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Musical Convert: What to do?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

A foreign sister converted to Islam very recently. Masha Allah. We are going through some basics of Islam with her. She is a foreign student who is studying a musical instrument [at such and such place] … Music is her life right now. As far as I understand, it is essential that the basic elements of faith are emphasised at the moment, rather than discuss issues like music etc. At what point would it be necessary to discuss the issue of music with her. One concern is that if the issue is discussed by others it may not be done in an appropriate manner.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

Proceed with wisdom. Inoculate her with the understandings of traditional Islam: not to listen to ‘just anyone’ when they try to dictate to her how her religion should be. In this vein, the writings of Sh. Nuh Keller, Sh. Abdal Hakim Murad, and the lectures of Sh. Hamza Yusuf , Sh. Muhammad Ya`qoubi, Sh. Faisal Abd al-Razzaq, and others are invaluable.
[See: http://www.ihyaproductions.com]

Give her food for her soul, in terms of good literature , such as the Imam Ghazali series of ITS, Martin Lings’ book on the Prophet, Quilliam Press’ books, especially the Imam al-Haddad ones, and the tapes of Imam Hamza, and other Western traditional scholars, as well as the reading material on Sidi Mas’ud Khan’s excellent website, http://www.masud.co.uk.

Make sure she finds good company, righteous Muslims with good character. Have a circle of friends who keep in touch with her on a regular basis, who invite her over for food, and whom she can find friendship and strength through.

There are many good traditional learning programs going on in the West. Gently encourage her to attend these.

She is musically oriented, so get her tapes of halal traditional Islamic inshad from different parts of the Islamic world.

If you can’t do this yourself alone, encourage your friends as well, and tell her about things she may be interested in acquiring. Remember that any time or money spent on a new convert is among the best of charity. The Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) told Sayyiduna Ali (Allah ennoble his countenance), “For Allah to guide a single soul through you is better for you than the world and all it contains.”

Enjoining the Good & Forbidding the Evil is Conditional

Also remember that enjoining the good and forbidding the evil is only obligatory if you think that the person will listen, and if the benefit of saying something is clearly expected to be greater than potential harms. And the legal principle is that preventing harm is given precedence to achieving benefits.

However, one should keep in mind that what she is doing is not right. She will realize it herself soon enough, and if she has been directed towards sound understanding, strong faith, proper guidance, and good company, then it will not be difficult for her to leave what she is doing, or redirect herself towards something more proper Islamically.

And Allah alone guides to the truth, and He alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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