The Duties of the Imam and the Mu'adhdhin in Prayer
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Question:
On this occasion, Shaykh Salih, do the imams and mu'adhins need guidance from your eminence regarding this?
Answer:
As for the mu'adhdhin, his duty is the time; he must maintain the time. He must not call the adhan before the time, thereby deceiving the people, nor delay the adhan from the beginning of the time, thereby deceiving the people as well, especially those who intend to fast. Perhaps if he calls the adhan before the time, a person might pray the obligatory prayer before its time, and that would be the responsibility of the mu'adhdhin. The mu'adhdhin bears this great defect. So the mu'adhdhin must pay attention to the time and not call the adhan until the time has entered, except for the Fajr adhan. For that, he may call the first adhan so that people wake up and prepare to go to prayer. But he must call the final adhan afterwards so that people know that the first adhan is not for praying upon, but rather a preparation for prayer. So he must not limit himself to the first adhan; he must not deceive the people. He must call the adhan when the time enters. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had two mu'adhins: Bilal would call the adhan before the Fajr time, and Ibn Umm Maktum would call the adhan upon the entry of Fajr. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Mishkat al-Masabih 680 This is the way of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the Fajr adhan. As for the other times, they have only one adhan, except for Jumu'ah. Jumu'ah has a first adhan, and the first one to order it was 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), the third caliph. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Mishkat al-Masabih 165Sahīh (Zubair `Aliza'i) after me. This is so that people can prepare to go to the Jumu'ah prayer, because they may be busy or far from the mosque, so they need a notification to prepare and go to the Jumu'ah prayer. As for the other prayers, the adhan is not called for them except when the time enters.
For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The mu'adhdhin is a trustee," meaning a trustee over the time, and people are dependent on his responsibility. "Allahu Akbar." As for the imam, his duty is the prayer: to perfect it, to make it light for the people and not burden them, because among them are the weak, the elderly, and those in need. So he must consider their conditions, but the lightness must be without neglecting the prayer.
He makes it light, being moderate between speed and lengthening for the ma'mumin. He takes the middle path in this. He is responsible for this. He does not make it difficult for his congregation, neither in the prayer itself nor in the iqamah.
He does not delay the iqamah until it becomes burdensome for those present and those in the mosque, nor does he hasten the iqamah so that people are deprived of catching the congregational prayer. So he takes the middle path; this is the duty of the imam. Also, the imam must check on the congregation and those who are absent, advise the absent ones, and report their case to the responsible authorities if it repeats. He is responsible for them. But unfortunately, some imams leave the imamate and do not attend except for one time in the week, and they leave the Fajr prayer and make it difficult for the people. This is haram (forbidden) for them. This is a responsibility, a guarantee. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The imam is a guarantor." The imam is a guarantor, so he is responsible for his prayer and the prayer of those behind him. Yes.
On this occasion, Shaykh Salih, do the imams and mu'adhins need guidance from your eminence regarding this?
Answer:
As for the mu'adhdhin, his duty is the time; he must maintain the time. He must not call the adhan before the time, thereby deceiving the people, nor delay the adhan from the beginning of the time, thereby deceiving the people as well, especially those who intend to fast. Perhaps if he calls the adhan before the time, a person might pray the obligatory prayer before its time, and that would be the responsibility of the mu'adhdhin. The mu'adhdhin bears this great defect. So the mu'adhdhin must pay attention to the time and not call the adhan until the time has entered, except for the Fajr adhan. For that, he may call the first adhan so that people wake up and prepare to go to prayer. But he must call the final adhan afterwards so that people know that the first adhan is not for praying upon, but rather a preparation for prayer. So he must not limit himself to the first adhan; he must not deceive the people. He must call the adhan when the time enters. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had two mu'adhins: Bilal would call the adhan before the Fajr time, and Ibn Umm Maktum would call the adhan upon the entry of Fajr. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Indeed, Bilal calls the adhan at night, so eat and drink until, meaning in fasting, eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktum calls the adhan.
إن بلالا يؤذن بليل فكلوا واشربوا حتى يعني في الصيام كلوا واشربوا حتى يؤذن ابن أم مكتوم.Ibn Umm Maktum was a blind man who did not make the summons till someone said to him, “The morning has come, the morning has come.”
وكان ابن أم مكتوم رجلا أعمى لا يؤذن حتى يقال له أصبحت أصبحتYou must therefore follow my sunna and that of the rightly guided Caliphs
عليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدينFor this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The mu'adhdhin is a trustee," meaning a trustee over the time, and people are dependent on his responsibility. "Allahu Akbar." As for the imam, his duty is the prayer: to perfect it, to make it light for the people and not burden them, because among them are the weak, the elderly, and those in need. So he must consider their conditions, but the lightness must be without neglecting the prayer.
He makes it light, being moderate between speed and lengthening for the ma'mumin. He takes the middle path in this. He is responsible for this. He does not make it difficult for his congregation, neither in the prayer itself nor in the iqamah.
He does not delay the iqamah until it becomes burdensome for those present and those in the mosque, nor does he hasten the iqamah so that people are deprived of catching the congregational prayer. So he takes the middle path; this is the duty of the imam. Also, the imam must check on the congregation and those who are absent, advise the absent ones, and report their case to the responsible authorities if it repeats. He is responsible for them. But unfortunately, some imams leave the imamate and do not attend except for one time in the week, and they leave the Fajr prayer and make it difficult for the people. This is haram (forbidden) for them. This is a responsibility, a guarantee. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The imam is a guarantor." The imam is a guarantor, so he is responsible for his prayer and the prayer of those behind him. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما فضل تسوية الصفوف في الصلاة وماذا يجب على الإمام حول هذا الأمر؟ الشيخ صالح بن فوزان الفوزان — youtube.com (1:03)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.