Will the one who listened to music in this world be deprived of listening to it in Paradise?

Question: 139871

Will the one who listened to music in this world be deprived of listening to it in Paradise?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.

Firstly:

In the Sunnah there are some reports which indicate that one of the types of delight that will be enjoyed by the people of Paradise is listening to beautiful voices in which they will find great pleasure. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote an entire section in the 57th chapter of his book Haadi al-Arwaah entitled “What people will listen to in Paradise and the singing of al-hoor al-‘iyn and the pleasure and enjoyment to be found in it” (pp. 358-365), in which he compiled all the reports narrated concerning this matter, both saheeh and da‘eef.

Perhaps the most saheeh of the reports that have been narrated concerning that is the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

“The wives of the people of Paradise will sing for their husbands in the sweetest voices that anyone has ever heard, and among the things that they will sing is: We are the good and beautiful, wives of noble people.”

Narrated by al-Tabaraani in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat, 5/149; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Targheeb, 3/269.

Secondly:

It is also well known that listening to music in this world is haraam as is proven in the Qur'aan and saheeh Sunnah. This has been stated by the fuqaha’ of the four madhhabs. The one who is heedless about falling into this sin is deserving of punishment for committing that sin, as is the case with everything that Allah has forbidden to His slaves in this world.

There is no evidence that the one who listens to music in this world will be deprived of hearing music and beautiful voices in Paradise when he enters it, although some of the scholars say that the punishment of the one who enjoys something in a haraam way in this world is that he will be deprived of enjoying it in Paradise or that his share of it in Paradise will be reduced, as in the case of men who wear gold or silk in this world; they will be deprived of it in Paradise.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

So Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will punish the one who wears silk in this world by depriving him of wearing it on the Day of Resurrection, and He will punish the one who drinks wine in this world by depriving him of it on the Day of Resurrection. The same also applies to the one who enjoys haraam images in this world. Indeed, everything that a person enjoys in this world, if he goes to extremes in that, even if it is halaal, his share of it will be reduced on the Day of Resurrection, to the extent that he indulged in it in this world. If he acquired it through haraam means, he will miss out on its counterpart on the Day of Resurrection. End quote.

Rawdat al-Muhibbeen, p. 362

But to state that definitively or to say that this deprivation will last for ever is something that needs specific evidence. Allah knows best what the truth of the matter is.

Thirdly:

With regard to what is narrated of hadeeths the apparent meaning of which indicates that the one who listens to music in this world will not hear it in the Hereafter, these are very weak (da‘eef jiddan) hadeeths, among the most famous of which is the hadeeth, “Whoever listens to music will not be allowed to hear the sound of al-roohaaniyyeen on the Day of Resurrection.” It was said: Who are al-roohaaniyyeen? He said: The reciters of the people of Paradise.”

Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is fabricated (mawdoo‘). It was narrated by al-Waahidi in his tafseer al-Waseet (3/441-442), (published by Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah) via Hammaad ibn ‘Amr from Abu Moosa – one of the sons of Abu Hurayrah – from his father from his grandfather in a marfoo‘ report.

I – meaning Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) – say: This is fabricated (mawdoo‘), the reason being Hammaad ibn ‘Amr, who is also known as al-Nusaybi. Al-Dhahabi said in al-Mughni: He narrated fabricated reports from trustworthy narrators, as was stated by al-Naqqaash. Al-Nasaa’i said: He is matrook (rejected). He is regarded as one of those who fabricated hadeeth, as was stated by Ibn ‘Adiyy and others, and as we shall see in the hadeeth below. End quote.

Al-Silsilah al-Da‘eefah, no. 6516

And Allah knows best.