a form of mockery.
Allah says, "Ulā'ika lahum 'adhābun muhīd."
For those people is a severe, humiliating punishment. So now what we want to know is: this verse mentions that a group of people are going to receive a humiliating punishment—who are these people then? It is those people—"wa minan-nāsi man yattaqid wa minan-nāsi man yashtari lahwal hadīth." It is the people who are buying lahwal hadīth. So, as soon as we read the verse and see what it mentions at the end, we then take the verse to ashaabu Rasoolillah. First, we look at whether the Quran explained itself; if we don't find that, then we look at whether the Prophet explained what the verse means; if we don't find that, then we will go to the companions—sahabah—because they were eyewitnesses. If an accident happens on the road right now, the police write a report—they question the eyewitnesses, those who were there when the accident happened. They will not ask someone who comes two or three days later. The sahabah were the students of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, so they knew the Quran better than anybody. And there are many reasons why they would: first of all, their Arabic language was of a higher level. The Arabic language became tainted, diluted, when many non-Arabs entered Islam, because the Arabs and the non-Arabs, as Muslims, the non-Arabs outnumbered the Arabs. So the language became diluted. The Arabs were marrying non-Arabs; they were having children who could not speak the Arabic language. But the ashaabu Rasoolillah lived in a land where the language was preserved and protected.
Also, the ashaabu Rasoolillah, the companions, did not have any ulterior motive. There was nothing forcing them to look at the verse and say, "Oh, this is what it means." They did not have any ulterior motive. And how do we know that they didn't have any ulterior motive? Allah said about them, "Muhammad Rasulullah wa allatheena ma'ahu ashidda'u 'alal kufari ruhama'u bainahum tarahum rukka'an sujjadan yabtaghoona fadlan min Allāh wa nidwan." In this verse, He praised the companions from many perspectives. He praised them by saying that if you were to enter the masjid of the Prophet, you would see the sahabah in rukoo' and sujood. That is how you would find the sahabah—sujood, rukoo'—that is how they were. Not only that, they were seeking fadlan (virtue) from Allah and ridwan. That was their heart; they were seeking the virtue of Allah. Their rukoo' and sujood was not for TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook—they were seeking fadlan min Allāh wa ridwan. They did it to attain nearness to Allah, to attain Jannah, to please their Lord, Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. That was the hadith, the objective, and the ghaya of why they did it.
So, the sahabah—we take the Quran to them and say, what does this verse mean? Al-Imam al-Wahidiyyu, one of the great scholars of tafsir, said that the majority of the mufassireen have interpreted and explained this verse to mean al-ghina, music. The word lahwal hadīth, he said, has been explained by the majority to mean al-ghina (music). And then he went on to say, "Wahadhihi al-ayatu, this verse, 'wa minan-nāsi man yashtari lahwal hadīth' clearly shows the prohibition of listening to music."
Listen to this carefully: if the majority of the scholars of tafsir, and even the sahabah and the tabi'een, have said that the ayah "wa minan-nāsi man yashtari lahwal hadīth" means music—and at the ending of the verse it says, "ulā'ika lahum 'adhābun muhīd" (for those people is a humiliating punishment)—then who among us wants a humiliating punishment on the Day of Jannah? Does anyone here want it? No Muslim wants that. We don't even want punishment, let alone humiliation.
The scholars who have explained this to mean that lahwal hadīth means music include, first of all, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud did not only explain it to mean music; he said, wallahi, by Allah, "la ilaha ghayru"—he swore by Allah, "There is none worthy of worship except Him. I swear by Him that this ayah, 'wa minan-nāsi man yashtari lahwal hadīth,' is referring to music. I swear by Allah." He did not just say that—it is well known that when it comes to the tafsir of the Quran, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said, "Ma bid ayatin fi Kitabillahi illa wa ana a'lamu ayna nazalat wa mata nazalat," meaning, "There is no ayah in the Quran except that I know where it was revealed and when it was revealed." I know where it came down. I even know on whom it was revealed. If I knew anyone who knew the Quran better than I did—in whom even my camel could not reach—I would go to him and take the knowledge of the Quran from him. But I don't know anyone better than me. That's who Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was when it came to the Quran. When he was alive, he was the most knowledgeable. Thirty years after him lived Abdullah ibn Abbas, and of course Ibn Taymiyyah, rahimahullah, mentions that Ibn Abbas surpassed him, because if somebody lives on after you and increases in beneficial knowledge every day and righteous action, then their life on this earth is nothing but good—they are accumulating good.
He had Abdullah ibn Abbas, as you all know, when the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, died, Abdullah ibn Abbas—according to one view he was 13 years old, according to another view 15, and according to another view 17 (taking the highest, which is 17). Abdullah ibn Abbas lived until he lost his eyesight. I am talking about Abdullah ibn Abbas, who then became the most knowledgeable man in tafsir. But when Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was alive, Ibn Abbas was young and had not attained that knowledge. So what am I trying to say here, brothers and sisters? What I'm saying is that if Abdullah ibn Mas'ud did not swear by Allah, we would take it from him because of his knowledge and his piety. Imagine if he swore by Allah—he is from the people who explained the ayah to mean music. Not only him, but Abdullah ibn Abbas agreed with him, and Abdullah ibn Umar agreed with him. That's from the Companions.
Remember, brothers, when these sahabah explained the ayah in this way—and they explained it: Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar—the four of the Abdullahs (though Abdullah ibn Mas'ud is not among the four, as he is older than them). So we have two from the group of Abdullah, and on top of that, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. And we all together—when these sahabah said that the ayah means this—no sahabah disagreed with them. No one said, "That's not what it means." It is, then, wrong for us to come 1400 something years later and say, "This is just the opinion of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, or of Abdullah ibn Umar, or of Abdullah ibn Abbas." The question we pose is: Who among the sahabah said that to them? Who disagreed? The fact that the entirety of the companions were silent about that commentary of the verse is an indication that they agreed with it. They agreed with it, and this is a form of consensus. Not only that, then came the students of the sahabah, and they all agreed with the sahabah on this: they agreed with Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and Abdullah ibn Umar. From them are Saeed ibn Jubair, Mujahid ibn Jabr, Ikrimah, Ibrahim ibn Nakha'i, Hassan al-Basri, Baymur ibn Mehran, and others.
So what we take from this first verse is: listening to or buying music will lead to "ulā'ika lahum 'adhābun mahīn"—a severe punishment. And that is before we reach the Akhirah.
There are many verses. Let's take the words from another verse, which is the second. When Shaytan was taken out of Jannah and he was told to leave Jannah, exiled, he was told:
فَخْرُجْ إِنَّكَ مِعِنَكَ الرَّجِيمُ
("Get out. You are expelled from Jannah, and you are never to enter this place again.")
Shaytan spoke to Allah. He said:
قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنذِرْنِي إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
("O my Lord, then warn me until the Day they are resurrected.")
He said, "O Allah, allow me to live until the Day of Resurrection. Please, I want to live; I don't want to be killed; I want to live."
Why? This man, Adam, was the cause of me leaving Jannah. Adam was the reason I left Jannah. I need to take his children; I need to take them with me to Jannah."
And there are many verses in the Quran that speak about that answer he gave. Some verses keep it general, some verses expand on it, and some go into many more details. One verse, Allah said:
لَأُوِّيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
("I will certainly gather them all, except Your sincere servants.")
In another place, He said:
لَأَقْعُدَنَّهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ثُمَّ لَأَتِيَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ إِيمَانِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ شَبَائِنِهِمْ وَلَا تَجِدُوا أَكْتَرَ مُشَاكِرِينَ
("I will surely set them on Your straight path, then I will bring them to You from before them and from behind them, upon their faith and upon their young ones, and you will not find more ungrateful people.")
I'm going to misguide these children. I'm going to take them to Jannah with me. But in Surah Al-Isra there's another perspective that the Surah introduces. Allah says to him:
وَاسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُمْ بِصَوْتِكَ وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِمْ بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجْلِكَ وَشَارِكُمْ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالأَوْلَادِ وَعِدْهُمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا
("And provoke those of them whom you can with your voice, and bring them to you with your horses and your feet, and share with them in wealth and children, and give them a promise; but the Shaytan only promises delusion.")
Allah says to him: "وَاسْتَفْزِزْ"—"Terrorize, place fear."
O Allah, listen to this and apply this to today's people who listen to music:
وَاسْتَفْزِزْ—Place fear in the hearts of...
وَاسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُمْ بِصَوْتِكَ
("And provoke whoever of them you can with your voice.")
The scholars of tafsir explained that the voice here—Shaytan's voice—is what? Music.
بِصَوْتِكَ—Your voice. Shaytan's voice is what? Music.
When you are listening to that music, and you are nodding to it, and you are jumping up, and you are listening, you are enjoying the sound of Shaytan.
A lot of research that I have read found a strong correlation between people's confidence and the type of music they listen to. They found that people who listen to certain forms of music have heightened fear, are scared, and lack confidence, etc. Even if they did not say that in the research, we already know, Allah Ta'ala, what He said here: people become depressed from listening to it because that's your enemy, Shaytan. He does not want to hold back in any way, shape, or form to destroy you. There is no root. He said to Allah, "Look how arrogant and stubborn and evil you must be to speak to Allah and say to Him, 'I am going to misguide them all.'"
And the only group of people that Shaytan admitted he will not touch—and he will not—is:
"Except those who are sincere."
Wallahi, that's shocking. Your enemy is admitting that there is only one group of people that I can't do anything to. Who are they? The ones who are sincere.
And that's the thing that we lack the most today, is that, isn't it? Sincerity, being genuine, being honest, having ikhlas in what we say and in what we do—that's the thing we lack the most. True? Everyone, we put our hands up today, including myself—sincerity, being sincere.
He said, "Those are the people I am not going to be able to touch. The rest—the remaining—I will take them all with me, and they will come with me."
So, music, brothers—that's what it will do. It will place fear in your heart. Guess what the ayah then says? Shaytan has ownership with them—in their wealth and their children. People who are buying music, listening to this—Shaytan is in ownership with you. He's in your money; you're buying this, you're buying that; you're watching a movie that has music in it, true? You're watching all of that—Shaytan is in ownership with you in your wealth and your children.
Nowadays, it's very hard even to go somewhere without music playing everywhere we go. True? But Shaykh Uli Sahib Ibn Gutaib distinguishes between listening to music and hearing music. Listening is what we're talking about here. Listen: if you go to a restaurant and they play music, it's fine to say to them, "Can you switch it off? Please switch this music off." And if they do it for you, Alhamdulillah. But if they choose not to, as long as you don't listen to it, there is no sin upon you, and hearing it is not—are we all together?—but it is best that even you choose not to hear it, because Nabiullah Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, placed his fingers in his ears when he came by a place where they were playing music.
The reason is, because, wallahi, brothers, you need to protect your hearts. And this heart—so many things can affect it: what you see, what you hear, even what you smell. There are now perfumes that have been made; they've made women wear these sort of perfumes that will sexually attract a man to that woman, and they've given some to the men as well. If a man wears that perfume—I see it on these ads that come on YouTube; they promote it sometimes—perfume, and then the nose, and also even what you eat can affect your heart.
So this heart inside is the king. Just as a ruler is protected by his guards, your heart has to be protected. So you have to protect what you watch, youngsters. A lot of you might suffer from many problems because you're not protecting the root of the heart. You want to see everything; you want to hear everything; you want to say everything; you want to eat everything. Of course, that's going to affect your heart, and your heart becomes weak and weak until you become a slave—slave to whom? To him. He's not going to take you to good; Shaytan won't hold back. He will use many different methods and routes in order to take you to the hellfire and destroy you.
Let's mention some of the ahadith and, inshallah ta'ala, conclude with that point. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, told us: "There is going to be, from amongst My people, a group of people who will make halal for themselves zina, silk, and they will make khamr halal for themselves, and also music." There is going to come a day when the people will make that halal for themselves, and they will use many methods and many ways in order to permit themselves this. They will permit it. How do they permit it? Sometimes they will be clear about it—it is their choice, if they want to; it's fine. Or they might say, "I know where you're coming from, but let's not judge. If people want to have haram, if they want to have these types of relationships—whatever rocks their boat, whatever tickles their fancy—it's their choice. Who are we to judge?" Etc.
And first it was zina, then it became homosexual, and it just carried on. Now everything is just whatever tickles their fancy: zina, silk, alcohol—and the way that people will make these things halal. One of the steps Ibn al-Qayyim mentions in his book is that Shaytan will change the name. Look at it: zina is called "I'm having an affair." Look how nice the word "affair" sounds. So then the idea to be scared of zina is not there; it's an affair. They had an affair. What was it? What other terms did they use? "I'm committed to this person." Alfab terms that drive you in—that's what they use. They call alcohol "juice." Juice. I remember one time a guy tried to ask me for drugs in London. It was sad because a lot of Somalis do drugs. So he thought I was a drug dealer at a bus stop. I had food in my hand, and I remember Tampak Lane, North London. I was taking the bus, and a guy comes up to me and says, "Do you have food?" I was the last customer to get the chicken; I was excited to go home, and my meal was ready—I was going to go home and eat my chicken and chips. So he said, "Do you have food?" and he kept repeating it, and I could see my bag. So I said, "Here it is." He looked at me and said, "No, I want food." He kept repeating it. I didn't understand it. He left, and later I was told he meant "food" as in drugs. Drugs means what? Is it in the UK only, where they call it food? Only in the UK? Elsewhere, do they call it food as well? I don't want to be somebody who is teaching you guys the different names for haram stuff, but it's there; it is all part of the smart move of Shaytan.
Hatta when Shaytan took Adam and Hawa out of Jannah, what did he call the tree that Allah told him not to eat from? He called it "Shajaratun Khuld"—the tree of eternity, and a kingdom that does not end. See, changing names was his style. He said to Adam, "Do you want to eat from the tree of eternity?" Because human beings, if you tell them "This is permanent. Allah, we love permanent; this is forever, really. This is always going to be yours," that's all I've been asking for. So that's what he understood: he understood what the human wants to hear, and he allowed him to hear what he wants—kingdom, leadership—that's what he said to Adam.
So this idea is what Shaytan uses. He did the same with Qamar and also music—different names they've given music to allow it. This hadith mentions:
وَلَيَنزِلَنَّ أَقْوَامٌ إِلَى جَنْبِ عَلَمٍ يَرُوحُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِسَارِحَةٍ لَهُمْ
("And there will come down groups of people by the side of a flag, who will roam about with it for them.")
The hadith says there is going to be a group of people listening to music. They will be engaged in music—listening. Listening to what? Music. So a group of people will come to them while they are listening to music, and they will say to them, "قَالَ: ارْجِعْ عَلَيْنَا غَدًا"
("He said: 'Return to us tomorrow.'")
They will say to them, "Come back to us tomorrow." The hadith is from Bukhari. They're listening to music; they're dancing; they're enjoying themselves. A group of people ask for some favor or something from them. They say, "Look, come back to us tomorrow, before the other people come back."
فَيُبَيِّتُهُمُ اللَّهُ
("Then Allah will cause them to spend the night [in a state of punishment].")
The narration mentions Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. What does He do? He destroys them:
وَيَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ مَيْتًا
("And Allah will make them dead, Subhanahu wa ta'ala.")
The mountain that they were on, on their heads—earthquakes—meaning the earth swallows them.
Actually, the Prophet, ﷺ, said in a hadith:
يَكُونُ فِي أُمَّتِي
("There will come in my ummah...")
an increase of earthquakes. When the earth shakes, why is it? When this happens:
إِذَا ظَهَرَ الْمَعَازِفُ
("When the musical instruments become apparent,")
music—people listen to music, وَكَثُرَ الْقِيَانُ
("and the women who dance increase,")
وَشُرِبَتِ الْخُبُورُ
("and the alcohol is consumed.")
When that happens, wait for the earthquake to come.
Another hadith, the Prophet, ﷺ, said:
يُمسَخُ قَوْمٌ
("A group of people will be deformed,")
Allah will deform them. He will change their physique, the way they look, from this ummah,
فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ
("in the late times before the Hour strikes;")
they will be deformed into what?
قِرَادَةً وَخَنَازِيرَ
("into locusts and pigs"), and monkeys.
And I'm telling you, brothers, if you look at some of these rappers—who are rapping, the way they jump, the way they sound, the way they act—some of them already look as though they've been deformed into pigs and monkeys, the way they're jumping from one table to another and screaming, calling themselves different names. One of them, his name is something like "Dog"—he called himself that name, and he's called "Dog." That's what he called himself. The youngsters are laughing because they know this stuff.
And this is a—do you understand, brothers?—things that were once, when we used to look at these ahadith, we used to just wonder. We didn't disbelieve in them; we used to just wonder and ask ourselves, "How is this going to happen? In what way is it going to occur?" Now it's unfolding in front of our eyes.
So, music, brothers: if Allah has blessed you with children, wallahi, the greatest thing you can do is to protect them from it. Protect them—your children—from this evil. Not only is music haram, generally, but our grandparents listened to music far better than what our children do today. The music today, in the English language, is vulgar—and of course, I don't need to explain that to you. All the things that our Deen tells us are haram—music glorifies killing someone, murdering someone; all evil is glorified.
I spoke to youngsters—I asked them, "Tell me, heart to heart." This is in the UK. Some of them went to prison; they came out, they killed, they murdered, they sold drugs—sorts of things. I said, "Talk to me, what is it?" A lot of them pinpointed it to music.
So, if you want, inshallah, to take your religion seriously, it can never happen that the book of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala—the Quran—and music both occupy your heart. Just as fire and water cannot be together, one has to dominate. If you want the Quran, get rid of music; if you want music, then the Quran will go—they both can't stay together. Hypocrisy, zina—zina extends from the music.
People whose rap and their music that they create—in the US, in America, in the UK—the way they speak about women, they have the audacity to talk about how Islam honors women; the way that they speak about women, the way that they say about them. When you are trying to buy car insurance in the UK, what do you find on the car insurance website? A woman sitting on top of the car, naked. What's this woman got to do with the car insurance? This is to degrade the woman, to degrade her value. Those people have the audacity to say Islam believes this about women, and Islam believes...
So the point I remember: when the Me Too movement happened—the Me Too movement, you guys remember it online, where all these big rappers and music artists were being dragged into what they were being dragged into—"Oh, he did this to me." Names were being mentioned and cases were being opened. This was an indication that they failed in what Islam was saying. And I remember there was a famous woman who said something like, "Islam has a point, Allah—the Quran has a point—about how it segregates men from women and how it protects us from listening to music, from doing these things." If we follow these guidelines, if we follow these rules, we will benefit. We will see good in our lives; we will be productive in so many things. If we follow these guidelines, if we don't, we will suffer, and the consequences will be something we will not be able to bear.
The last point I want to say: Shaytan is what this all goes back to, right? If your Shaytan becomes weak, you starve him, because he doesn't eat. Because every food that you eat you say "Bismillah" when you enter your house, you make the dua so he has nowhere to sleep, you do not entertain him. If you keep on following his commands, what are the effects he is going to have on you? A hungry, tired, starving Shaytan—will he be able to control you into doing anything wrong or bad? He is looking for something to eat and to sleep, and that is what he will be busy with, right? But if your Shaytan—every time you get food you jump on it, you pound on it, you feed your Shaytan; you give him a house to come to; you let him be in your blood, in your system, so he grows and grows and grows—then you say, "Shaykh, I am struggling." Of course you are struggling. Your Shaytan has got six packs; your Shaytan is well taken care of. He is in the best form—he is, in the best form—you have no way, shape, or form to fight against this enemy that doesn't care about you.
So that is why I say, brothers: these things—not listening to music—the benefits are many. Your knowledge of the religion will increase; your family issues will be resolved; your health; your feelings as a person—how tranquil! Put your hand up and be honest: how many of you, when you hear a beautiful recitation of a Shaykh that you like—the Quran—you just feel tranquility? Put your hand up; we all do, right? Honestly, brothers, there is a beautiful Shaykh here who leads the Salah of Shaykh Abdul Aziz Abu Alghayt—an amazing reciter. When he reads the Quran, I did that on Friday. When I listen to him, I question: should I do the seerah, or should I just run away? Like, after that, can somebody really talk? Amazing reciter—may Allah preserve and honor him—when you hear that Quran, do you not feel tranquility? Or when you hear peace—that is something music can never give you.
You know why you feel that tranquility? It is because these words and your body and your heart are from the same Creator. They came from Him—these are the words of your Creator, and this body and this mind are from the Creator who created them. They go together; they want to be together—harmony. You feel ease; you cry; you feel it in your heart.
But do you know what people are doing nowadays? Shaytan is coming in another form: "Don't listen to music. Listen to what is called ASMR." That is what they are choosing—these noises. They listen to noise, raps, somebody scratching the microphone, replacing those noises to feel. Do you know who that is made for? Do you know who they gave that to? People who have left religion, who have become materialistic—there is a vacuum in them where the spiritual side is absent. So they need something to bring them back to natural, real... Everything has become fake.
So this is what real noise is. Why would you go for that when you have kalamullah—the speech of Allah? Again, this is the thought of Shaytan coming in a different form, and all he wants is to take you away from the Quran and the speech of Allah that your body and your mind need.
I have spoken for too long. Anything I have said that was wrong or incorrect is from me and Shaytan, and Allah and His Messenger are both free from it.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَن لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ، وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ.
