Ruling on a woman dancing in front of women or her husband
Question:
A woman dancing in front of her husband, and similarly dancing together with other women, and likewise men performing Dhamal and Bhangra — we know without doubt that this is forbidden, but what is the evidence for its prohibition? Please provide us with an answer. Jazakum Allahu Khairan.
Answer:
This question consists of three parts:
Firstly:
A woman dancing and performing dance in front of her husband.
Secondly:
A woman dancing and performing dance together with women like herself.
Thirdly:
Men performing Dhamal and Bhangra.
First matter:
And that is that a woman dancing in front of her husband, if it is a natural dance, is not forbidden, meaning she has not learned it through formal dance education, as is the modern fashion of the present era. And if the woman’s dance is one that arouses the man’s desire, then there is no text prohibiting this dance, provided that this dance is only between husband and wife.
But if she has adopted this dance as a pastime and has studied and learned the formal rules and regulations of the dances prevalent in the present era, then this is not permissible, because I am certain that if she dances in front of her husband, she will also dance in front of others besides her husband.
As for her dancing in front of other women, I would say: if by this dance one means the dance of the present era, then it is absolutely clear that it is undoubtedly not permissible. And if asked: what is the evidence for your statement? I would say: undoubtedly moderation is very rare in matters; often excess and deficiency are manifested, especially when people have lived a long time deviating from a particular thing, then when the reality becomes clear to them that the thing they are involved in deviates from Shariah and Shariah denies its correctness, instead of accepting it, they turn away and deviate from Shariah, thus a strong reaction arises against it.
And this is what we face in the present era; common Muslims have spent many centuries knowing nothing else, this is such and such religion, these are the four madhhabs of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah, and these are separate from those madhhabs which deviate from the way of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah. As for reliance on “Qala Allah wa Qala al-Rasul” (Allah said and the Messenger said), it existed in those times whose goodness and betterment was testified by the Prophet (peace be upon him). Then for a period this reliance ended until the time of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his sincere students came, who warned Muslims that it is obligatory to return to the methodology of relying on the Book and Sunnah of the Salaf.
And there is no doubt that the call of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his students had a very good effect, but in their time its circle was very weak and intellectual stagnation prevailed not only over common people but also over the elite. Then came a period when this awakening was suppressed again, which Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) had created, and people again fell into jurisprudential stagnation, except for that period and a little before it. Thus many scholars arose who warned that the call to return to the Book and Sunnah should be renewed, and the one who took the lead in this was Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, because he indeed called to following the Book and Sunnah. But looking at the regions where Sheikh Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him) lived in Najd, Arabia, and considering the form of idolaters settled in the Sheikh’s areas, at that time the Sheikh’s greatest effort and endeavor was to establish the call of Tawhid.
And as far as I think, this is a very natural matter that indeed human power is limited, so as people say, a fly cannot fight a bull, therefore all the Sheikh’s efforts were devoted to spreading the call of Tawhid and fighting the causes of shirk and idolatry, and he was given great success in this matter, and later his pure call spread throughout the Islamic world. It is very regrettable that many battles occurred between him and his opponents. This is the way and method of Allah regarding His creation, and you will not find any change in Allah’s way.
But in the present era, some scholars have arranged for the renewal of the call to the Book and Sunnah, and considerable awareness has been raised in general and special circles in Arab countries regarding this issue, but regarding non-Arab countries, it is regrettable to say that they remained in their unconsciousness.
However, a weakness remained in these Arab countries, which I have just pointed out, that some of them lacked moderation; they were aware of one thing but completely ignorant of another. So you will see among them the common person, who has no understanding, when he asks a scholar about a matter, what is its ruling? Even if the answer is negative and prohibitive, he quickly demands: what is the evidence for it?
And sometimes it is not possible for that scholar to present evidence, especially when the evidence is derived, and the matter is not explicitly stated in the Book and Sunnah so that evidence can be presented. Therefore, in such matters, it is not appropriate for the questioner to go into depth and say: what is the evidence for this? He should recognize himself whether he is among the people of evidence or not? Does he have knowledge of general and specific, absolute and conditional, abrogating and abrogated? While the reality is that he understands none of these things, so would it be beneficial for him to say: what is the evidence for this? And what is its basis?
I say: if a questioner wants evidence regarding the permissibility or prohibition of a woman dancing in front of her husband or in front of her Muslim sister, or the ruling on men’s wihmal and bhangra dancing, then in fact we have no explicit evidence from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on this matter; the manner of evidence is only through observation, reflection, deduction, and understanding.
That is why sometimes we say: not every matter is such
that there is detailed evidence on it which any Muslim can understand, whether he is a common person, ignorant, or a student, and not every matter among the issues is like this. Therefore, Allah Almighty said:
فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ (16-النحل:43)
“If you do not know, ask those who possess knowledge.”
One way of exceeding moderation, which I have just pointed out, is that among people the ignorant avoid deductive evidence. Undoubtedly, many people attributed to the call to the Book and Sunnah accuse that when a scholar is asked about a matter, it is obligatory for him to say ”قال اللہ “ and ”قال الرسول “.
I say: this is not obligatory, and this is one of the benefits attributed to the methodology and biographies of the righteous predecessors (may Allah be pleased with them), and their fatwas, as I have explained, were based on deductive evidence.
Therefore, mentioning evidence becomes obligatory only when the matter truly requires it, but it is not obligatory that whenever a question is asked, he must say: Allah said thus, or the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) taught thus, especially when the matter is among the intricate and disputed jurisprudential issues.
Allah Almighty’s statement: فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
primarily requires that it is absolutely obligatory upon you to ask the person whom you suspect to be among the people of knowledge, so when you hear the answer to your question from him, it becomes obligatory for you to follow it, unless you have some doubt which you have heard from another scholar; then there is no harm in presenting that doubt. Therefore, it becomes obligatory upon that scholar to make every effort according to his knowledge to remove the doubt faced by the questioner.
Summary of the Speech:
A woman dancing in front of her husband is permissible with the mentioned conditions, but there are also two cases regarding a woman dancing in front of other women like herself, just as I have described two cases of dancing in front of the husband: If dancing is not her hobby but only involves moving the hands for amusement, and the hips and other parts are not moved in such a way that it arouses (sinful and illicit) desires in the soul, or causes suspicions of (the dancer being ill-intentioned or immoral), then if this style can be called dancing, there is no harm in performing it. But if any of the mentioned defects are present in this dance, then the principle is that it should be stopped. As for men’s dhamaal, if it resembles that dhamaal which we usually see only combined with singing, let alone if it contains illicit words, then this style of amusement and entertainment is not something to be desired or enjoyed but should be avoided, as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
كل لهو يلهو به ابن آدم ، باطل ، إلا مداعبته لامرأته ، وملاعبته لفرسه ، ور ميه بقوسه والسباحة
“Every game that causes the son of Adam to become heedless is falsehood, and if any game is permissible, it is that a man plays with his wife, or plays horse riding, archery, and swimming.”
From this hadith, we see that the mentioned dance is falsehood, and when this game is in such a state that it is free from any illicit thing in any respect, that it deserves to be avoided, it is not right and permissible. So then we say: the mentioned dance is permissible, but in view of this hadith, which we have just mentioned, it is not recommended but rather discouraged.
Therefore, in my opinion (and Allah knows best), I certainly do not testify that it is possible for this kind of dhamaal to be free from things contrary to Shariah, and it is like when sometimes we hear dhamaal which includes music while at the same time the mu’adhdhin is giving the adhan and the imam is reciting the Quran aloud, but they pay no attention to any of these things and remain engrossed in their amusement and play.
Then this dhamaal will be discouraged amusement and play. And we will not say that it is forbidden, except if it contains any aspect of something contrary to Shariah, then at that time it will undoubtedly be forbidden.
