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.”