On the first day of Shaʿbān in 1375 AH, some brothers drew my attention to the collected epistles of Ibn Ḥazm al-Andalusī, edited by Dr. Iḥsān Rashīd ʿAbbās. Among them was an epistle entitled “On Entertaining Song: Is It Permissible or Prohibited?” in which he argues for the lawfulness of singing and of musical instruments of every kind. I at once sensed the grave harm this epistle might work in the hearts of its readers—scholars and students of knowledge, to say nothing of the general public—for two reasons:

First: the worldwide scholarly prestige of Ibn Ḥazm. Although he follows the literalist (Ẓāhirī) school and therefore rejects analogical reasoning, contrary to the four imams and others, his name still carries immense weight.

Second: desire predominates over most people. When they see a scholar of his stature declaring lawful what suits their inclinations, nothing will afterwards restrain them from pursuing those inclinations. Indeed, they may even seize upon what they hear from certain shaykhs as a warrant for blindly following him—such as the saying, “Whoever imitates a scholar will meet Allah in safety,” which some mistakenly prize as a hadith even though it has no foundation ⦗1⦘—despite the fact that Ibn Ḥazm, may Allah have mercy on him, vehemently forbade blind imitation.

Added to this is the scarcity of sincere scholars who remind people of the correct ruling on this issue and of the authentic hadiths that address it, while writings and broadcasts that oppose that ruling are plentiful. Consequently, people assume that Ibn Ḥazm’s opinion is sound, especially when they encounter fatwas from certain contemporary scholars that endorse his view and are circulated in some Islamic periodicals.