the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—approved. Anyone who infers from it that adult women who are not one’s mahrams may sing, that any kind of musical instrument—such as the lute and the like—may be played, and that this may be done on occasions other than Eid has undoubtedly departed from the path of correctness and fairness and imposed upon the hadith a meaning it cannot bear. How can such a conclusion validly be drawn from it when it records Abū Bakr’s words, spoken in disapproval of singing accompanied by a frame drum: “A flute of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him?!” The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—did not reject Abū Bakr’s objection outright. Rather, he affirmed it, except with regard to the aforementioned singing on Eid, which he exempted from that objection because it was Eid: “Leave her be, Abū Bakr, for every people has a festival, and this is our festival.” This states the reason for permitting what Abū Bakr had condemned in general terms. It therefore means that this is impermissible on occasions other than Eid, apart from what the Lawgiver has exempted through another text, such as playing the frame drum at a wedding. This is all that I know the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—permitted: the frame drum alone, on Eid and at weddings. Everything else remains subject to the prohibition established by the authentic hadiths forbidding musical instruments. Perhaps the compiler will reconsider what he has quoted from Ibn Hazm and Ibn al-Arabī and study the subject with rigorous scholarship. Indeed, permitting what all four schools of law unanimously hold to be forbidden, and whose prohibition is confirmed by the authentic Sunnah, is an error into which an esteemed scholar ought not fall.
400 – (The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—began by asking Aisha: “Would you like to watch?”)
p. 293
Authentic. It was narrated by al-Bukhārī (242/1) and Muslim (22/3) from one of Aisha’s reports concerning the Abyssinians playing with their spears. It appeared earlier as no. (381).
401 – (The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Actions are only by intentions, and each person will have only what he intended.” Agreed upon.) p. 294
Authentic. Its sources are documented at the beginning of the section on Purification in al-Irwāʾ.