Fatwa ID: 05151

Answered by: Mufti Muhammad Adnan

Question

I want to go to the gym for physical exercises. The gym is only for men. But the problem is that music is turned on for doing gym. I know music is haram. Can I go to the gym to be physically fit? Nowadays many diseases occur for not doing exercise. What should I do?

In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful

Answer

Going to the gym to preserve and improve health is a commendable act in itself, but caution needs to be exercised when it comes to preserving our deen also. Contemplate on the narration and commentary below taken from singing and listening to music by Mufti Abdur Rauf Sakharwi.

Hadhrat Nafi (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with him) narrates that Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Umar (may Allah Ta’ala be pleased with them both) once heard a flute being played by a shepherd. He placed his fingers in both his ears and turned his conveyance from the path. He then continued to ask, “can the sound be heard?” until I said to him, “now there’s no sound that can be heard.” He then removed his fingers from his ears and came back on that path. He then said, ” I saw Nabi (peace be upon him) doing the same when he heard the sound of the shepherd’s flute.” (Abu Dawood)

The conclusion we can come to is that if the gym is playing music you should refrain from visiting those places and look at alternative forms of physical exercises like jogging in the park etc.

Only Allah Knows Best

Written by Mufti Muhammad Adnan

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham