Music, Prophecy, and the Question of God: A Theological Critique of Islam’s Ban on Music

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba
Shimba Theological Institute

Abstract

Music has long served as a vehicle of divine revelation, spiritual joy, and prophetic utterance within the Judeo-Christian tradition. In striking contrast, Islamic jurisprudence—rooted in both Qur’anic interpretations and Prophetic hadith—often condemns musical expression as sinful or demonic. This article interrogates these theological disjunctions, contrasting the Biblical theology of music with the Islamic prohibition of instruments, and argues that the divergent positions reveal fundamental incompatibilities between the God of the Bible and Allah of the Qur’an. Drawing upon patristic writings, classical tafsīr, and canonical hadith collections, this study advances the claim that music is not merely ornamentation but an essential expression of divine-human communion—a reality rejected by Islamic orthodoxy.

1. Introduction: Music as Theological Proof

In interfaith dialogues, one often appeals to metaphysical arguments regarding the nature of God. Yet cultural and liturgical practices can offer equally decisive insights. Music, in particular, is not peripheral but central to how a faith conceives divine-human relations. The God of Israel reveals Himself amid song (Exod. 15:1–2), prophecy (1 Sam. 10:5), and worship (Ps. 150), whereas Islamic sources routinely depict Allah as prohibiting instruments, likening music to adultery, wine, and vanity (Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ 5590). This polarity cannot be ignored if one is to conduct serious comparative theology.

2. Music in the Biblical Canon

From the earliest stages of Israelite history, music emerges as both prophetic and sacramental. When Saul was anointed king, he encountered “a company of prophets…with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre, prophesying” (1 Sam. 10:5, ESV). Here, the prophetic word is inseparable from musical accompaniment. Similarly, Elisha summoned a musician before prophesying: “As the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him” (2 Kgs. 3:15).

The Psalter, the prayer book of Israel, is suffused with commands to employ musical instruments in worship. Psalm 150 offers a catalogue of instruments—trumpet, lute, harp, timbrel, strings, pipe, cymbals—insisting that “everything that has breath praise the LORD” (Ps. 150:6). Far from rejecting instruments, God sanctifies them as conduits of praise.

Early Christian voices echo this vision. Clement of Alexandria (Paedagogus, II.4) interprets music as a reflection of the Logos, arguing that Christ Himself is the “New Song” harmonizing creation. Augustine (Confessions, IX.6) confessed that sacred music moved him to tears, describing it as a form of prayer that lifts the soul heavenward. Thus, patristic theology firmly linked music with divine communion.

3. Islam and the Prohibition of Music

In stark contrast, Islamic orthodoxy demonstrates deep ambivalence toward music. While the Qur’an does not explicitly outlaw instruments, exegetes such as Ibn Kathīr (Tafsīr, commentary on Qur’an 31:6) interpret “idle talk” (lahw al-ḥadīth) as music, warning that it leads believers astray. Al-Qurṭubī concurs, asserting that music constitutes a diversion from the remembrance of Allah (Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī, vol. 14).

More explicit is the hadith corpus. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (5590), Muhammad declares: “There will be among my followers people who will consider as permissible illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks, and the use of musical instruments.” Here, instruments are grouped with fornication and drunkenness, marking them as grave moral transgressions. Muslim jurists such as Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) intensified this stance, equating music with satanic deception (Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, vol. 11).

Islamic spirituality thus presents revelation without music. Unlike the prophets of Israel, who prophesied with instruments, Muhammad’s revelations came in states of physical trembling, heavy breathing, or while under the coverings of Aisha (Muslim 2432; Bukhārī 3728)—modes devoid of musical accompaniment or joyful worship.

4. Intertextual Theological Critique

The disjunction here is not incidental but ontological. The God of the Bible employs music to reveal His Spirit; Allah, by contrast, condemns music as corruption. One cannot harmonize these positions without negating one tradition. To argue that Yahweh and Allah are identical requires ignoring the radical divergence in how each conceives human creativity, worship, and prophecy.

The prophets, psalmists, and early Church Fathers testify that music is a gift—a miracle distinguishing humanity from the beasts. No donkey composes psalms, no ox crafts symphonies. Music is uniquely human because it reflects the imago Dei. To silence music is to silence an essential expression of divine image-bearing.

Thus, if one bans music, one opposes the Creator’s design. The Christian tradition sees Satan as the perverter of worship (Ezek. 28:13–17, interpreted by many Fathers as describing Lucifer’s fall from being a musical being of heaven). By this measure, a deity who bans instruments, condemns musicians, and likens melody to fornication cannot be the God who commands, “Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy” (Ps. 33:3). Rather, such a deity aligns with the adversary of sacred song.

5. Conclusion

Music, therefore, becomes a theological litmus test. The God of the Bible affirms music as prophecy, prayer, and praise. Allah of Islam condemns it as corruption. The gulf between these positions cannot be bridged by appeals to common monotheism. This divergence reveals not merely different emphases but fundamentally different deities. To worship the God who inhabits the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3) is to reject the pseudo-god who silences them.

References

Augustine. Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. Oxford: OUP, 1991.
Clement of Alexandria. Paedagogus. ANF, vol. 2.
Ibn Kathīr. Tafsīr al-Qur’an al-ʿAẓīm. Cairo: Dār al-Ḥadīth.
al-Qurṭubī. Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1967.
Ibn Taymiyya. Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā. Medina: King Fahd Press, 1995.
al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj. Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

✍️ Dr. Maxwell Shimba
Shimba Theological Institute

Tuesday, January 6, 2026