Indeed all praise is due to Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) and we ask Him to send His peace and blessings to the universe, the final messenger Muḥammad and to everybody who follows his way with righteousness until the last day.
The topic I have chosen to discuss today is the issues related to entertainment in Islam. This topic is one that comes up with many of the young Muslims. They seem to have this understanding that having fun is not permitted for the believer, and this understanding is something which drives them away from practicing Islam as they begin to find Islam constraining and difficult upon themselves.
What we will be looking at in this short video is some of the proofs as to what is the Islamic position towards entertainment which is ḥalāl, which is ḥarām, and what is recommended.
Attitude of People Towards Entertainment
We need to begin by first examining the attitude of people towards entertainment. Among those who live a worldly life without any attachment to the religion, their understanding of entertainment is that this is what life is all about. Many people live their lives for entertainment. They want to have fun even though they work and earn money. The money is used to purchase more means of entertainment. If they have a television, they are working harder to buy a bigger television. If they have a car with a radio in it, they want to buy a radio with an MP3 player. If it has an MP3 player, they want to buy a DVD player for the car. If they have PlayStation 2, they want to buy PlayStation 3. It is always about more and getting more entertainment and enjoying life more.
This is the attitude of those who are caught up in the dunya among the Muslims and the non-Muslims. This is a very destructive attitude as it distracts us from the purpose of life. Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) created us to primarily worship and obey Him. If we are distracted too many hours by making money and then using that money to have fun, what happens is that we now do not have time to worship Allāh. You find people who when you tell them to join you for an Islamic project, the first excuse is “we don't have time.” They have time to watch 3 hours of movies every day and play four hours of video games every day, but they don't have one hour to devote to Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla). This is a very dangerous position to be in.
It is these types of people who Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) speaks about in the Qur'ān inSūrat'l-Takāthur when He says, “The competition to gather the nice things in this world has distracted you until you visit the graves (meaning until you die). Then only will you come to know the reality. Definitely then only will you come to know the reality.” Allāh continues in the surah and says that these people who spend their entire lives chasing after the dunyawhen they die “they will see the hellfire with their own eyes, and on that Day, Allāh will ask them about the good things He gave them in this world and what they did with them.” It is very important for us that while we as humans want to have fun, we should not allow this to distract us from our purpose in life. We need to prioritize and realize that the purpose why Allāh created us is to worship Him. This should always be a priority.
The idea of just having fun and enjoying life and making money is not an Islamic understanding of the world. The Islamic understanding, however, is not the opposite extreme. There are Muslims who go to the opposite extreme and say that we are here only to worship Allāh so there is no such thing as entertainment and there is no such thing as having fun, but this is a misunderstanding. This is a wrong understanding of Islam.
The correct attitude of a Muslim is that Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) created us upon thefiṭrah. He created us with natural inclinations towards good or evil. There is nothing in this religion which is against our fiṭrah. Anything that is part of human nature is accommodated for in Islam, and so to the human need for recreation is also accommodated.
We find that Islam allows people to enjoy themselves but in ways that are wholesome, pure and ḥalāl. If you look at the principles of fiqh, one of the principles of fiqh when it comes to things of this world is that everything is permissible unless you have proof that it is prohibited. This applies to forms of entertainment as well. Those forms of entertainment which are clearly prohibited in the Qur'ān or in the Sunnah or by analogy are the prohibited forms, but everything else is permissible as long as they fulfill basic criteria.
There is a narration that some people bring forth, and they say that this narration prohibits all forms of entertainment except three. There are two versions, and one says three and one says four. The narration is that all of the recreational things of this world are bāṭil (void) and a waste of time except for three (another narration says four). The Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) described them as archery, horseback riding, and swimming. In the other narration the fourth one added is wrestling.
Some scholars based on this narration say that these four are the only permissible types of entertainment. In his Iḥyā' 'Ulum'l-Dīn, Imām al-Ghazāli (raḥimahullāh) gives a very good response to this. Imām al-Ghazāli mentions that, “Just because these few are mentioned in one ḥadīth does not necessarily mean that other forms are all ḥarām because there are many other narrations that the Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) and the ṣaḥābahentertained themselves in other ways not mentioned in this ḥadīth.” The Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) used to race with his wife on foot and used to watch people play with swords in the masjid. They used to have competitions with watermelon seeds, and they used to do many other things. Some of the children used to play with toys, and it goes on and on. There were many other things they used to do.
This ḥadīth is not limiting what is ḥalāl. Furthermore, the word in the ḥadīth is not ḥarām. The word in the ḥadīth is “bāṭil,” meaning that there is no reward in it. If there is no reward in something, it does not make it ḥarām. It is still ḥalāl unless you have proof for it to be prohibited. The Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) is telling us that these forms of entertainment are rewarding. If you ride a horse, train with archery, or are swimming, these are types [of entertainment] that are rewarding because they keep you physically fit and energized and this is something which is good in Islam. It does not necessarily mean that others are prohibited.
We need to understand the primary principle is that when it comes to entertainment, everything is permissible unless we have proof for it being prohibited.
Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla) tells us in the Qur'ān, “Allāh wants things to be easy for you. He does not want to make things difficult for you.” Allāh says, “There is nothing in this religion which is a burden.”
Conditions that Make the ḥalāl ḥarām
From among the other principles which cover the issue of entertainment, besides the rule that everything is ḥalāl unless proven ḥarām, there are certain things if they are found in the aspect of entertainment, they become ḥarām. These things include:
1. Including any element of ḥarām.
Something might be ḥalāl in itself, but the minute elements of ḥarām get involved, a person should stay away from it. For example, playing sports like cricket, football, soccer, or these types of things, in itself is ḥalāl, but if playing is going to make a person vulgar and abusive to his friends, then it is not permissible for such a person to play it even though it is permissible for others. The first thing is that it should not lead to what is ḥarām.
2. It should not consume too much of our time.
If one is playing video games for ten hours a day or one is watching two or three movies a day or one is watching cricket for five days in a row for six hours a day, then this can become ḥarām as you allow wasting time. To waste our time is not permissible in Islam. We should have entertainment in ways which refresh us without consuming all our time. Two hours a day or three hours a day is ok if you are spending the rest of the day in what is good in issues of 'ibādah and work and family time. To let it consume your time is not permissible.
3. It should not consume your resources.
Somebody who is spending all of his money on entertainment, this is not permissible. We are responsible for not only how we earn money but also how we spend it, so again, we need to balance our lifestyle and not be from those whom Allāh calls the musrifūn, those who are wasteful when it comes to spending their money.
These are some of the conditions that could make something which is ḥalāl ḥarām.
Prohibited Forms of Entertainment
There are certain forms of entertainment which are completely prohibited in Islam from the Qur'ān and Sunnah. Anything involving intoxication, whether it is alcohol or drugs, is prohibited. Anything involving or leading to zina is prohibited. Any such a place where people go to entertain themselves which is again of alcohol or zina or drugs or nowadays you get places where you can find all of these things together, such places are prohibited for us to attend.
Likewise, gambling is completely prohibited. Any form of entertainment which involves shirkis also prohibited. Many times Muslims don't realize when they are doing something for fun that it actually involves shirk. You will hear Muslims playing a game and one Muslim will tell his friend, “My character is omnipresent” or “My character is lives for eternity.” This isshirk. Only Allāh has these qualities. Even to give these qualities to characters in a game is not permissible.
Likewise, any form of entertainment which involves fortune telling is not permissible. There are various other things. For example, when it comes to the issue of joking and comedy, there are many rules which regulate this in Islam. Islam is not against joking in itself, but the content needs to be clean and free from shirk and must not be mocking Islam or the Muslims. Anything which is part of Islam cannot be mocked. If there is something that Muslims do which is not Islamic and you are mocking them to show them that this is not Islamic, that is ok. But when you are mocking Islam, this is kufr. It is very important for those Muslims involved in the field of entertainment known as comedy to be very careful what they say and to study deeper the fiqh of joking and to use this fiqh accordingly and to make the jokes accordingly so that they do not step onto this dangerous territory.
Recommended Forms of Entertainment
There are other forms of entertainment which are recommended, as we mentioned in theḥadīth: swimming, archery, horse riding and wrestling and other forms of physical martial arts. These types of things are recommended because they help keep the body fit. Likewise, spending time with your wife and your children is all recommended in Islam and in fact it sometimes even becomes obligatory on a person to spend at least a minimal amount of time with their family members. Having fun together with your children and with your wife are things which Islam recommends. Take them out. Go to a park. Go and eat out together. These things are very much recommended as it helps to strengthen the unity of the family.
Likewise, dealing with nature brings you closer to Allāh (subḥānahu wa ta'āla), so if you enjoy visiting zoos and parks and places where there is a lot of nature and animals,alḥamdulillāh this is something which is good. Islamic songs are also something which is recommended according to some and permissible according to others. In my view, it is something good which will take people away from the prohibited forms of music. Likewise there are many other things when you study the Qur'ān and Sunnah. You will find in thesīrah of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) many ways in which he and his companions used to have fun which are completely ḥalāl. If the Prophet (peace be upon him) recommended it, then it becomes something which is recommended as well.
When it comes to the issues of entertainment, there are two main areas where we have a lot of questions. The first is in the issue of animations and drawings and the second is the issue of music and musical instruments. I want to focus primarily on these two topics for the remainder of the session.
Animation and Drawings
When it comes to animation, there are various opinions from the scholars. As 'Ā'ishah (raḍyAllāhu 'anha) narrates a ḥadīth, the Prophet (peace be upon him) prohibited the drawing of living creatures. 'Ā'ishah (raḍyAllāhu 'anha) herself also narrates that she used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam). One of these dolls was a horse with wings, and the Prophet Muḥammad (ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) did not see anything wrong with her playing with these dolls.
So the scholars have differed on this issue. Some scholars looking only at the first ḥadīthhave said that the drawing of living creatures is completely prohibited. Other scholars, trying to reconcile between both ḥadīths, have come to various opinions. The two most common opinions are that either drawings are permissible unless they lead to glorification orshirk or the more common, and the stronger opinion, is that drawings are prohibited unless they are for entertainment and education of children. Any form of drawing or depiction of living creatures which is for the entertainment of children or for the educational purposes, many of the scholars have ruled that these are permissible. So children's toys, animated movies, and these sorts of things based on this will be permissible.
Obviously then the issue comes about content. When it comes to animation, even these days many of the animated movies produced by non-Muslims have content which is questionable for Muslims to watch, so parents need to screen the type of animation they allow their children to watch, something they themselves have gone through first to make sure that there is nothing in it which will take the children away from Islam and that the content is clean and then allow them to watch it.
While this is going on, it is very important for Muslims who have access to making media and producing videos, such Muslims should focus on making animated movies for Muslim children, which have Islamic content. Alḥamdulillāh this is something which is happening nowadays and it is something where there is a lot of room for growth and expansion. This will become an alternative for the children so that they do not get involved in the types of movies and entertainment which are prohibited.
Some people might say that television in itself is prohibited, but this is not the correct opinion. The correct opinion is that it depends on the content. If somebody is watching this video, there is absolutely nothing wrong with watching such a video as the content is Islamic. If somebody is watching a video that has ḥarām elements in it, then that is not permissible. One has to look at the content of the specific video to declare if it is permissible or not. The television and videos are in themselves tools, and the tools areḥalāl. What they are used for and what is viewed on them is what makes them ḥalāl orḥarām. The same ruling applies to animated movies.
From the ḥadīth of 'Ā'ishah (raḍyAllāhu 'anha), scholars have deduced that children's toys are permissible, animated movies for children are permissible, animated books for children are permissible. This is one of opinion of scholars. Some scholars do disagree with this, there is no doubt about it. This is the opinion that I follow, and Allāh knows best.
