[Al Arabiya] A religious ruling by the president of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, Dr. Yousef al-Qardhawi, permitting the singing of females stirred debate within Islamic religious circles where playing music and singing were perceived for long as forbidden by the Shariah law, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported.
Some Muslim scholars criticized Dr. Qaradhawi's fatwa saying that singing is forbidden and not only for women but for men as well, citing the music's effect on emotions and its potential to lead to what is perceived as sin. Dr. Abd al-Fatah Idris, an Islamic scholar from Egypt's Al-Azhar university, said "As a general rule, women's singing is forbidden, but there is no evidence that shows women cannot allow men to hear their voice while singing."
But Idris acknowledged that during the prophet's era a woman called Zainab used to sing for other women in weddings. |