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Fatwa CenterRuling on Hearing Music and the Limits of Forbidding it
Question
Please dont give me link, My family Plays music a lot in the house and i hate it, sometimes i can ask my father to turn down the volume but it makes him mad also when i out with him in public and i put my fingers in my ears if i dont have me earplugs, is this the lesser of the 2 evil, to make him mad and not listen to music, so sometimes i sit outside so i dont listen to music the house and i wear good clothing in cold, is this extremisim?Can I destroy music players if they dont know its me
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
We advise you to honor your father, treat him with kindness, and show him respect and reverence. You should gently and kindly explain to him that listening to music is prohibited. You may show him fatwas or provide him with a booklet on the subject. Do not limit yourself to requesting that he lower the volume; rather, ask that the device be turned off or used for beneficial purposes such as religious lessons, permissible news, or lawful programs.
Know that you are not required to leave the place or block your ears, and you are not harmed by merely hearing it so long as you do not intentionally listen. What is prohibited is deliberately listening to music. As for hearing it unintentionally and without attentiveness, the scholars have stated that there is no sin in that if a person is unable to change the wrong. It is mentioned in Majmu’ al-Fatawa of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
“What is prohibited is deliberately listening, not mere hearing. Thus, if a man hears disbelief, lies, backbiting, singing, or flute music without intending it—rather, he was passing by and heard it—he incurs no sin by agreement of the Muslims. But if he sits and listens to it and does not object with his heart, tongue, or hand, he is sinful by agreement of the Muslims.” [End quote.]
Similarly, Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said in his book Kaff al-Ra’a’ ‘an Muharramat al-Lahw wa al-Sama’: “What is prohibited is deliberate listening, not mere hearing without intention and attentiveness. Our scholars have explicitly stated that if there are prohibited instruments in one’s vicinity and he cannot remove them, he is not required to relocate, nor is he sinful for hearing them unintentionally. They clearly stated that sin is attached to deliberate listening, not mere hearing.” [End quote.]
Leaving a gathering where music is being played is not considered extremism; rather, it may be better, as it involves turning away from a gathering of wrongdoing. It may also have a positive effect on your father if he realizes that you are leaving in order to avoid the music.
As for destroying the instrument, we do not advise you to do so unless you are certain that doing so will bring benefit and will not lead to a greater harm. In such matters, you should limit yourself—if able—to forbidding the wrong through advice, guidance, and mentioning the evidences of the prohibition of listening. However, if it were assumed that you could destroy it without any resulting harm, then do so. Al-Ramli said in Sharh al-Minhaj: “Idols, crosses, and musical instruments such as the lute—and likewise prohibited vessels—no compensation is due for destroying them, because their benefit is unlawful, and what is unlawful has no financial value, while destroying them is obligatory upon one who is able. The correct view is that they should not be smashed excessively if it is possible to remove the unlawful form while preserving some material value; rather, they should be dismantled so that they return to their original state before assembly, thereby removing their name and unlawful form. If the one forbidding the wrong is unable to observe this limit because the owner prevents him due to his strength, then he may destroy them in whatever way possible—even by burning, if that becomes the only option; otherwise, by breaking.” [End quote.]
Allah Knows best.
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