Is It Permissible to Read or Listen to Gazal Poetry That Expresses Love and Longing?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Sheikh Mishary ibn Rashid Al-Afasy, the famous Quran reciter and mainstream Sunni Nasheed artist, has a song (مشاري راشد العفاسي – ضادية ابن زيدون). He doesn’t include “music” in his Nasheeds, but because of some of the tunes and sounds in the background of this Qasida, I wanted to know if this is music and if we can listen to it.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well. Jazak Allah for your question.
Qasida al-Dhadiyya is a Ghazal poem by Ibn Zaydun that consists of longing for the beloved, expressing passion and descriptive beauty. It is an expression of separation, longing, and love in spite of that pain. The sound, composition, and mixing by Mishari al-Afasy are not music. However, by listening to the lyrics and passionate words, you have to ask yourself what kind of emotions and spirit does it bring about in one?
Islamic Devotional Songs
Why not try to listen to songs and Nasheeds that bring about in us the spirit of Islam, nearness to Allah, and an inspiration to follow the sunnah of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)?
I suggest you listen to the traditional Islamic art of Nasheed or Islamic devotional songs by known artists.
Please see this:
Nasheed Hub Archives – SeekersGuidance
I hope this helps.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is love of books and gardening.
