Surah Luqman (31) — Ayah 6

(Ayah 7,6) ➊ After mentioning the qualities of the Muhsineen and the good outcome for them, those unfortunate ones are mentioned for whom {’’ عَذَابٌ مُّهِيْنٌ ‘‘}—that is, a humiliating punishment—has been prepared. The literal meaning of {’’ لَهْوَ ‘‘} is “to make heedless,” as He said: «{ لَا تُلْهِكُمْ اَمْوَالُكُمْ وَ لَاۤ اَوْلَادُكُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللّٰهِ }» [ المنافقون : ۹ ] “Your wealth and your children should not make you heedless of the remembrance of Allah.” {’’ لَهْوَ ‘‘} refers to anything or any action that makes a person heedless of his objective. Shaykh Abdur Rahman al-Sa'di, in his commentary on this verse, says: {’’ وَ مِنَ النَّاسِ ‘‘} “Among the people, there are such unfortunate and deprived ones, {’’ مَنْ يَّشْتَرِيْ ‘‘} who desire and love in such a way as one who spends wealth to acquire something loves, {’’ لَهْوَ الْحَدِيْثِ ‘‘} those things that make hearts heedless and prevent them from the great objective. Thus, this includes every forbidden speech, every falsehood, and every nonsense that contains statements which incite disbelief, wickedness, and disobedience—whether these are the statements of those who reject the truth, who argue with falsehood to defeat the truth, whether in the form of backbiting, slander, lying, and abuse, or in the form of singing, musical instruments of Satan, and heedless tales and stories, which have no benefit in this world or the Hereafter. So, this category of people is the one that leaves the word of guidance and buys {’’ لَهْوَ ‘‘}.”
➋ I have quoted the words of Shaykh Abdur Rahman al-Sa'di because generally in this verse, {’’ لَهْوَ الْحَدِيْثِ ‘‘} is taken to mean only singing and music, whereas the meaning of the verse is much broader, even though unlawful singing (prohibited music) is also included in it. In Tabari, it is established with a good chain from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he swore an oath and said that what is meant by this is singing, so this is an explanation of one part of {’’ لَهْوَ الْحَدِيْثِ ‘‘}. Here, it is necessary to keep in mind that its application will be to such singers and musicians who prevent from religion, make a mockery of the verses of Allah, and turn away from them with arrogance upon hearing them, because these qualities are explicitly mentioned in these verses, and these are the qualities of the disbelievers, not the Muslims, and for them is the humiliating punishment. The punishment that befalls a Muslim is to purify him from sins. However, it cannot be denied that those who call themselves Muslims and make unlawful romantic singing and music their profession or pastime, as a result, the worst hypocrisy develops in their hearts, and their attitude towards the verses of Allah upon hearing them becomes exactly as mentioned in these verses. These people mock the verses of Allah by mocking the maulvi and abusing him, whereas it is clear that the only fault of the maulvi is that he recites the verses of Allah. In such a case, merely being a Muslim by name will be of no benefit in the sight of Allah. Insisting on the claim of being Muslim while denying, showing arrogance towards, and mocking the verses of Allah will be of no use to them on the Day of Judgment. Alas! At this time, this disease has spread terribly in the Muslim Ummah. Through radio, television, mobile phones, the internet, in short, through every means, the disbelievers and their so-called Muslim agents have spread it so much that hardly any fortunate one is safe from it. Whereas, apart from the rise and fall of religion, it also has a great role in worldly rise and fall. Iqbal has depicted this in a few words:
I will tell you what is the destiny of nations:
First the sword and spear, then the peacock and the lute.
If a person commits the act of unlawful singing and music considering it a sin and feels remorse, then there is still hope for forgiveness. But when a nation, by calling it fine arts or food for the soul, declares it lawful, then it becomes very difficult for it to escape the whip of Allah’s punishment. Abu Amir or Abu Malik al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَيَكُوْنَنَّ مِنْ أُمَّتِيْ أَقْوَامٌ يَسْتَحِلُّوْنَ الْحِرَ وَالْحَرِيْرَ وَالْخَمْرَ وَالْمَعَازِفَ ، وَلَيَنْزِلَنَّ أَقْوَامٌ إِلٰی جَنْبِ عَلَمٍ يَرُوْحُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِسَارِحَةٍ لَّهُمْ، يَأْتِيْهِمْ، يَعْنِي الْفَقِيْرَ، لِحَاجَةٍ فَيَقُوْلُوْا ارْجِعْ إِلَيْنَا غَدًا فَيُبَيِّتُهُمُ اللّٰهُ وَيَضَعُ الْعَلَمَ ، وَيَمْسَخُ آخَرِيْنَ قِرَدَةً وَخَنَازِيْرَ إِلٰی يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ] [ بخاري، الأشربۃ، باب ما جاء فیمن یستحل الخمر… : ۵۵۹۰ ] “There will be people in my Ummah who will declare fornication, silk, wine, and musical instruments as lawful, and some people will descend by the side of a mountain, their shepherd will bring their livestock to them in the evening, a poor man will come to them for his need, they will say, ‘Come back tomorrow.’ Allah will send His punishment upon them during the night and will cause the mountain to fall upon them, and He will transform others among them into monkeys and pigs until the Day of Resurrection.” Abu Malik al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لَيَشْرَبَنَّ نَاسٌ مِّنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَمْرَ يُسَمُّوْنَهَا بِغَيْرِ اسْمِهَا، يُعْزَفُ عَلٰی رُؤُوْسِهِمْ بِالْمَعَازِفِ وَالْمُغَنِّيَاتِ يَخْسِفُ اللّٰهُ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضَ وَيَجْعَلُ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيْرَ ] [ ابن ماجہ، الفتن، باب العقوبات : ۴۰۲۰، و قال الألباني صحیح ] “Some people from my Ummah will drink wine, calling it by another name, musical instruments will be played before them, and singing women will sing. Allah will cause the earth to swallow them up, and will transform some of them into monkeys and pigs.”

6-1 After mentioning the people of happiness who are guided by the Book of Allah and benefit from listening to it, now the mention is of the people of wretchedness. They turn away from listening to the speech of Allah, but they eagerly listen to and take interest in music, melodies, songs, and the like. By "buying" is meant that they bring musical instruments into their homes with enthusiasm and then enjoy them. "Laghw al-hadith" refers to singing, playing music, its equipment and instruments, music and every such thing that distracts people from good and virtue. This includes stories, tales, novels, dramas, and sexual and sensational literature, magazines, and newspapers that promote indecency, all of them, as well as the latest inventions like radio, TV, VCR, video films, etc. In the era of Prophethood, some people even bought slave girls who sang and played music for this very purpose, so that they would keep people's hearts entertained with songs and thus keep them away from the Quran and Islam. In this sense, it also includes female singers who are nowadays called artists, film stars, cultural ambassadors, and who knows what other civilized, attractive, and charming names.

6-2 Certainly, through all these things, people are led astray from the path of Allah and also make religion a target of mockery.

6-2 Those who support and encourage them—rulers, institutions, newspaper owners, writers, and feature writers—will also be deserving of this punishment.

6. And among the people is he who buys idle tales [4] to mislead others from Allah’s path without knowledge [5], and to make a mockery of it [6]. For such people there is a humiliating punishment [7].

[4]
What is Meant by ﴿لهو الحديث﴾? Disapproval of Singing, Music, and Instruments:

﴿لهو الحديث﴾ refers to anything, occupation, game, or entertainment that makes a person heedless of the remembrance of Allah or keeps him heedless. Whether this occupation is singing and music, interesting novels and dramas, club entertainments, television activities, dramas and cinema watching, etc. In short, ﴿لهو الحديث﴾ generally applies to blameworthy occupations. Now, observe the explanation of this word in the light of the following hadiths and traditions:
(1) Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas'ud ؓ used to swear that the word ﴿لهو الحديث﴾ in the Quran refers to singing and music. He also used to say that singing and music create hypocrisy in the heart just as water makes grass and greenery grow. [فتاويٰ ابن باز۔ اردو ترجمه ج 1 ص 313]
(2) Hazrat Abu Umamah says that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah Almighty has sent me as a mercy to the worlds, and my Lord, the Exalted, has commanded me to eradicate musical instruments, strings, idols, crosses, and the practices of ignorance." [احمد بحواله مشكوة۔ كتاب الحدود۔ باب بيان الخمرو وعيد شاربها فصل ثالث]
(3) The Prophet ﷺ said: "Do not sell, buy, or teach them this art, and their wages are unlawful." [ترمذی۔ ابواب البیوع۔ باب کراہیۃ المغنیات]
(4) Abu Malik Ash'ari says that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say that there will be people in my ummah who will make adultery, silk, wine, and ma'azif (i.e., musical instruments and singing) lawful. [بخاری۔ کتاب الاشربہ باب ما جاء فیمن یستحل الخمرو يسمیہ بغير اسمہ]
That is, they will make these things lawful by giving them other names.

The Role of Nadr bin Harith in Preventing Islam:

And the reason for the revelation of these verses is stated that among those who were determined to render the call of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ineffective was Nadr bin Harith. His method was completely different from that of Abu Lahab. Once, he said to the chiefs of Quraysh: "O Quraysh! Muhammad ﷺ was the most beloved among you, the most truthful, and the most trustworthy. Now, if he has come with Allah's message, you sometimes call him a poet, sometimes a soothsayer, sometimes mad, and sometimes a magician. Whereas he is neither a poet, nor a soothsayer, nor mad, nor a magician, because we know such people well. O people of Quraysh! Think! What calamity has befallen you?" Then the solution that Nadr bin Harith thought of for this calamity was that he himself went to al-Hirah, learned the stories of kings and the tales of Rustam and Isfandiyar. Wherever the Prophet ﷺ went to deliver his message, Nadr bin Harith, like Abu Lahab, would also go there and narrate these stories, then ask the people, "On what basis is Muhammad's ﷺ speech better than mine?" In addition, he had also bought some slave girls. Whenever someone inclined towards the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he would set a slave girl upon him so that she would feed and entertain him and divert his thoughts. In this context, this verse was revealed. [ابن هشام۔ 21: 271]
[5] The attribution without knowledge can be towards the path of Allah or towards ﴿لهو الحديث﴾. The first case is clear from the translation, i.e., his misleading from the path of Allah is based solely on malice, stubbornness, and opposition. He has no practical evidence for it. In the second case, it would mean that he is so ignorant that in exchange for the precious thing like Allah's straight path and guidance, he is buying a destructive thing.
[6]
The Culture of Ignorance:

That is, such a person wants to keep people away from the verses of Allah and mock those verses through cultural activities like singing, music, storytelling, and dance and revelry.
[7] The appropriateness between his crime and his punishment is that since he wants to disgrace the verses of Allah and His Messenger, he will be given a humiliating punishment.