The ruling on the use of loudspeakers in prayer
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. And to proceed: We have mosques next to us where the imams use loudspeakers while reciting during the prayer, which causes disturbance and disrupts the prayer. I have advised them, but to no avail. What is the religious ruling on their action? And what is our obligation toward them? May Allah grant you success?
Answer:
In its essence, it is a blessing from Allah, the Exalted, because it helps in conveying the acts of worship and conveying knowledge. This is its essence: a blessing from Allah if it is used correctly. But if it is misused, it becomes a harm. For example, raising the volume of the loudspeakers during the prayer or the sermon so that the sound extends outside the mosque disturbs other mosques or disturbs the people in the houses, such as women, the sick, and those who want rest. This is not permissible. This constitutes harm. It is obligatory that the adhan extends outside the mosque via a microphone that reaches outside the mosque, so that the neighbors and the people attending the prayer can hear it. As for the sermon and the recitation in the prayer, the voice should, or must, be inside the mosque. The loudspeaker should be inside the mosque so that it reaches the attendees in the mosque, allowing them to hear the imam’s voice and the recitation. This is the intended purpose. The recitation in the prayer and the sermon must be inside the mosque because they are for the attendees only. As for the adhan, it is outside the mosque because it is for the neighbors of the mosque and those outside the mosque for the purpose of attending. So there is a difference between the adhan and the recitation and the sermon. If this usage is applied, the loudspeakers have great benefit, and no one is harmed or hurt by them. But when this misuse occurred, this problem arose, causing disturbance to people and making some people dislike this thing. This is not permissible because there is no benefit in it.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. And to proceed: We have mosques next to us where the imams use loudspeakers while reciting during the prayer, which causes disturbance and disrupts the prayer. I have advised them, but to no avail. What is the religious ruling on their action? And what is our obligation toward them? May Allah grant you success?
Answer:
In its essence, it is a blessing from Allah, the Exalted, because it helps in conveying the acts of worship and conveying knowledge. This is its essence: a blessing from Allah if it is used correctly. But if it is misused, it becomes a harm. For example, raising the volume of the loudspeakers during the prayer or the sermon so that the sound extends outside the mosque disturbs other mosques or disturbs the people in the houses, such as women, the sick, and those who want rest. This is not permissible. This constitutes harm. It is obligatory that the adhan extends outside the mosque via a microphone that reaches outside the mosque, so that the neighbors and the people attending the prayer can hear it. As for the sermon and the recitation in the prayer, the voice should, or must, be inside the mosque. The loudspeaker should be inside the mosque so that it reaches the attendees in the mosque, allowing them to hear the imam’s voice and the recitation. This is the intended purpose. The recitation in the prayer and the sermon must be inside the mosque because they are for the attendees only. As for the adhan, it is outside the mosque because it is for the neighbors of the mosque and those outside the mosque for the purpose of attending. So there is a difference between the adhan and the recitation and the sermon. If this usage is applied, the loudspeakers have great benefit, and no one is harmed or hurt by them. But when this misuse occurred, this problem arose, causing disturbance to people and making some people dislike this thing. This is not permissible because there is no benefit in it.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-048-تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والرسل|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:10:24)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.