The Forbidden. 2. The Permissible. 3. The Recommended: Dancing Is Divided Into Three Categories

Dancing is divided into three categories:
1. The forbidden.
2. The permissible.
3. The recommended.
1. The forbidden category is the dancing of the common with ladies and youths present. This can
lead to
spoiling and uncontrolled lower natures, and satanic selves and so on. Its purpose is to show off
and to exhibit
a state, which is not real. This is also forbidden. This is why certain people have said that dancing
is forbidden.
2. The permissible category of dancing is the dancing done by the right-acting ones and the fuqara
without
ecstasy or finding. They do it as a relaxation to the self and energy for their hearts, fulfilling the
conditions of
time and place and the brothers. No women participate in it, nor youths. This is permissible, and it
does not
call for prohibition, because the causes of forbidding dancing are what was mentioned before. The
latter case
is free of these conditions. If this dancing is compared to what the Samiris did when they
worshipped the cow,
it is seen that their dancing was forbidden because their was spoiled. Their purpose was to glorify
the calf, and
to be happy with it. This is kufr. If their dancing had been free of that it would not have been
forbidden for
them.
It is confirmed that Ja’far ibn Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, danced in the presence
of the
Prophet may Allah bless him and give him peace, when he said to him, `You resemble me in
creation I and in
behavior’ This was mentioned by Shaykh Sanusi in his Musrat al Faqir.
Ibn Layun at-Tujibi said, Às for dancing in the mosque, it is in the Sahih Muslim collection from
A’isha who
said, “An army came from Ethiopia beating drums on the day of the feast in the mosque. The
Prophet may
Allah bless him and give him peace, invited me and I put my palms on his shoulders and watched
them play.”
` Ibn Àynia said that `zafaf’ was to dance. So it is confirmed that dancing is permissible. If it was
forbidden
in its essence, it would not have been done in the presence of the Messenger of Allah.
3. The category of dancing which is recommended is the dancing of the sufis, the people of taste
and state,
whether they are in ecstasy or seeking ecstasy, whether that is in the presence of the dhikr, or in
sama’. There
is no doubt that the cure of the heart of forgetfulness and gathering with Allah is sought by
whatever means
there are, as long as they are not forbidden with a clear and definite declaration of them as
forbidden. We have
seen the speech of al-Junayd when he was asked about sana’.
AI-Fasi said in commentary on the Hissn of the Shaykh of Islam, al-Suyuti, may Allah have
mercy on him,
`How can standing be denied when Allah the Exalted has said, “Those who invoke Allah
standing, sitting and
reclining on their sides”?’
A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, `The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
give him
peace, used to invoke Allah at all times. If he was standing he swayed.’ So there is no denial to
the one whose
delight is witnessing and ecstasy-It is reported in the hadith about the dancing of Jafar ibn Abu
Talib in the
presence of the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and give him peace, when he said to him,
`You
resemble me in creation and in behavior.’
That dance was because of the delight he found in the speech of the Prophet. The Prophet may
Allah bless him
and give him peace, did not deny it and this is the source of the dance of the sufis. It is confirmed
that people
stand up and dance in the circles of dhikr and sama’.
Among these people are great Imams, and one of them was the Shaykh of Islam, Ìzz ul din ibn
Àbd as
Salam, as is mentioned in the Ihya. This is also confirmed by the hadith reported from A’isha,
may Allah be
pleased with her, and the people from Ethiopia who were dancing. The Prophet may Allah bless
him and give
him peace, said to her, `Would you like to look at the dance of the Ethiopians?’ Ibn Zakri
mentioned it in the
commentary of the Nasihaj. It is reported from previous times, from both the east and the west
that the sufi is
used to gather to remember Allah and that they used to dance. It is not reported that any of the
worthy scholars
denied them. I have seen in Fez, in the Zawiyya of as-Siqilli, a group who used to do dhikr and
dance from the
Àsr on the day of Jumu’ah until the Ìsha, with a lot of scholars around. No one denied what they
were doing.
It has reached me that our Shaykh, the Shaykh of the group Sidi at-Tawdi ibn Sudah used to be
present with
them sometimes. He did not deny anything to the fuqara, except someone who was a cold imitator
or an
argumentative competitor.

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