In this article  we will be discussing a very controversial yet important topic.

First let’s start off, what is entertainment?

If you were to look it up in the dictionary it says: “the action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment.”

From this definition we can come to conclude several things. One that entertainment can be halal and can be haram. Two, Muslim are allowed to have entertainment.

This topic is one that comes up with many of the young Muslims.  They seem to have this understanding that having fun is not permitted for the believer, and this understanding is something which drives them away from practicing Islam as they begin to find Islam constraining and difficult upon themselves.

We need to begin by first examining the attitude of people towards entertainment.  Among those who live a worldly life without any attachment to the religion, their understanding of entertainment is that this is what life is all about.  Many people live their lives for entertainment.  They want to have fun even though they work and earn money.  The money is used to purchase more means of entertainment.  If they have a television, they are working harder to buy a bigger television.  If they have a car with a radio in it, they want to buy a radio with an MP3 player.  If it has an MP3 player, they want to buy a DVD player for the car.  If they have PlayStation 2, they want to buy PlayStation 3.  It is always about more and getting more entertainment and enjoying life more.

This is the attitude of those who are caught up in this world among the Muslims and the non-Muslims.  This is a very destructive attitude as it distracts us from the purpose of life.  Allah  created us to primarily worship and obey Him.  If we are distracted too many hours by making money and then using that money to have fun, what happens is that we now do not have time to worship Allah.  You find people who when you tell them to join you for an Islamic project, the first excuse is “we don’t have time.”  They have time to watch 3 hours of movies every day and play four hours of video games every day, but they don’t have one hour to devote to Allah.  This is a very dangerous position to be in.

It is these types of people who Allah  speaks about in the Quran in Surat al-Takathur when He says, “The competition to gather the nice things in this world has distracted you until you visit the graves (meaning until you die).  Then only will you come to know the reality.  Definitely then only will you come to know the reality.”  Allah continues in the surah and says that these people who spend their entire lives chasing after this world when they die “they will see the hellfire with their own eyes, and on that Day, Allah will ask them about the good things He gave them in this world and what they did with them.”  It is very important for us that while we as humans want to have fun, we should not allow this to distract us from our purpose in life.  We need to prioritize and realize that the purpose why Allah created us is to worship Him.  This should always be a priority.

The idea of just having fun and enjoying life and making money is not an Islamic understanding of the world.  The Islamic understanding, however, is not the opposite extreme.  There are Muslims who go to the opposite extreme and say that we are here only to worship Allah so there is no such thing as entertainment and there is no such thing as having fun, but this is a misunderstanding.  This is a wrong understanding of Islam.

The correct attitude of a Muslim is that Allah created us upon the fiṭrah.  He created us with natural inclinations towards good or evil.  There is nothing in this religion which is against our fiṭrah.  Anything that is part of human nature is accommodated for in Islam, and so to the human need for recreation is also accommodated.

We find that Islam allows people to enjoy themselves but in ways that are wholesome, pure and halal.

In Islam there are even forms of entertainment that are recommended. There are other forms of entertainment which are recommended,: swimming, archery, horse riding and wrestling and other forms of physical martial arts.  These types of things are recommended because they help keep the body fit.  Likewise, spending time with your wife and your children is all recommended in Islam and in fact it sometimes even becomes obligatory on a person to spend at least a minimal amount of time with their family members.  Having fun together with your children and with your wife are things which Islam recommends.  Take them out.  Go to a park.  Go and eat out together.  These things are very much recommended as it helps to strengthen the unity of the family.

Likewise, dealing with nature brings you closer to Allah, so if you enjoy visiting zoos and parks and places where there is a lot of nature and animals, this is something which is good. 

Now let’s talk about Music, this is s topic so controversial that many people just chose to avoid the topic all together.

What is Music?

Music, according to the New National Dictionary, means "Art of combining sounds or sequences of notes into harmonious patterns pleasing to the ear and satisfying to the emotions; melody". According to the Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary, this combining of sounds is "for reproduction by the voice or various kinds of musical instruments in rhythmic, melodious and harmonious form so as to express thought or feeling and affect the emotion;" and the word is also used for the "sound so produced," and for ‘written or printed score of musical compositions." Not so technically, it is also used for "pleasant sound, e.g., song of a bird, murmur of a stream, cry of hounds."

In Islam music is called Ghina, and in Shia tradition is counted as one of the ‘great sins’. At first, it may seem unrealistic to ban every "pleasant sound"; but there is no need to be alarmed. The tradition has defined ‘Ghina’ in a different way. In Islam, vocal music means: "Prolongation and vibration of sound with variation of the pitch to such an extent that people may say that ‘he/she is singing’."

It is evident from the above definition that the tradition does not forbid ‘pleasant sounds’; but if someone recites anything with prolongation of sound and variation of pitch so much so that a common man thinks that he/she is singing, then and only then it will be ‘Ghina’ and sin.

And it makes no difference whether the thing recited was the Qur’an, religious poem or love song.

What does the Quran say about Music?

Here are four verses of the Qur’an which forbid the Muslims from indulging into music.

"So abstain from the pollution of the idols and abstain from false vain words." (22:30).

The Arabic word "Zoor" has several meanings which include falsehood and the musical expressions. According to Imam Ja’far Al-Sadiq (a.s.) "pollution of the idols" means Chess and "Vain words" means music.

See how ‘Music’ has been joined in this Ayat with the pollution of idols", only then you can appreciate the seriousness of the sin of Music.

"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)." (31:6).

‘Lahwo’ means anything which diverts the mind from serious thinking. "Vain talk" has been interpreted by the Imam as some talk, sound or thing which diverts the attention of man from the ultimate aim of his creation; in other words makes him forget Allah and His commands. For example fictions romantic stories and such useless talks. "It includes ‘Music’, intoxicants and all such diversions."

Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) said: Music is among the things for which Allah has promised the Fire (of Hell). Then he recited the above Ayat

"Indeed successful are the believers those who in their prayer are humble and those who keep themselves aloof from Vain (words and deeds)." (23:1-3).

‘Laghwo’ (Vain words and actions): The first Imam, Imam Ali (a.s.) said that "all that is void of the remembrance of Allah is ‘Laghwo’. According to other authentic traditions of Imams, ‘Laghwo’ means all useless entertainment, wasteful of times among which music has been specifically mentioned. Also included in this term are vain games played just to while away the time.

"And the servants of the Merciful Allah are those.......... who bear not witness to what is false, and when they pass by what is vain they pass with dignity"(25:72).

The words ‘Zoor’ and ‘Laghwo’ have been explained earlier. According to the traditions of Imams (a.s.), the first part may also be translated in this way: "who do not witness what is vain"! And accordingly, it has been interpreted in the exegesis of the Qur’an as "do not listen to music."

The following two traditions explain the second part:

Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (a.s.) asked some of his companions: "Where are you staying?"

They replied: "With so and so, who has singing and dancing girls. Imam said: "You should have dignity."

They thought that Imam (a.s.) had advised them to treat that man generously. But they were not sure; so they returned to the Imam and requested him to explain his meaning to them.

Imam said: "have not you heard Allah saying `when they pass by what is vain they pass with dignity’?

Imam meant that you should not stay with a man who has singing and dancing girls.

Second tradition: Muhammad bin Abi Ibad was known to indulge in music and liquor. He once asked Imam Ali Ar-Ridha (a.s.) about listening to music.

Imam said: Some people in Hijaz have their own view about it but that view is absolutely wrong. Have you not heard the word of Allah ‘when they pass by what is vain they pass in dignity’?"