The ruling on using a loudspeaker in mosques for the iqamah and for the Friday sermon.

The Shaykh : The other issue concerns this loudspeaker. Muslims today have become accustomed to utilizing this means that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) created in the modern era. They have used it for what is appropriate and for what is not appropriate. Here is the second point of caution: There is no doubt that it is prescribed for the mu'adhdhin to be a loud-voiced person with a resonant voice, because many hadiths confirm this. In fact, they mention that wherever the mu'adhdhin's voice reaches—whether to a stone, a tree, or a wall—it will be a witness for him on the Day of Resurrection. Therefore, in the story of the beginning of the legislation of the adhan, which many of you likely know, or have read in the books of Sunnah, or at least heard from some noble scholars, the summary of that story is this: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was leading people in congregational prayer, the adhan had not yet been legislated. So some of them would remind others, similar to what some people do today in some countries by saying, "Prayer, prayer." This was the case before the legislation of the adhan. Then it occurred to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to adopt a means to inform people of the arrival of the prayer time. So he gathered them, and they deliberated and consulted. Each individual expressed the opinion he held. Among these opinions were three:
The first opinion was to light a great fire that would be visible to distant people, so they would understand that this is a sign of the arrival of the prayer time. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rejected this decisively and said: .
The second proposed striking a horn. He (peace be upon him) said: .
The third said, "We will strike a bell." He (peace and blessings be upon him) also refused that and said: .
Then the assembly dispersed without making a decision. One of the Companions who was among those present in the assembly saw in a dream that while he was walking on one of the roads of Madinah, he saw a man holding a bell in his hand. He said to him, "Will you sell me this bell, O servant of Allah?" He said, "Why?" He said, "So we can strike it at the time of prayer." He said, "Shall I not direct you to something better than that?" Then he stood up or rose onto a broken wall; that is, a ruined wall where some part remained above the ground. He climbed up onto it, put his fingers in his ears, and said, "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar." This is the adhan known to you, praise be to Allah. Then he descended from that broken wall to the ground and called for the prayer (iqamah). When the man woke up, he narrated his dream to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said: . Here is the point of reference. He (peace be upon him) said: . Therefore, the scholars agreed that the mu'adhdhin should be loud-voiced, with a clear and resonant voice, such that it reaches the farthest place from the mosque. When this means was found that carries the voice to far distances, as Allah wills, the scholars practically agreed on the legitimacy of adopting this means, because it confirms the objective that the Messenger (peace be upon him) explained in the aforementioned hadiths, which is to carry the voice to the farthest possible place. So, in the case of the adhan, using this means is a desirable and prescribed matter. Using this means for the adhan only is a desirable and prescribed matter because it achieves a legitimate objective. But the case is not the same in two matters that occur in these mosques where this means is used:
The first matter is broadcasting the iqamah with this device. This is not prescribed, because the adhan was not in a place for the mu'adhdhin; because the objective of the iqamah was not to carry it to the farthest range as is the case with the adhan. Rather, the iqamah is a specific notification for those in the mosque, so they stand up for prayer. There is no need for this, except very rarely in a large mosque where the worshippers are a very large crowd, such that many of those far away on the right or left side of the row in such a large mosque might be said to benefit from using this loudspeaker for the iqamah. As for mosques that are not of that size, we should not bother people outside the mosque with such an iqamah, because the iqamah is a specific notification related to those who are inside the mosque. And we should not improve upon what the Lawgiver has not improved. So we say—as was said to me in some of what I mentioned regarding this—someone said, "Is it not better to also let those outside the mosque hear the iqamah?"
We say: From such "improvement" was opened for the Muslims the door of religious innovation. And from here came what is known among the scholars of theology that the Mu'tazilah hold to the rational beautification and uglification. The Mu'tazilah, among the matters in which they opposed the people of the Sunnah, say that the intellect beautifies and the intellect uglifies. The meaning of this, as they explicitly state, is: What the intellect beautifies is beautiful, and what the intellect uglifies is ugly. And the people of the Sunnah say the opposite, and their saying is the truth: What Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has beautified is beautiful, and what Allah has uglified is ugly. So it is not permissible for Muslims to insert their minds into rational beautification and uglification. This includes what we are currently discussing. And this saying was made... as follows: It was said, "What prevents us from letting people hear the iqamah as we let them hear the adhan?" The answer is: Why did the Wise Lawgiver distinguish between the adhan and the iqamah, making the adhan on the roof of the mosque or in a high place, and making the iqamah inside the mosque? Is He not the most knowledgeable of what benefits people? There is no doubt about that, ever. Therefore, we should believe with firm belief that this divine legislation brought by our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) is a complete legislation, with no room for anyone to add to it by a hair's breadth. How, when our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: , and our Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said: ? The distinction made by the Wise Lawgiver between the adhan and the iqamah contains wisdom, whether we perceive it or not. We must stand as He (the Exalted) said: . So the adhan that the Messenger (peace be upon him) legislated was on the roof of the mosque to achieve the objective, which is to make people hear it to the farthest distance. As for the iqamah, for some reason, He made it inside the mosque and did not make it on the roof of the mosque. So today—and here is the crux of the matter, as it is said—when we broadcast the adhan with a loudspeaker, we achieve a legitimate objective. But when we broadcast the iqamah with a loudspeaker, we contradict a legal ruling. So we hope you will pay attention to this so that we do not transgress the Shari'ah of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
The second point of caution is more important than this one; it concerns the loudspeaker itself. Most of the imams in the mosques broadcast their recitation through the loudspeaker, which puts people in a difficult position who are in their homes, shops, factories, or workshops. Women in the homes may be occupied with demanding tasks, and people outside the mosque likewise are unable to observe the Quranic etiquette, where our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) says: . We encountered some of this difficulty ourselves while we were in Ta'if. We were traveling and intended to combine the Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers by delaying them. We prepared, and when we entered the Maghrib prayer, I think the imam had already entered the 'Isha' prayer. His voice reciting the Quran disturbed us, and moreover, it disturbed others who were not in a state to listen to the Quran. Therefore, broadcasting the imam's voice when he recites the Quran in the mosque to the outside of the mosque is also an aggression and a transgression of Allah's limits, and it puts people in a difficult position, forcing them into one of two things: either they leave their conversation or their work to devote themselves to fulfilling the aforementioned verse, or they remain as is the case, absorbed and proceeding with their talk and their work. So, to whom should this recitation of these verses be limited? It should be restricted to those who are in the mosque. Therefore, I propose one of two things depending on the mosque: if the mosque does not have a large congregation and the imam has a loud voice, there is no need to use this loudspeaker. And if it is a large mosque with many people, then the voice should be raised only to the extent that it is heard by those following behind the imam, and the voice should not go outside the mosque.
This is what I wanted to remind you of, and I hope that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will benefit us with what we remind one another of. Now, tell me what you have.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

Another questioner : The Friday sermon, does it include that? The Friday sermon includes it. Is he asking?

Another questioner : The Friday sermon.

The Shaykh : The Friday sermon? Meaning: its broadcasting as well? It is likewise not permissible to broadcast it. Everything that is specific to the mosque is not to be taken outside the mosque. And what is inclusive of those outside the mosque, as we said regarding the adhan, it is prescribed to broadcast it via the radio.
Yes.