and to awaken in their hearts reverent fear, repentance, love, tenderness, and other qualities belonging to worship and obedience rather than play and amusement.
A distinction must therefore be drawn between listening practised by those seeking nearness to Allah and listening practised for amusement; between listening at weddings, celebrations, and similar customary occasions, and listening intended to reform hearts and draw closer to the Lord of the heavens. Concerning the latter, the questions are:
Is it an act of devotion and obedience? Is it a path to Allah? Can they do without it, given that it softens their hearts, stirs their ardent love for their Beloved, purifies their souls, removes hardness from their hearts, and serves other such purposes sought through listening? Christians likewise practise this kind of listening in their churches as worship and obedience, not as amusement and play.
Once this is understood, the real question is:
Is it permissible for the shaykh to make these practices—which are either prohibited, disliked, or permissible—into acts of devotion, worship, and obedience, and a path to Allah through which he calls people to Allah, leads sinners to repentance, directs those who have gone astray, and guides the misguided?
It is well known that religion has “two foundations”: nothing belongs to religion except what Allah has prescribed, and nothing is forbidden except what Allah has forbidden. Allah Most High has reproached the polytheists for forbidding what He has not forbidden and instituting a religion for which He has given no permission.