The dropping of the obligation of the adhan due to the adhan of a nearby mosque and the delay of the mu'adhdhin
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The questioner:
The Shaykh said: We spoke with one of the believers and we said to him, “What is your position?” They said, “It is obligatory for us to establish it near us.”
The Shaykh:
The adhan of the nearby mosque drops the obligation; there is no doubt about that. However, the recommendation remains. It is recommended for every mosque to have an adhan, otherwise the obligation is dropped by the mu'adhdhin in the town, and it remains a collective obligation (fard kifayah). As for if no adhan is called in the town at all, then they all follow the imam, because they have abandoned an obligation. Even if they refused to call the adhan and prevented it, they would be fought for that, because this is an apparent religious symbol, just as if they said, “Who prays the 'Id prayer? Who prays the five daily prayers?” As for the 'Id, what is this 'Id? Who prays? They say, “They are not fought,” because this is an apparent symbol among the symbols of Islam. They are fought if they abandon it, even if it is not obligatory. If it is a symbol, even if it is not obligatory, you blame him for it. Yes.
If he delays and his adhan leads to misleading people regarding fasting, he does not call the adhan. What is required of him is to avoid harm, so he does not call the adhan. He is content with the adhan of the neighboring mosques, because those who are fasting are misled by it, or those who are praying witr and the night prayer are misled by it, and those who are sleeping. If he delays and his adhan leads to a purpose of harm, he does not call the adhan. The adhan of the neighbors is sufficient. This is a very important matter in reality, because now at Fajr, some mosques finish the prayer and some call the adhan. This often happens: some people are praying, or Muslims are in the prayer, while we hear someone calling the adhan. This is a great mistake. If a person delays and all the people are calling the adhan, one of them must remain silent and not call the adhan, because he has confused the people. Perhaps the one who is fasting will be reminded by it and eat after Fajr. Yes, or a person who is sleeping will say, “The adhan is being called,” and the sleeper will pray the prayer. Yes.
The Shaykh said: We spoke with one of the believers and we said to him, “What is your position?” They said, “It is obligatory for us to establish it near us.”
The Shaykh:
The adhan of the nearby mosque drops the obligation; there is no doubt about that. However, the recommendation remains. It is recommended for every mosque to have an adhan, otherwise the obligation is dropped by the mu'adhdhin in the town, and it remains a collective obligation (fard kifayah). As for if no adhan is called in the town at all, then they all follow the imam, because they have abandoned an obligation. Even if they refused to call the adhan and prevented it, they would be fought for that, because this is an apparent religious symbol, just as if they said, “Who prays the 'Id prayer? Who prays the five daily prayers?” As for the 'Id, what is this 'Id? Who prays? They say, “They are not fought,” because this is an apparent symbol among the symbols of Islam. They are fought if they abandon it, even if it is not obligatory. If it is a symbol, even if it is not obligatory, you blame him for it. Yes.
If he delays and his adhan leads to misleading people regarding fasting, he does not call the adhan. What is required of him is to avoid harm, so he does not call the adhan. He is content with the adhan of the neighboring mosques, because those who are fasting are misled by it, or those who are praying witr and the night prayer are misled by it, and those who are sleeping. If he delays and his adhan leads to a purpose of harm, he does not call the adhan. The adhan of the neighbors is sufficient. This is a very important matter in reality, because now at Fajr, some mosques finish the prayer and some call the adhan. This often happens: some people are praying, or Muslims are in the prayer, while we hear someone calling the adhan. This is a great mistake. If a person delays and all the people are calling the adhan, one of them must remain silent and not call the adhan, because he has confused the people. Perhaps the one who is fasting will be reminded by it and eat after Fajr. Yes, or a person who is sleeping will say, “The adhan is being called,” and the sleeper will pray the prayer. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من باب الأذان — islamhouse.com (54:41)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.