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What is the ruling on acquiring musical instruments and playing them as a hobby, and what is the clear punishment for that according to the Quran and Sunnah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Listening to musical instruments (lahw) and wind instruments (ma'azif) and using them is Islamically forbidden by scholarly consensus. Narrations about the punishment for those who do so include prophetic traditions concerning being swallowed by the earth (khasf), being transformed (masakh), and being pelted (qadhf), as in his (peace be upon him) saying: "When female singers and musical instruments become widespread and alcohol is consumed." The prohibition is not limited to usage but also includes possession, for "that which is forbidden to use is forbidden to acquire," such as musical instruments and gold and silver vessels.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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