Assalaamu alaykum. Can I sing a decent love song using the duff in a wedding ceremony where both men and women are present?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, it should be noted that mixing between men and women in wedding ceremonies is among the evils that should be avoided as underlined in fatwa 88582. As for playing the Duff (a tambourine-like instrument without bells) by men, scholars held different views in this regard; some held that it is allowed, and many others held that it is forbidden. There is no doubt that it is better to avoid this in order to avoid a matter in which there is a scholarly difference of opinion, although the view that it is permissible is strong. Please, refer to fatwa 144233.

As for listening to male singers, if it is feared that when women listen to you, it would stimulate their desires and the like, it is impermissible. It is most likely that if the male singer has a good voice and sings love songs in the presence of women, this leads to arousing their desires. Similarly, it is impermissible for the woman to sing so that men would hear her because this falls under the category of softening the speech (with non-Mahram [marriageable] men) which is forbidden.

Allah knows best.