Music and Ghinā’: Is Emotional Impact a Factor in Judging Music as Ḥarām?

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Music and Ghinā’: Is Emotional Impact a Factor in Judging Music as Ḥarām?

English:

Question #1125:

Is lahwī nature of a particular type of music the only criterion for judging that it is ḥarām or should one considers the element of excitement also? If it causes the listener to feel sadness and eventually make him cry, what is the ruling then? And what about listening to love poems that are vocalized to the accompaniment of music?

Answer #1125:

The criterion is to observe how the music is being played in all its characteristics and whether or not it is lahwī and deviates people from the way of Allah. Any music categorized due to its nature as lahwī and deviates people from the way of Allah is ḥarām, irrespective of whether it contains the element of excitement or not. Whether it engenders in the listener a state of melancholy and crying is also immaterial. Should reciting love poems to the accompaniment of music take the form of ghinā’ and lahwī songs which deviate people from the way of Allah and are suitable for gatherings of lahw and la‘ib, it is ḥarām to sing, or to listen to, them.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Music and Ghinā’