At the opposite extreme are those who condemn and prohibit every kind of singing, making no distinction between the singing of children and women on festive occasions, the singing of others, and women’s singing on other occasions. Some go to such extremes in condemning those who engage in it that they regard them all as defiantly sinful or as disbelievers.

These two extremes—turning what has not been prescribed into a religious practice, or prohibiting what has not been forbidden—constitute the religion of the Age of Ignorance and of the Christians, for which Allah censured them. As He, the Exalted, says:

“The polytheists said, ‘Had Allah willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have worshipped anything besides Him, nor would we have forbidden anything without His authority.’”

He, the Exalted, also says in the hadith of ‘Iyād ibn Himār narrated by Muslim in his Sahīh:

“I created My servants as upright monotheists, but the devils led them astray, forbade them what I had made lawful for them, and commanded them to associate with Me that for which I had sent down no authority.”

He also says concerning the Christians:

“They do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor do they follow the religion of truth.”

An example of this is when some people are guilty of “neglecting what is commanded” or “transgressing by doing what is forbidden,” whether through doubts or desires. Others respond by overstepping the bounds in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, or by falling short in doing so.

Such neglect and transgression—whether concerning what Islamic law commands and forbids, or the very act of commanding and forbidding others—are what caused the People of the Book to deserve punishment. Allah says:

“Humiliation has been laid upon them wherever they are found, except under a covenant from Allah and a covenant from people, and they have incurred Allah’s wrath