attend such musical gatherings, whether in the Hijaz, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, or Khurasan—not in the time of the Companions, the Successors, or their followers.

Rather, this arose later. Some people would gather for this purpose, calling the practice of striking small bells and similar objects with a stick “taghbīr.”

Al-Hasan ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Harrānī said: “I heard al-Shāfiʿī say: ‘I left behind in Baghdad something introduced by heretics, which they call taghbīr, through which they turn people away from the Quran.’”

This reflects al-Shāfiʿī’s profound understanding and knowledge of the religion. When the heart becomes accustomed to listening to poems and verses and takes pleasure in them, it develops an aversion to listening to the Quran and its verses. It thus contents itself with listening to Satan and dispenses with listening to the Most Merciful.

It is authentically reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“He is not one of us who does not recite the Quran melodiously.”

Al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and others explained this as referring to the voice: one beautifies the Quran with one’s voice and recites it melodiously, without objectionable musical intonation. Ibn ʿUyaynah, Abū ʿUbayd, and others explained it as finding sufficiency in the Quran. Although this conveys a sound meaning, the first interpretation is what the hadith indicates, for he said:

“He is not one of us who does not recite the Quran melodiously, raising his voice with it.”

A report states: “When a servant mounts a riding animal, Satan comes to him and says, ‘Sing.’ If he does not sing, he says to him, ‘Indulge in wishful thinking.’” For