Listening to Qawali songs.
Q. My question is whether or not Islamic Songs (Qaseedas) rendered in a Qawali Style are permissible and what is Qawali Style?
A. Islamic songs are permissible when they are free from all types of musical instruments.
The Qawali style is filled with musical instruments, and it requires one to sing a song in a manner that is not the normal trend of singing. That is, there is a high tone, low tone, chorus, clapping, swaying from one side to the other. Besides these, the Qawali songs, although they may seem Islamic in nature, are sometimes filled with such statements that lead to shirk.
Hence, it will not be permissible to listen to the Qawali songs.
And Allah knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan