in with those who regard it permissible even to listen to musical instruments—let alone to play them—when it is perfectly possible that the incident occurred without his knowledge or approval. Hence Shuʿbah’s decision to turn away from him is untenable, and for that reason Wahb ibn Jarīr objected to it. Al-Ḥāfiẓ, in al-Muqaddimah, p. 446, writes in al-Minhāl’s biography: “That objection is sound, for the report provides no grounds for faulting al-Minhāl.” Before him, al-Dhahabī had already said in al-Mīzān: “This affords no cause to disparage the shaykh.” Indeed, the very same report can be turned against those who grant dispensations, for Shuʿbah rejected the sound of the pandore—and in that he was correct, even though he erred in assuming that al-Minhāl was among those who allowed it. In sum, the scholars and jurists—including the four Imams—are unanimously agreed on the prohibition of musical instruments, following the prophetic hadiths and the reports of the early generations. Should a contrary view be soundly attributed to any of them, it is overridden by the evidence already cited. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “But no, by your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you, [O Prophet], the judge in all disputes between them, then find within themselves no discomfort about your ruling, and submit in full submission” (Q 4:65).