na'at with dhikr

Sima' means to listen to the poems, qasidas, ilahis, mawlids that are recited by one or more people and which strengthen the faith and iman and beautify morals. The superiors of tasawwuf did sima' and listened to those that were recited without musical instruments and without men and women being together. No musical instrument was ever seen in the sohbats, gatherings of the Sultan-i Mashayikh [Nizamuddin-i Dahlawi]. Those who were in those sohbats would weep inwardly and would be greatly grieved. The books Fawaid-ul- fuad and Siyar-ul- Awliya inform of this fact in detail. Deviating from the path of the superiors of tasawwuf darkens the heart. Those superiors permitted sima' in order to turn the heart's constipation into relief and to increase the state of relief. They said that sima' would increase tenderness, love of Allah in the heart. Sima' is not permissible for the unaware, that is, for those who have no love of Allah in their hearts. Such gatherings of sima' become gatherings of sins. Every Muslim should avoid such meetings of sima'. Some men of tasawwuf said that such musical instruments as reeds were permissible, yet they said so during an intoxication of love. Such words, which the Shariat has prohibited, must not be followed.

 

Mahmud Anjir Faghnawi (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaih), a great tasawwuf leader, declares: "For the dhikr al-'alaniyya (the audible dhikr) to be useful [and therefore, permissible], the heart should be in a state of lewn (deep sorrow, bleeding), that is, there should not be the stain of lying or backbiting in the heart, nothing haram or mushtabih should have passed through one's throat, and one's mind should be free from riya' (hypocrisy) and sum'a (desire for fame) and inclinations towards anything but the sirr-i Hadrat Haqq." For such people only is taghanni (singing) or sima' beneficial. For those who have not attained such a state, the fiqh ulama' (fuqaha) say taghanni is haram.

 

It is mubah to make merry with halal sounds on happy occasions when it is necessary to be joyful, such as at weddings, feasts, sunnats (circumcision ceremonies), 'Iyds and returns from safars (journeys). These sounds do not strengthen the nafs but the qalb. It is self- deception for those with stained hearts to say there is love for Allah in their hearts and then to listen to songs or ilahis. Only a murshid kamil (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain) can diagnose whether the qalb is pure, strong and has defeated the nafs or if the qalb is sick and the nafs has overpowered it. [It was for this reason that Imam-i Rabbani (quddisa sirruh) did not approve of young people re citing ilahis at meetings, as written in his 266th letter.] A beautiful voice or naghma (song) does more harm than good to the devotees of tasawwuf whose hearts have not attained ahwal, or whose hearts have not been redeemed from shahwa (lust), though they may have ahwal," elucidates Imam-i Ghazali in Kimya-yi saadat. Hadrat Sad ad-Din al-kashgari reports from Khawaja Muhammad Parisa (Quddisa sirruhuma) in Rashahat: "The most harmful of the curtains separating man from Allahu ta'ala is the settling of worldly thoughts in the heart. These thoughts come from bad companions or from watching unnecessary things. One should try very hard to expel them from one's heart. Reading frivolous books [or novels, newspapers, magazines, stories] and talking about unnecessary or trivial subjects increase such thoughts. Watching women or their pictures [in photo-novels, films or on television] and listening to songs and music [with voices of women] cause such harmful thoughts to settle in the heart, all of which take a man away from Allahu ta'ala. Sickness of the heart is its forgetting Allahu ta'ala. Those who want to approach Allahu ta'ala should avoid this and abstain from anything which incites a malignant imagination. Allahu ta'ala's habit is such that He does not bestow the blessing (of approaching Him) upon those who do not work, endure hardships and give up their joys and desires."

 

All I find in these asian (well, I'm not asian, so, no offence bros and sis's) nashids with dhikr in the background is mere distraction.

i'm sorry to say, and i don't mean any offence to anyone, but this is my personal feeling, it is how i feel when listening to something like this.

I feel distracted from the nashid to the dhikr, or from the dhikr to the nashid... which one do i listen to?

i'd get more and more confused, so i just stopped.

i wouldn't listen to them myself anymore, but if anyone was listening to something like that, i wouldn't tell them off.

and god and his messenger know best.

 

Thank you Madani bhai and Aqdas bhai for this.

 

it is better not do something on which there is a dispute.it was for this reason that those who had taqwa did not perform an audible dhikr;they performed zikr silently.
reference:Maqamat-i Mazhariyya(Mazhar-ı Jan-i Janan)

 

Assalam-o-Alykum,

Naats (poetry in the praise of Prophet sallal Allaho t'ala alehe wa alehe wasallam) with zikr (chanting of the sacred name of Allah azzawajal) in the background has been very recently introduced in Pakistan and India. However, ulma-e-Ahle Sunnat and the general public is divided on the permissibility of such new styles in the recitation of naats. The main reason that why Ulma-e-karam are opposing the zikr in the background is because it immitates music and whoever is listening thinks early on that it's music. And this is a great disrespect to a sacred action like Naat-Khawani.

How much ulma-e-Ahle sunnat and the general public is concerned and divided on this issue that in one of the recent big Mehfil-e-Naat in Bab-ul-Madina, Karachi, Pakistan, when one famous Naat-khawan starting reciting Naat in that style (zikr in the background), one very learned and famous scholar stopped him. At this, the Naat-Khawan left the stage. Then the next Naat-Khawan came and starting reciting with the same style. This time, the scholar left the stage because it was not permissible according to his research and it was wajib (compulsory) for him to leave the stage. Afterwards, the supporters (mohibbeen) of both Naat-khawan and Alim got emotional, which lead to anger and ultimately fight among people.

Inna Lillahe Wa Inna Ileiehe Rajeoon

So how much serious is the matter that our own people of Ahle Sunnat are dividing. Ameer-e-Ahle Sunnat, the founder of Dawat-e-Islami, Abu Bilal, Hazrate Allama Moulana Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qaderi Razawi (damat barkatuhumul alya) as usual has a deep and regretful concern about this issue. Again, he is deep wishing to keep our unity. This is why, he has written a marvelous booklet on the topic of \"Zikr wali Naat Khawani\" (Naat with Zikr). In this booklet, he points out a great shar'ee principle with the reference of Fatawa Razawia V:8, P:303 written by Imam-e-Ahle Sunnat, Mujaddad-e-Deen-o-Millat, Moulana Ashshsah Ahmed Razan Khan (aleh rahmatur Rehman), more/less meaning, \"When there's a doubt in action whether it's sunnah or makruh, then it's afzal (better) to leave it.\" Ameer-e-Ahle Sunnat, after quoting this, writes that you see when there's different opinios of Ulama-e-Karam between sunnah and makruh, then it's afzal (better) to leave it. And where Mubah (permissible) and Haram are colliding with each other, then why it wouldn't be 'Afzal Tareen' (the best) to leave it......

Dear and sweet Islamic brothers, this is a great booklet by Ameer-e-Ahle Sunnat that has many striking points that we should abstain from Naats with Zikr. Please read it and forward it to others.

May Allah a'zzawajal make all of our Muslims united under the madani flag of Ya-RasoolAllah and may Allah a'zzawajal bless all of our Muslims.
Ameen bijahinnabiyyal ameen sallal Allaho ta'ala alehe wa alehe wasallam!

Here's the url for the booklet. Please note that this is in Urdu.
http://dawateislami.net/library/literature.aspx?litid=lit-225&vhpvno=1&year=2006

Dawat-e-Islami Chicago

 

I find that many of the Arabs do this in their mahfils and hadra.

 

what is the reasoning for such fatwas? what is the haram in the breathing /dhikr in these na'ts.?

 

My understanding is that Owais Qadri and other na'at khwans have also agreed to no longer include dhikr following a publication on this subject by Ameer-e-Dawate Islami Maulana Ilyas Attar Qadri hafidhullah.