To be forbidden or not to be forbidden: Saudi sheikh declares music permissible in Islam

A prominent Saudi imam has declared music permissible under shariah (Islamic law), okaz.com-a Saudi news site-reports. The website quoted Sheikh Saleh al-Maghamsi as saying “if music were forbidden, God would have forbidden it” on channel MBC. Maghamsi’s comments created quite a bit of buzz on Twitter.

Maghamsi explained his position in a series of lengthy statements provided by Okaz. “If God wanted to speak on music in general, he would’ve given a verse on this, but there is no such verse,” he said. “There’s no consensus,” the sheikh concluded regarding music’s permissibility.

Naturally, his comments evoked mixed reactions on Twitter. @dr_alraies tweeted “Islamic scholar al-Fawzan in regards to al-Magamsi permitting music in some cases. It appears he is against the consensus.”

Still, others supported the sheikh’s declaration. “I find this controversy about al-Mughamsi’s preaching to be so abhorrent and strange; I’ve always considered music to be a big part of the rhythm of life. Wake up people!” tweeted @MARDHI_SHAMARI. The hashtag “Mughamsi permits music” was trending on Twitter through May 29th.

The question of whether music is allowed has been debated by scholars through modern times.

--AL