Question Summary:
Can men listen to audios which contain the voice of a women?

Question Detail:

Assamualykum

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.  

Allah Almighty has created a natural attraction and charm in the voice of a female that plays a vital role in jolting and inducing the desire and passion of a man.

According to the preferred view in the Hanafi School, the voice of a woman is not considered to be part of her Awrah.[i] However, if there is a fear of Fitnah, then the female should not raise her voice and the male should avoid listening to it.

A male should avoid listening to the voice of non-Mahram females as much as possible.

Psychologists have proven that the voice of an individual plays a great role in arousing carnal desires.[ii]

Allah Ta’ala commanded the wives of Nabi ﷺ particularly, and all Muslim women in general, to abstain from conversing with non-Mahram men in a soft and sweet tone.

Consider the following Ayah:

يَا نِسَاء النَّبِيِّ لَسْتُنَّ كَأَحَدٍ مِّنَ النِّسَاء إِنِ اتَّقَيْتُنَّ فَلَا تَخْضَعْنَ بِالْقَوْلِ فَيَطْمَعَ الَّذِي فِي قَلْبِهِ مَرَضٌ (الأحزاب: ٣٢)

Translation: “O wives of the Prophet! You are not like other women, if you are God-fearing. So, do not be soft in speech. Lest in whose heart is disease should be moved with desire.” (Surah Al-Ahzab: 32)

This verse indicates that men and women should not talk unnecessarily and when they do so at the time of need, both the content and manner of conversation must be appropriate, and free of anything inciting.[iii]

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Abdullah Syed Sajid

Student Darul Iftaa
Houston, TX, USA 

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai

[i] الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 406)  

(قوله وصوتها) معطوف على المستثنى يعني أنه ليس بعورة

احسن الفتاوی (جلد ٨/ ص ٤٠)

فتاوی عثمانيه (جلد ١٠/ص ٨٣)

فتاوی مموديه (جلد ٢٨/ ص ٧٦)

‏Ma’ariful Quran (Volume 7/ Page 140)

[ii] https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20100526/voice-is-key-to-sexual-attraction

While a great deal of sexual attraction may revolve around the visual, evidence suggests sounds are just as important. Voices can communicate a great deal of social and biological information that can either be a turn-on or a turnoff, say researchers led by Susan Hughes, an assistant professor of psychology at Albright College in Reading, Pa.

"We found that both sexes used a lower-pitch voice and showed a higher level of physiological arousal when speaking to a more attractive opposite-sex target,"

[iii] الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (1/ 406)  

ثم نقل عن خط العلامة المقدسي: ذكر الإمام أبو العباس القرطبي في كتابه في السماع: ولا يظن من لا فطنة عنده أنا إذا قلنا صوت المرأة عورة أنا نريد بذلك كلامها، لأن ذلك ليس بصحيح، فإذا نجيز الكلام مع النساء للأجانب ومحاورتهن عند الحاجة إلى ذلك، ولا نجيز لهن رفع أصواتهن ولا تمطيطها ولا تليينها وتقطيعها لما في ذلك من استمالة الرجال إليهن وتحريك الشهوات منهم