mercy enveloping them, tranquillity descending upon them, the angels surrounding them, and Allah mentioning them among those with Him.”
It is also established in an authentic hadith that “when Usayd ibn Hudayr recited Surah al-Kahf, the angels descended to listen to it, like a canopy containing lamps.”
Thus, whistling and clapping incite indecency and wrongdoing and turn people away from true remembrance of Allah Most High and prayer, just as wine does. The early generations called this taghbīr (rhythmic chanting), for taghbīr involves beating a piece of hide with a stick, accompanied by the human voice chanting melodically. The voice may be accompanied by clapping one hand against the other, striking a thigh or hide with a stick, or striking one hand against the other or otherwise beating a tambourine or drum, like the Christians’ bell; or by blowing a whistle, like the Jews’ horn. Whoever engages in these amusements as a religious practice and a means of drawing near to Allah is undoubtedly misguided and ignorant.
As for engaging in them for enjoyment and amusement, the four imams held that all instruments of entertainment are forbidden. It is established in Sahīh al-Bukhārī and elsewhere that “the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, foretold that some people of his community would deem illicit sexual relations, silk, wine, and musical instruments lawful, and mentioned that they would be transformed into apes and pigs.”
Maʿāzif means instruments of entertainment, as the lexicographers explain. It is the plural of miʿzafa, an instrument that is played—that is, used to produce sound. No one among