Raising the voice with dhikr after the prayer.

The questioner : Well; was it in this sense?

The Shaykh : Yes, but here the evidence we mentioned stands, some of which explicitly states that raising the voice involves harm and disturbance. Therefore, such texts are permissible... to the extent that here it was based on a principle other than the well-known one. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did so as a continuous practice, but when those hadiths came regarding raising the voice with takbir...

The questioner : If someone were to say that these hadiths regarding the prohibition of raising the voice are general, and that this one is specific to raising the voice with dhikr after the prayer, whereas the hadiths that were mentioned... are not in the prayer?

The Shaykh : That is not reasonable. As long as there is harm, it is not reasonable for there to be open harm.

The questioner : Well; and if... he said that the harm is removed if everyone raises their voice; meaning, if I and you and you and you raise our voices, the harm is removed; meaning, was the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not aware of this cause? Was this cause not known to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?

The Shaykh : This is imagination. Why are you raising your voice? In... what you made me hear, and I am raising my voice by reciting Ayat al-Kursi. Does not this create disturbance for one another?

The questioner : ... In the prayer of the two festivals, is there no disturbance?

The Shaykh : I hope you will answer. In the prayer of the two festivals, the recitation and dhikr are... [specific], whereas here it is varied, and you feel that the issue is completely different; therefore you go back and forth and do not answer. I am telling you: You are reciting the takbirs, and I am reciting Ayat al-Kursi. I raise my voice with Ayat al-Kursi and you raise your voice with the takbirs; do I not disturb you and you do not disturb me?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... and the calamity spread.

The questioner : ... It was in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); how is it to be understood? Meaning, if someone were to say: Was this not in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved it? Meaning, was it not only the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who raised his voice?

The Shaykh : It is implied—may Allah bless you—the implication is teaching.

The questioner : Well; teaching is for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), but raising the voice is for the Companions. Was there not a cause in the teaching? Meaning, Ibn Abbas could not have been in the last rows, being young, only hearing the takbir of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : So that it would be apparent to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) whether they had learned or not. This is clarified by a question presented to me recently: A reciter of the Qur'an and teacher of the Qur'an to the fair sex; do you know? You do not know the fair sex? Women; is it permissible for this teacher to hear the woman's recitation to determine if she was correct or had learned or not? I answered that it is not permissible, and that is not the purpose here, but the purpose is why does this teacher ask? To determine whether the girl or those girls grasped the lesson and memorized it well or not? Do you understand how? Therefore, the matter is exactly the same there.

The questioner : Well, Shaykh, another evidence they cited, Shaykh... from Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) who used to say in the end of every prayer... he would glorify Allah with them, raising his voice.

The Shaykh : I know, yes, yes, it is all from the same category. And you must have knowledge of the usuli fiqhi principle: if two hadiths conflict, one from his action (peace and blessings be upon him), and the other from his speech, and reconciliation between them is not possible, which is the stronger position at that time, the speech or the action?

The questioner : I think the speech.

The Shaykh : And we have agreed now that this principle is applied. Then, do not rush me. Then, in another principle: if the prohibitive and the permissive conflict, which is given precedence?

The questioner : The prohibitive text.

The Shaykh : The prohibitive. Here, which is the prohibitive, the one with you or the one with me?

The questioner : The one with you.

The Shaykh : Well; and what is the one with you?

The questioner : A permissive.

The Shaykh : Then the one with me is stronger than the one with you from two aspects: that I have the speech, which is given precedence over the action, and I have the prohibition, which is given precedence over the permissive; so there is no doubt in this; and therefore you will find the scholars have precise schools; when Imam al-Shafi'i, who is among the most knowledgeable of the four imams, let alone others, says that this was... for teaching, why does he interpret it this way? Because he finds these massive textual proofs preventing disturbance, so he gives precedence to the speech over the action, and gives precedence to the prohibitive over the permissive; this is very clear, were it not for...
Please proceed.