Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- Islam closes the door before every mischievous act and blocks all things leading to vice and seduction.
2- In this context, it says no to the voice of both men and women in cases that may lead to fitnah or temptation.
3– It is allowed for men to sing in front of women since man’s voice is not that soft and so long as the song has a good message and the words are pure.
Responding to the question, the late Sheikh Ahmad Ash-Sharabasi, Professor of Islamic creed at Al-Azhar University , states:
There is nothing in Islam to say that a man cannot sing so long as his singing does not involve any unlawful thing or immoral themes. As long as the song is pure and positive and has a good message to deliver, there is nothing wrong with it.
It is recorded that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) witnessed a man called Anjashah while he was leading the caravan and singing. He did not reproach him; rather, encouraged him.
To many jurists, a man’s singing is rather more acceptable than a woman’s singing, since a man’s voice is naturally not that soft and thus, not leading to mischief or seduction.
A man is not allowed to listen to a woman’s singing. However, it is allowable for women to sing in front of one another in events like weddings. Also allowable is the singing of a husband in front of his wife and vice versa.
Based on the above, it is clear that it is allowable for men to sing in front of women since man’s voice is not that soft and so long as the song has a good message and the words are pure.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.