In some of your recorded tapes, it is stated that it is not permissible for the Muslim imam to recite the Qur'an through a microphone during the loud prayer; what is the evidence for this?

The questioner : Here, O Shaykh, you mentioned in some of your recorded tapes... that it is not permissible for the Muslim imam to recite the Qur'an through a microphone during the loud prayer; what is the evidence?

The Shaykh : I did not say it exactly like that; there is precision in my words. I said two things: It is not permissible to announce the iqamah (second call) via the radio in such a way that it is heard outside the mosque, because the iqamah is for announcing to the people of the mosque. Likewise, it is not permissible to broadcast the imam's recitation via the loudspeaker to outside the mosque, because there is an etiquette we mentioned in some of our gatherings today, taken from His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He): . Surprising people who are not in prayer, not in the mosque, and are in their work, in their apartments, and in their homes with the loud recitation of the Qur'an outside the mosque causes people to fall into difficulty. They are between two options: either they stop their work in order to devote themselves to fulfilling the previous verse: , or they ignore applying this divine command, and the cause of that is this broadcast which went beyond the limits of the obligation. The obligation is to make the worshippers in the mosque hear it, but outside the mosque, the imam is not obligated to make them hear it, whether this hearing is in the five daily prayers or on Friday. However, if there is a lesson and preaching, and the recitation of the Qur'an is only rare, then there is no harm in that. So, my statement...The questioner : ...that I said it is not permissible to use the loudspeaker for the recitation of the Qur'an is not absolute. It is used according to need. And I said at that time that in the adhan (call to prayer), the loudspeaker is used so that those who are very, very far from the mosque can hear it, and there is no harm in that. As for the Qur'an, with which one must be polite, to which one must listen, and regarding which one must be silent, this should be within the limits of those present in the mosque. For example, this mosque where we prayed today had two or three rows, I do not know; so what is the reason for the mu'adhdhin's voice to be so loud that it covers the entire mosque and the surrounding houses?

The questioner : The reciter.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : The reciter, not the mu'adhdhin.

The Shaykh : The reciter.

The questioner : The one who gives the iqamah, meaning, or the one who recites in the prayer.

The Shaykh : Yes, the reciter or the one who gives the iqamah. It is not appropriate to raise the voice in the Qur'an in the mosque such that it goes beyond the circle of the mosque, causing difficulty for the listeners. The adhan, likewise, has no necessity at all except to make those in the mosque hear it. And so we find in the hadith regarding the original legislation of the adhan, in the story of the vision that you must have heard or read, that the Muslims at the beginning did not have the adhan prescribed at that time; rather, some of them would notify others with the word: "Prayer," or "The prayer has arrived," or something similar; as some Muslims do even today, after the adhan has been legislated for these long years. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) gathered some of his Companions, whom he selected to consult with them on a means to adopt to inform people of the arrival of the time of prayer. Opinions differed on this: some said to make a great fire to attract people's attention and alert them to the arrival of the time of prayer, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) refused that and said: . Another said: We will strike a trumpet. He said: . A third said: We will strike a bell. He said: . The gathering ended and they did not adopt an opinion. One of them saw in a dream that he was walking in some of the streets of the city and saw a man with a bell in his hand. He said to him: "O servant of Allah, will you sell me this bell?" He said: "Why?" He said: "To strike it at the times of prayer." He said: "Shall I not direct you to something better than that?" So he stood on a stump, meaning there was a wall that had collapsed and its base remained; for we know by observation that when a wall collapses, its base remains raised above the ground somewhat. So this person stood on this stump (the base of the wall), put his fingers in his ears, and gave the adhan known to this day, and praise be to Allah: "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest," until he said: "There is no god but Allah." He descended from the stump to the ground and gave the iqamah for the prayer. So we find here a difference between the adhan and the iqamah in the original text of this hadith which contains the legislation of the adhan and iqamah at the beginning.
So the iqamah, as is known from the books of hadith and jurisprudence, is to inform the people of the mosque that the prayer has been established. As for the adhan, it is to inform those outside the mosque that the time for prayer has arrived, so they prepare for it; "Hurry to prayer, hurry to prayer." The mu'adhdhin does not say there: "The prayer has begun!" Rather, he says that in the mosque, because those addressed by the iqamah are the people of the mosque. So it is appropriate to use the loudspeaker with wisdom, and in reality, it is a blessing that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created in this present age, just as He created for us these means that facilitate the ease of knowledge and its transmission with the least effort and means. Likewise, this radio and the loudspeaker are a blessing, but it must be placed that everything is in its proper place. The adhan is broadcast, and the iqamah is not broadcast except in the mosque, and the recitation of the Qur'an by the imam is also for the mosque, not for outside the mosque.

The questioner : O Shaykh, you faced the same problem when we prayed 'Isha' combined with Maghrib. The imam was praying Maghrib, and his voice was, meaning, it was disturbing us and the imam, you as the imam in the prayer; do you remember it?

The Shaykh: No, I do not remember.

The questioner : When we prayed 'Isha'.

The Shaykh : Where did we pray?

The questioner : When we prayed combined, the imam was reciting Maghrib and we were praying 'Isha' combined.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is a correct example, and this confirms that this broadcast also disturbs the people of the houses, who are either women who are not obligated to attend the mosque, or if it is like us, as our brother Jamal reminds us here, travelers who are not obligated to attend the mosque, but they must pray in congregation. These travelers must pray in congregation, but not the congregation of the mosque. If they attend the congregation of the mosque, it is like travelers who pray Friday; if they pray Friday (which is not obligatory upon them), then the obligation of Dhuhr falls off them. And if they do not pray it, they must pray it in congregation in their tents, in their residence, in any other place where the prayer catches up with them. So this is another example that he mentioned just now to prove to you and confirm to you the harm of broadcasting the imam's recitation in prayer to outside the mosque.
Yes?