Question
What is the reference and authenticity of the ḥadīth: “I was sent to break musical instruments”?
Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʿammā baʿd!
◄ This narration is found in:
- Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, Kitāb al-Ḥudūd, Bāb Bayān al-Khamr wa-Waʿīd Shāribihā, section 3, ḥadīth no. 3654 (21).
- Also in Musnad Imām Aḥmad, vol. 5, pp. 257–268.
◄ Shaykh al-Albānī (raḥimahullāh) has written in his notes on Mishkāt:
“Wa isnāduhu ḍaʿīf”
(“Its chain of narration is weak”).
✅ However, there is a ṣaḥīḥ narration in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Ashriba, Bāb no. 6, which proves that musical instruments are ḥarām.
