Then Abū al-Qāsim said, “Reports have been transmitted and traditions have circulated widely concerning this. It is related that Ibn Jurayj permitted listening to singing. He was asked, ‘When you are brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, and your good and evil deeds are brought forth, on which side will your listening belong?’ He replied, ‘Neither among the good deeds nor among the evil deeds,’ meaning that it belongs to permissible matters.”

I say: Neither Ibn Jurayj nor the people of Mecca were known for singing. Rather, they were known for reproaching those among the people of Medina who engaged in it. What they were known for was temporary marriage and currency exchange. Moreover, this report and others like it constitute evidence against those who invoke them, for he did not count any of it among good deeds. Nor has it been transmitted from the early generations that any form of it was counted as a good deed. Understood in this way, his statement does not contradict the consensus.

If someone engages in any of this as an idle pleasure that brings neither harm nor benefit, this is comparable to the permission given to women to sing and beat the tambourine on joyous occasions, such as the return of someone who has been away and the days of Eid. Indeed, they are instructed to do so at weddings, as related in the report: “Announce the marriage and beat the tambourine for it.” Yet, despite