of the later generations who were prominent, such as Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir, Shaykh ‘Adī ibn Musāfir, Shaykh Abū Madyan, and other shaykhs—may Allah have mercy on them. As for the polytheists, their listening was as Allah Most High described it in His Book, saying:
“And their prayer at the House was nothing but whistling and clapping.”
The early generations said that mukā’ means whistling, and tasdiya means clapping the hands. The polytheists would gather in the Sacred Mosque, clapping and making sounds, treating this as worship and prayer. Allah therefore condemned them for it and counted it among the false practices He forbade.
Whoever treats a similar kind of listening as worship and a devotional act through which to draw near to Allah has resembled these people in some of their practices. Nor was this practiced by the three generations praised by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, or by the leading shaykhs.
As for listening to singing for amusement, this is particular to festive occasions for women and children, as the transmitted reports indicate. The religion of Islam allows ample scope and entails no hardship. The mainstay of the religion, without which it cannot stand, is the five obligatory prayers. Muslims must give them a degree of care that is not required for anything else.
Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, used to write to his governors:
“The most important of your affairs in my view is prayer. Whoever safeguards it and observes it consistently safeguards his religion. Whoever neglects it will be even more neglectful of his other deeds.”