Is it unlawful to dance?

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all things. May Allah bless and grant peace to our Master Muhammad, his family, and companions.

To quote Reliance, r40.4:

(Nawawi: (n: with commentary by Muhammad Shirbini Khatib)) It is not prohibited to dance ((Shirbini:) which is not unlawful because it is only motions made while standing or bowing. Furani and others have expressly stated that neither is it offensive, but rather, is permissible, as is attested to by the hadith related in the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) stood before ‘A’isha (Allah be well pleased with her) to screen her from view so that she could observe the Abyssinians sporting and dancing) – unless it is languid, like the movements of the effeminate (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma’rifa ma’ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 4.430)

Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami uses similar wording and argumentation:

Beating the kuba is prohibited… but dancing isn’t, being neither prohibited nor offensive, because it is only motions made while standing or bowing, and further because he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) consented to the Abyssinians doing so in his mosque on the day of Eid, as related by Bukhari and Muslim.

(The bold text is from the Minhaj of Imam Nawawi while the rest is Ibn Hajar’s commentary.) [Tuhfa al-Muhtaj fi Sharh al-Minhaj]

A Word of Caution

If there is anything prohibited mixed with the dancing, such as music [Reliance, r40.1-3] or unlawful intermingling of the sexes, then it becomes prohibited.

Allah the Exalted knows best and He alone gives success.

Moustafa Elqabbany

Metro Vancouver, Canada