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Is it Haram to Listen to Music?

Two kinds of voices are used in music: human voice and the voice of instruments. Those voices are
evaluated based on their nature, topic and effect. Either music affects the spirit of man and brings
about lofty, religious and heroic feelings in him, or a piece of music that man listens to addresses his
soul and brings about mean feelings, causing the lofty feelings to disappear.

the voice that is permissible to listen should remind man the lofty sorrows, that is, the ephemera of
the world that death could occur any time an that man could turn to dust one day; it should also
remind the fear of Allah, the divine love, the love of Allah and the manifestations of the great names
and attributes of Allah in the beautiful works of art. It is permissible to listen to all kinds of voices
that excite those feelings. However, it is not permissible to listen to the voices that remind
depressing sorrows, that cause hopelessness in man, that remind the agony of being separated from
bounties, that lead man to pessimism, that address the lustful feelings of man, that address the
lustful desires of man that make the soul enjoy it.

Imam Ghazali examines music under three headings


as haram (forbidden), makrooh (abominable) and mubah (permissible) (Ihya, 2: 279-
81) and says the following:
The voices that excite only the desire of the world and feelings of lust in people full of
those feelings and desires are haram for those people. 
Another example: senorita - Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello
Ooh, when your lips undress me
Hooked on your tongue
Ooh love, your kiss is deadly
Don't stop
I love it when you call me señorita
I wish I could pretend I didn't need you
But every touch is ooh la la la
It's true, la la la
It is makrooh to listen to them for people who spend most of their time listening and who
are used to listening to them as a habit.  
It is mustahab (preferable) for a person who is full of love for Allah to listen to music if
that voice excites the nice attributes in him.
For example :
Everytime you feel like you cannot go on
You feel so lost
That you're so alone
All you is see is night
And darkness all around
You feel so helpless
You can't see which way to go
Don't despair and never lose hope
Cause Allah is always by your side
Insha Allah, Insha Allah
Insha Allah, you'll find your way
Insha Allah, Insha Allah
Insha Allah you'll find your way
Imam Ghazali later says that what makes music haram is not the music itself but the
things that are added to it later, and classifies them as follows:

“If a woman sings and if a man listening to her is afraid that her voice will excite her,
then it is haram to listen to her. Here, what makes it haram is not the music but the voice
of the woman.

If the lyrics of the song are harmful and contrary to the belief and ethics of Islam, it is
haram to listen to it whether accompanied by music or without music.”

If a person who is the slave of carnal feelings due to his/her youth indulges
himself/herself in music too much and spends most of his/her time listening to music,
he/she becomes debauched.

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