Is Drumming and Dancing Permissible? (Shafi’i)

Answered by Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan

Question

Sometimes me and my friends like to dance while I drum. We do this when alone: there are no males present and we are not loud. What we sing are girly and goofy songs, no obscene words. Is it wrong?

Answer

It is permissible for a female to dance and sing in front of another female as long as the following criteria are met.

1. There’s no clear immitation of disbelievers.
2. Her awrah is not exposed. The awrah of a Muslim female in front of another Muslim females, is the area between the navel and the knee.
3. She does not do so in the presence of strange men.
4. The music should be permissible and the lyrics should not be indecent. Drums would be allowed.

And Allah knows best
Wassalam
[Shaykh] Abdurragmaan Khan

Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz—a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan—the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur—the current Mufti of Tarim; Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani—the Shafi‘i Mufti of Makkah; Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi; Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf; Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh; Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki; Shaykh Ala ad-Din al-Afghani; Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others.