Short answer
In the Hanafi school, listening to musical instruments on purpose is haram. Scholars count it as a sin that becomes major when a person persists in it, and the Prophet ﷺ warned of people who make instruments lawful being punished. A sound that reaches you without choice is not a sin. Like every sin, it is wiped out by sincere tawbah.
Deliberately listening to instruments is haram. Doing it habitually makes a person a fasiq (open sinner) whose testimony is not accepted, which shows it reaches the level of a major sin through persistence. Hearing music unintentionally is not sinful.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The main hadith is in Sahih al-Bukhari. The Prophet ﷺ foretold that people from his ummah would make lawful illicit sex, silk, wine and musical instruments. In the same hadith he said that some would be sunk into the earth and others turned into apes and pigs until the Day of Judgement. The scholars took this as a severe warning for those who treat instruments as lawful and fill their lives with them.
Is it a major sin? The scholars generally say a minor sin turns major when a person keeps at it without caring. The Hanafi books say that someone who habitually listens to instruments is a fasiq whose testimony is rejected. So a person who has music playing all day, every day, is in a far worse place than someone who slipped once and regretted it.
A few clarifications:
- Hearing without choice: music in a shop, a passing car, or a neighbour's party is not your sin. See hearing music in public.
- Genre does not change it: gospel, rap, classical or 'Islamic' songs with instruments take the same ruling. Words that praise Allah do not make instruments lawful.
- Weak narrations: a widely shared report about molten lead being poured into the ears of those who listen to singing is not reliable; the authentic hadith about molten lead in the ears is about eavesdropping on people who do not want to be heard. The authentic warnings about music are serious enough.
Some scholars outside the Hanafi school allow some instruments, and Muslims who follow them should be treated with respect. For the full evidence see why music is haram. If you want to stop, replace it with Quran recitation, nasheeds and podcasts, and remember that Allah forgives whoever turns back to Him.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Luqman 31:6
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِى لَهْوَ ٱلْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍۢ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا ۚ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌۭ مُّهِينٌۭ ﴿٦﴾
And of the people is he who buys the amusement of speech to mislead [others] from the way of Allah without knowledge and who takes it in ridicule. Those will have a humiliating punishment.
Early scholars applied this ayah to singing and entertainment that pulls people from Allah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5590
Sahih... يستحلون الحر والحرير والخمر والمعازف ...
"They will treat as lawful illicit sex, silk, wine and musical instruments."
Instruments are listed with clearly forbidden things.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5590
Sahih... ويمسخ آخرين قردة وخنازير إلى يوم القيامة ...
"And He will transform others into apes and pigs until the Day of Resurrection."
A severe warning for those who make these things lawful.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Shahadat, chapter on whose testimony is accepted. The testimony of one who persists in listening to amusement is rejected.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha. Deliberate listening is sinful; hearing without intention is not.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.