The Sharʿī Ruling on Dancing in Majālis al-Samāʿ
Source: Fatāwā Amun Pūrī by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amun Pūrī
The Question
What is the Islamic ruling on dancing in Majālis al-Samāʿ (spiritual music gatherings)?
The Answer
Those who organize and participate in such gatherings are deviant, Bāṭinī Ṣūfīs, and open sinners.
Qur’ānic Evidence
Allah ﷻ says:
﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيل اللهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ﴾
(Luqmān: 6)
“Among the people is he who buys idle talk (like music and amusement) to mislead others from the path of Allah without knowledge and takes it as mockery. For such there will be a humiliating punishment.”
Scholarly Rulings
❀ Al-Fatāwā al-ʿĀlamgīriyyah & Fatāwā al-Shāmī:
“Singing (samāʿ), qawwālī, and dancing, which the Ṣūfīs of our time practice, are ḥarām. Attending or sitting in such gatherings is not permissible. Qawwālī, singing, and music carry the same ruling.”
(Fatāwā ʿĀlamgīriyyah: 5/352; Fatāwā Shāmī: 6/349)
❀ ʿAllāmah al-ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī (855H):
“The testimony of a singer or dancer is not accepted.”
(al-Bināyah Sharḥ al-Hidāyah: 12/89)
Conclusion
Dancing in Majālis al-Samāʿ and attending such gatherings is ḥarām. They represent practices of deviant Ṣūfīs, directly condemned by Qur’an and explicitly prohibited in authoritative works of Fiqh.
