Dhamm al-Malahi li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Ibn Taymiyyah
Dhamm al-Malahi (The Condemnation of Diversions) is a treatise by the Baghdadi scholar and traditionist Ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 281 AH / 894 CE) addressing the prohibition and censuring of musical instruments, singing, and idle amusements .
Subject Matter and Contents
The work brings together prophetic hadiths, statements of the Companions, and reports from early authorities regarding various forms of diversion, musical instruments, and pastimes . Among its contents are:
- Singing and Singing Girls: Reports on the impermissibility of singing, buying, selling, or training singing slave-girls (qaynat), and commentary transmitted on the Quranic verse وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ ("And of the people is he who buys the amusement of speech"), where Ibn Abbas explained it as singing and the like .
- Eschatological Warnings: Prophetic narrations related on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa'd, Imran ibn Husayn, and others concerning calamities—such as sinking into the earth, transformation, and bombardment (khasf, maskh, and qadhf)—occurring when musical instruments (ma'azif) and singing women appear alongside the consumption of wine .
- Instruments: Sayings concerning specific instruments, such as the statement attributed to Ali ibn al-Husayn (Zayn al-'Abidin) that a community in which the lute (barbat) is present is not sanctified .
- Games and Pastimes: Traditions warning against dice and games of chance, such as backgammon (nard) and chess (shatranj), with narrations from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and al-Qasim ibn Muhammad classifying diversions that distract from the remembrance of God and prayer under prohibited gambling (maysir) .
- Sayings of Early Figures: Statements warning against the moral impact of music, including the warning of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn al-Walid that singing diminishes modesty, increases desire, destroys chivalry (muru'ah), and acts as a prelude to fornication (ruqyat al-zina), a phrasing also cited from al-Fudayl ibn Iyad .
Reception and Impact
The book is counted among the early treatises composed on singing and instruments of amusement, representing a broader genre that includes works by later authors such as al-Ajurri and Ibn Battah . Its transmitted narrations have been widely cited by later scholars in discussions on music and entertainment, including Ibn al-Qayyim in Ighathat al-lahfan, Ibn al-Jawzi in Talbis Iblis, Ibn Kathir in al-Bidayah wa-l-nihayah, and al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-manthur .
Editions and Translations
The treatise has appeared in several modern printings and translations:
- Edited and translated into English by James Robson, published in London in 1938 alongside Bawariq al-Ilma' by Abu al-Futuh Ahmad al-Ghazali .
- Edited by al-Sa'id Zaghlul and Yusri 'Abd al-Ghani, published by Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah in 1413 AH .
- Edited with commentary by 'Amr 'Abd al-Mun'im Salim, published by Maktabat Ibn Taymiyyah in Cairo in 1416 AH .
Answer updated