A Friday preacher asks the people to repeat these words with him in a collective voice: “We have repented to Allah, we have returned to Allah”!
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. A message was sent from Yemen by the listener Ahmad Muhammad Ali, who asks and says: We have a preacher in our mosque who delivers the first sermon, and when it ends, he sits, then stands up for the second sermon and reads from his papers for a little while, then he says to all the worshippers, “Say with me: We have repented to Allah, and we have returned to Allah,” and all the worshippers repeat this supplication. Did this come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? And what is the ruling on this practice? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
This practice is not permissible, and it is a bid'ah (religious innovation). For him to say to the worshippers, “Repent to Allah,” and then for them to repeat it with him, this is a bid'ah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it, and we do not know of any Muslim who did it. However, he should encourage the Muslims to repent, saying, “O Muslims, repent to Allah, seek His forgiveness,” and encourage them to repent, seek forgiveness, do good deeds, and abandon sins, without saying to them, “Say this” or “Do this,” and then for them to respond to him and repeat it with him. This is among the innovations for which Allah has not sent down any authority. He must be prohibited from doing it, and if he does not stop, he must be prevented from delivering the sermon. Yes.
May Allah reward you with good and do you good. A message was sent from Yemen by the listener Ahmad Muhammad Ali, who asks and says: We have a preacher in our mosque who delivers the first sermon, and when it ends, he sits, then stands up for the second sermon and reads from his papers for a little while, then he says to all the worshippers, “Say with me: We have repented to Allah, and we have returned to Allah,” and all the worshippers repeat this supplication. Did this come from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? And what is the ruling on this practice? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
This practice is not permissible, and it is a bid'ah (religious innovation). For him to say to the worshippers, “Repent to Allah,” and then for them to repeat it with him, this is a bid'ah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it, and we do not know of any Muslim who did it. However, he should encourage the Muslims to repent, saying, “O Muslims, repent to Allah, seek His forgiveness,” and encourage them to repent, seek forgiveness, do good deeds, and abandon sins, without saying to them, “Say this” or “Do this,” and then for them to respond to him and repeat it with him. This is among the innovations for which Allah has not sent down any authority. He must be prohibited from doing it, and if he does not stop, he must be prevented from delivering the sermon. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 4065- خطيب جمعة يطلب من الناس أن يرددوا معه بصوت جماعي هذه الكلمات (تبنا إلى الله رجعنا إلى الله)! — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.