Ruling on Anasheed.

All-Praise is due to Allah,
There is a bit of a confusion and misconnection as to what is called anasheed theses days. Some people seem to believe that anasheed is a form of Islamic music that contains musical instruments with fancy styles of singing...
In the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) anasheed was completely different and its purpose was opposite to those of todays. The issues that the Companions talked about in their anasheeds were meanings of belief, fighting in the path of Allah and knowledgable issues for one to benefit from.
As of some mushids today they are the works of singers like of those amongst the Kufar that hide behind the Sharia' with their evildoings to their interoperation of annasheed.

With out doubt anasheed was around in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but it was known as poetry with no musical instrumental background in it.
Ibn 'Abbas said that a man ­ or a bedouin ­ came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and spoke some eloquent words. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There is some magic eloquence and some wisdom in poetry." (Al-Bukhaari-Adaab Al-Mufrad no: 872 and Al-Albaani said its chain narration is authentic)

'Abdullah ibn 'Amr reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Poetry is in the same position as speech. The good of it is like good words and its bad part is like bad words."
(Al-Bukhaari-Adaab Al-Mufrad no: 865 and Al-Albaani said its chain narration is authentic)

'A'isha said, "Poetry is both good and bad. Take the good and leave the bad. I have related some of the poetry of Ka'b ibn Malik. That included an ode of forty verses and some less than that." (Al-Bukhaari-Adaab Al-Mufrad no: 866 and Al-Albaani said its chain narration is authentic)

Shurayh said, "I ask 'A'isha, may Allah be pleased her with, 'Did the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recite any poetry?' She said, 'He used to recite some of the poetry of 'Abdullah ibn Rawaha: 'Someone to whom you have not given provision brings you news.'
(Al-Bukhaari-Adaab Al-Mufrad no: 867 and Al-Albaani said its chain narration is authentic)

Todays issue regarding anasheed has gone against the Quran and Sunnah in regards to many aspests. Instruments used for anasheed are forbidden by Sharia, Allaah says in Soorat Luqmaan (interpretation of the meaning): “And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing) to mislead (men) from the path of Allaah…” [Luqmaan 31:6]
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: this aayah was revealed concerning singing and musical instruments (lit. woodwind instruments). (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 3/451).

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:“Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments…” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari ta’leeqan, no. 5590; narrated as mawsool by al-Tabaraani and al-Bayhaqi. See al-Silsilah al-Saheehah by al-Albaani, 91).

Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyah) (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This hadeeth indicates that ma’aazif are haraam, and ma’aazif means musical instruments according to the scholars of (Arabic) language. This word includes all such instruments. (al-Majmoo’, 11/535).

Al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The four madhhabs are agreed that all musical instruments are haraam. (al-Saheehah, 1/145).

So evidently Musical instruments are haraam according to the Sharia' and Scholarly consensus, as stated above. In regards to the Daff this is only permissible in certain occasions, and can only be used by women and not men...

It was stated in a Fatwa from Sheikh Muhammed Saalih Al-Munajid (may Allah preserve him) who said, The exception to the above is the daff – without any rings (i.e., a hand-drum which looks like a tambourine, but without any rattles) – when used by women on Eids and at weddings. This is indicated by saheeh reports. Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: But the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made allowances for certain types of musical instruments at weddings and the like, and he made allowances for women to play the daff at weddings and on other joyful occasions. But the men at his time did not play the daff or clap with their hands. It was narrated in al-Saheeh that he said: “Clapping is for women and tasbeeh (saying Subhaan Allaah) is for men.” And he cursed women who imitate men and men who imitate women. Because singing and playing the daff are things that women do, the Salaf used to call any man who did that a mukhannath (effeminate man), and they used to call male singers effeminate – and how many of them there are nowadays! It is well known that the Salaf said this.

In a similar vein is the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), when her father (may Allaah be pleased with him) entered upon her at the time of Eid, and there were two young girls with her who were singing the verses that the Ansaar had said on the day of Bu’aath – and any sensible person will know what people say about war. Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Musical instruments of the Shaytaan in the house of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)!” The Messenger of Allaah had turned away from them and was facing the wall – hence some scholars said that Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) would not tell anybody off in front of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but he thought that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not paying attention to what was happening. And Allaah knows best. He (the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)) said: “Leave them alone, O Abu Bakr, for every nation has its Eid, and this is our Eid, the people of Islam.” This hadeeth shows that it was not the habit of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his companions to gather to listen to singing, hence Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq called it “the musical instruments of the Shaytaan”. And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of this appellation and did not deny it when he said, “Leave them alone, for every nation has its Eid and this is our Eid.” This indicates that the reason why this was permitted was because it was the time of Eid, and the prohibition remained in effect at times other than Eid, apart from the exceptions made for weddings in other ahaadeeth. Shaykh al-Albaani explained this in his valuable book Tahreem Aalaat al-Tarab (the Prohibition of Musical Instruments). The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) approved of young girls singing at Eid, as stated in the hadeeth: “So that the mushrikeen will know that in our religion there is room for relaxation.” There is no indication in the hadeeth about the two young girls that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was listening to them. The commands and prohibitions have to do with listening, not merely hearing, just as in the case of seeing, the rules have to do with intentionally looking and not what happens by accident. So it is clear that this is for women only. Imaam Abu ‘Ubayd (may Allaah have mercy on him) defined the daff as “that which is played by women.” (Ghareeb al-Hadeeth, 3/64). (see Islam Q&A Fatwa: 5000)

The clear saheeh texts indicate in a number of ways that it is permissible to recite poetry and listen to it. It was narrated in saheeh reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his noble Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) listened to verse, recited it (as nasheed) and asked others to recite it, both when they were travelling and when they stayed at home, in their gatherings and whilst they were working, individually, as in the case of Hassaan ibn Thaabit, ‘Aamir ibn al-Akwa’ and Anjashah (may Allaah be pleased with them), and in unison, as in the hadeeth of Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) which describes the digging of the ditch (al-khandaq). Anas said:

When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw how exhausted and hungry we were, he said (in verse): “O Allaah, there is no life except the life of the Hereafter, so forgive the Ansaar and the Muhaajireen.”
And they said in response:“We are the ones who have pledged allegiance to Muhammad, to make jihaad for as long as we live.”(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3/1043)

And in gatherings too: Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated with a hasan isnaad that Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan said: “The Companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not speak in devious tones or in a soft manner. They used to recite verses in their gatherings, denouncing the affairs of their jaahiliyyah, but if it was the matter of their religion, they would become very serious and cautious (8/711).

This evidence indicates that nasheeds are permissible, whether recited individually or in unison. The word nasheed in Arabic means raising the voice when reciting verse and making the voice sound beautiful and gentle.

In order for one to clear their mind from falling into fitnah of the haraam anasheed that is around today the Scholars have mentioned a list of guidelines and shar’i conditions which must be fulfilled for the nasheed to be permissible, and That includes:

1. The words of the nasheed must be free of haraam and foolish words.

2. The nasheed should not be accompanied by musical instruments. No musical instrument is permitted except the duff for women on certain occasions.

3. It should be free of sound effects that imitate musical instruments, because what counts is what appears to be the case, and imitating haraam instruments is not permissible, especially when the bad effect is the same as that which happens with real instruments.

4. Listening to nasheed should not become a habit which takes up a person’s time and affects his duties and mustahabb actions, such as affecting his reading of Qur’aan and calling others to Allaah.

5. The performer of a nasheed should not be a woman performing in front of men, or a man with an enchanting appearance or voice performing in front of women.

6. One should avoid listening to performers with soft voices who move their bodies in rhythm, because there is fitnah in all of that and it is an imitation of the evildoers.

7. One should avoid the images that are put on the covers of their tapes, and more important than that, one should avoid the video clips that accompany their nasheeds, especially those which contain provocative movements and imitations of immoral singers.

8. The purpose of the nasheed should be the words, not the tune.

(See Islam Q&A Fatwa: 91142)

In conclusion there is no excuse to this anasheed that people produce today with Musical Instrumentals and video clips with tours and women in them, for verily it is Prohibited by the Sharia'. As for whom listens to it are judged amongst those whom are from the listeners of Music. I clearly warn those whom listen to these modern day munshids such as Maher Zain, Sami Yusif, Yusif Islam and any others that have this similar way of so called anasheed is Forbidden in Islam, and to fear Allah and dont take your desires over Allah and His Messenger. The Prophet said: "I am leaving behind me two matters, you will not go astray as long as you cling to them both, the Book of Allah and my Sunnah." Related by Maalik in al-Muwattaa (2/899) and al-Haakim (1/93), from Ibn 'Abbass radiaalahu'anhu. It was authenticated by al-Albaanee in as-Saheehah (no.1871)

Verily how can one choose the misguidance over the true guidance which is the The Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace be upon him) as the evidences have been forwarded on this matter I see no reason to why one would chooses to follow such nonsense which does not benefit them in any way as a Muslim. We all have to put one thing into perspective and that is listening to this kind of stuff is wasting your valuable time on which one should be spending by remembering Allah upon His commands that are Stated in His book and been informed to us by His Messenger (peace be upon him), And Allah knows best...

We Ask Allah to guide us to what is good , and to protect us from what is evil, And Allaah is the Source of strength. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions.