How to stop listening to music?

The problem with a lot of us today is that even though we know something is impermissible we cannot distance ourselves from it.  It is true that most us cannot take the first step even when we are absolutely sure what we're doing is haram. We keep delaying our tawbah to the next day without realizing that tomorrow isn't certain, we might not be alive and it might be too late to repent. Music is one such sin. The point of this post to help you stop listening to music and overcoming the urge of going back to it.

1. Make tawbah
Making mistakes and falling short are undoubtedly a part of human nature and no one will be free of shortcomings in his or her obedience to Allaah, or free of mistakes or forgetfulness or sins. All of us fall short, commit sins, and make mistakes. Sometimes we turn to Allaah and sometimes we turn away from Him. Sometimes we remember that Allaah is watching and sometimes we become negligent. None of us is free of sin, and we will inevitably make mistakes. We are not infallible. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you did not commit sin Allaah would do away with you and bring people who would commit sin then pray for forgiveness." Narrated by Muslim, 2749. 

And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Every son of Adam sins, and the best of those who sin are those who repent.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2499; classed as hasan by al-Albaani. 

Allah says in the Quran:

“O you who believe! Turn to Allaah with sincere repentance!” [al-Tahreem 66:8] 

So the first step to abstain from any sin should always be tawbah. Interestingly, tawbah is not just saying astaghfirUllah or saying "Oh Allah forgive me!". Rather, tawbah needs more than just that to get accepted. There are essentially three conditions of tawbah:
Firstly, you should give up the sin, secondly, you should regret having done it and thirdly, you should resolve to never go back to it.
If you fulfill these conditions and then you get waswasas (whispers) suggesting that your repentance is not accepted, then know that its Shaytaan who is trying to put you down. Hope for the best from Allah because Allah says in the Quran:

“And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do” [al-Shoora 42:25] 

2. Eliminate the source
If its your phone or iPod, just press that DELETE ALL button. Empty your music library and un-like all those singers and musicians on Facebook and Instagram.

I know, I know this is very difficult. But let me tell you what, getting to Jannah ain't a piece of cake either. So how will this help? You will have to Google your music if you don't have it downloaded. That would make the process at least a teeny tiny bit difficult, in shaa Allah. This is a great step to get you started. It's like washing away yourself of all the dirt.

I know you're strong and you can beat Shaytaan on this one. JUST PRESS DELETE!

3. I've deleted all the music, now what?!
What do you do with all the time you have? You have to listen to something right? You're craving music...
Replace music with the recitation of Quran. Wallahi, there is nothing more beautiful than the recitation of the Quran. There are so many qaaris to choose from. For beginners I recommend Qaari Mishary al-Afasi.

Download a Quran app in your phone if you don't already have one, 'Mp3 Quran' (android) offers a wide range of qaaris to choose from. Download 'Quran Reciter' in your laptop/pc. Make sure you have access to the recitation of the Quran at all times. Buy CDs for your car. Next time you want to listen to some music, play some Quran in your ears instead. It will make all the worries vanish and will make you feel at peace. Quran is the word of Allah,  IMAGINE ALLAH TALKING TO YOU! Could there be anything more awesome than that?

Doing so comes with infinite rewards and benefits. Imagine the Quran interceding for you on the Day of Judgement and your ears witnessing in favour of you. <3

Check out some awesome Qiraat here: mp3quran.net

4. What about nasheeds?
Nasheeds are like Islamic songs. Add some nasheeds in your music library. Make sure you find the ones with no musical instruments and the ones with halal lyrics. Some popular nasheed artists include Zain Bhika, Dawud Wharnsby, Mishary Al-Afasy, Talib Al-Habib and Omer Esa.

Don't listen to nasheeds more often than the Quran though. Listen to a nasheed only when multitasking or when you cannot concentrate entirely on what is being said. Nasheeds will help raise your imaan but not as much as the Quran. Nothing can beat the Quran in beauty either.

5. What else can I listen to?
You can listen to inspirational talks that can motivate you towards more good deeds in shaa Allah. Ustadh Noman Ali Khan, Abdul Nasir Jangda, Dr. Bilal Philips, Bilal Asad, Yusha Evans, Tawfique Chaudary, Sister Yasmin Mogahed are all great speakers ma shaa Allah.

6. What about my habit of singing to myself?
It seems difficult to conquer this one habit, but its not impossible. Shaytaan will bring back your past, he'll remind you of your sins. But you know you've made tawbah. So what to do?
-Say aa-'udhubIllahi minashaiytaanirajeem, that will make Shaytaan go away.
-Start dhikr (remembrance) instead, e.g. SubhanAllahi walhamdulIllahi la illaha illAllahu wAllahu akbar or recite the Quran or 'humm' a du'a. One of my teachers used to make us learn du'as in tarteel, so we could humm du'as instead of singing those ugly songs.

On the Day of Judgement you will be really happy to see all that reward in shaa Allah, of abstaining from something as evil as music and doing good instead. May Allah help us, forgive us and have mercy on us, ameen.


May He accept my effort and grant me ikhlaas.
Any khayr is from Allaah and any evil is from me.

Keep dropping by in shaa Allah! <3

Here's a video of Ustadh Noman Ali Khan on music: