Miftah-ul-Janna (Booklet for way to Paradise)

It is stated as follows in the hundred and sixty-second page of
Terghîb-us-salât (written by Muhammad bin Ahmad Zâhid
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, d. 632 [1234 A.D.], India,) and in the
thirteen hundred and forty-second page of the second volume of
Berîqa (written by Muhammad bin Mustafâ Hâdimî ‘rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’alaih’, d. 1176 [1762 A.D.], Hâdim, Konya, Turkey,) and in
the five hundred and eighty-ninth page of the second volume of
Hadîqa (written by ’Abd-ul-Ghanî bin Ismâ’îl Nablusî, 1050 [1640
A.D.7, Damascus – 1143 [1731], the same place:) “You should not
ride an animal furnished with bells for the purpose of enjoying
yourself, for it is makrûh to do so. For, bells are the devil’s musical
instruments. Angels of Mercy do not descend on caravans (with
animals) furnished with bells.” (However,) it is permissible to do
so for some business or benefit.
There is a unanimous scholarly statement that it is harâm to
read or recite poetry incompatible with Islam and ethics or to read
or recite it at places of fisq where musical instruments are being
played and alcoholic beverages are being consumed and/or men
and women enjoy themselves together even if the poetry itself is
compatible with Islam and ethics or to listen in mixed groups at
such places to recitals of poetry that are performed at other places
and which are being broadcast or televised or played on the radio
or on television or on a tape-recorder or for women and boys to
perform such recitals in mixed choruses.] It is permissible to read
or recite proper poetry at proper places. It may infuse tenderness
to (listeners’) hearts and thereby cause Compassion of Allâhu
ta’âlâ. Some scholars did not feel an attraction even to the mubâh
(permitted) version of simâ’ (singing). Their unwillingness to simâ’
stemmed from the idiocyncratic repulsion inherent in their nature
and which prevented it from appealing to them. This natural
disinclination, however, did not induce the blessed scholars into
repudiation or denial of their valuable colleagues who felt inclined
towards simâ’.” It is harâm to read or recite the Qur’ân al-kerîm or
mawlids or ilâhîs (eulogies) or salawât-i-sherîfs (special prayers
said for Rasûlullah and sent as a gift to his blessed soul) at places
of fisq, even if it is performed with due respect. (Places of fisq are
places where sins are being committed.) It is kufr (unbelief) if it is
done for pleasure or amusement. It is written in the sixth page of
Durr-ul-ma’ârif: “Musical instruments and voices of women and
boys are ghinâ (sinful music) and harâm. Useful poetry is simâ’
and mubâh, unless it is performed (in such manners and) with such
voices.”
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