We believe that all souls are created. Whoever says that they are uncreated has echoed the Nestorian Christians’ belief concerning the Messiah. This is unbelief in Allah, the Most Great.

Whoever says that any of Allah’s attributes indwells a servant, or maintains that Allah is divisible, has disbelieved. The Quran is Allah’s speech: it is neither created nor indwelling in anything created. However it is recited, read, or memorized, it remains an attribute of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The act of reading is distinct from what is read, and recitation is distinct from what is recited, for He, Mighty and Majestic, together with all His attributes and names, is uncreated. Whoever says otherwise is an unbeliever.

We believe that recitation “set to song-like melodies” is an innovation and a deviation, and that “poems” are an innovation. These fall into two categories. The good among them mention Allah’s blessings and favours and describe the righteous and the God-fearing. This is permissible, although it is preferable to leave it aside and occupy oneself with remembering Allah, the Quran, and religious knowledge.

As for poetry describing visible things and created beings, listening to it while applying those descriptions to Allah is unbelief. Listening to songs and quatrains while applying their words to Allah is unbelief. Dancing to a beat and attributing religious merit to dancers constitute wickedness; as practices of induced ecstasy and singing, they are idle amusement and play.

It is forbidden for anyone to listen to poems and quatrains set to melodies—as encountered among people of such inclinations—as a form of remembrance, except someone who already understands the principles of monotheism, knows Allah’s names and attributes, and understands which expressions may be applied to Allah Most High and which are unbefitting His majesty and things He transcends. Such a person’s listening should accord with His words:

“Those who listen to what is said and follow the best of it”—to the end of the verse.