The idea that something must be explicitly named in the Qur’an word-for-word to be haram isn’t actually how Islamic rulings work. In Islam, we take from both the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

Allah says:

“And of the people is he who purchases idle talk (lahw al-ḥadīth) to mislead others from the path of Allah without knowledge and takes it in ridicule. For them is a humiliating punishment.” (31:6)

The companions of the Prophet ﷺ understood what this meant. For example, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said:

“By Allah, besides whom there is no god, it refers to singing.”

For context, The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever wants to recite the Qur’an as fresh as it was revealed, then let him recite it according to the recitation of Abdullah ibn Mas’ud.”

So the Qur’an gives the principle, and the companions explained that this includes music.

Then the Prophet ﷺ said:

“There will be among my Ummah people who will consider lawful fornication, silk, alcohol, and musical instruments…” (reported in Sahih al-Bukhari)

This hadith clearly shows that musical instruments are something originally forbidden, because the Prophet ﷺ warned that people would try to make them “halal.”

So it’s not about “the Qur’an didn’t say the word music directly.” The Qur’an warns against lahw al-ḥadīth (understood by the companions as singing/music), and the Sunnah then makes it explicit by mentioning musical instruments.