On the issue of lowering the voice in the closing salam for the traveling imam who leads the Muslims in prayer.

The questioner : The discussion ... regarding the issue of lowering the voice in the closing salam for the traveling imam who leads the Muslims in prayer, then I moved on to the words of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), stating that this falls under the category of unrestricted public interest (maslahah mursalah), which only applies when there is no specific textual requirement, and secondly, that the cause must not be the negligence of the person himself. So, if we wanted to apply, for example, the same issue—lowering the voice or raising the voice in the salam—it might cause confusion among the worshippers, and the reason for that is the ignorance of the worshippers?

The Shaykh : The ignorance of the worshipper regarding what?

The questioner : Regarding this Sunnah.

The Shaykh : The Sunnah? What is the Sunnah in this case?

The questioner : We said that in this case, if the imam prays with the people while he is traveling, he says the salam and they complete the prayer behind him.

The Shaykh : I did not say he says the salam—may Allah bless you—it seems you have forgotten!

The questioner : No, I have not forgotten, I know what you are saying, but this is...

The Shaykh : ... and that is why I made you respond to what you are saying. I am not saying that the imam does not say the salam.

The questioner : I know...

The Shaykh : That the Sunnah is for the imam to say the salam. I am saying: the imam says the salam.

The questioner : It is the people's ignorance of this Sunnah that leads them into this.

The Shaykh : Can you repeat what you said? What is my ruling regarding the traveling imam when he exits the prayer? What did I say?

The questioner : I said: he lowers his voice in the salam.

The Shaykh : So my question returns: What is the Sunnah? You are saying in the answer: the imam says the salam. It is not a matter of whether he says the salam or not; you want to say: he says it aloud.

The questioner : He says the salam as he says the blessing upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

The Shaykh : I am not looking for evidence right now; I want you to repeat what I believe; and I do not say that the Sunnah is for the imam to say the salam, because I am also saying...

The questioner : And I am saying, you mentioned two proofs.

The Shaykh : My brother, let us leave what you mentioned. Let me ask you; now you are misquoting me. Correct your quotation of me. What do I say?

The questioner : You say: he says it quietly or with a low voice.

The Shaykh : Okay; now I am asking you; what is the Sunnah in this regarding the traveling imam? He prays shortened, so he says the salam and says: complete your prayer; so what is the Sunnah?

The questioner : What we learned from you is that the Sunnah in this position is to lower the voice.

The Shaykh : No, and what does the issue have to do with unrestricted public interest? If the Sunnah is like this, the issue moves out of the scope of unrestricted public interest, right or wrong?

The questioner : Okay; so why did you cite your statement about unrestricted public interest in this topic?

The Shaykh : Because I say: the public interest requires that the issue be like this. And when I asked you: What is the Sunnah? It was as if I was saying in the minds of many people, and this is what I wanted to hear the answer to, so that I could in turn hear the answer from me. We do not have a hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, as we mentioned the report, when he prayed with the people while he was traveling and he was a resident, raised his voice in the takbir. We do not have this... we do not have this Sunnah. But I am saying: if we had a text that the Messenger (peace be upon him) used to raise his voice in the salam in this case when the imam is traveling; in that case, it would be transferred that here it is not permissible to go against the Sunnah; because they are ignorant. But when we do not have a text, we are free not to raise our voices; because we are not going against the Sunnah, while at the same time the public interest requires that.

The questioner : Do the general hadiths not fall under this?

The Shaykh : And that is the problem we are still dealing with.

The questioner : Okay; why did we bring in the issue of unrestricted public interest here?

The Shaykh : We did not bring in unrestricted public interest in the presence of a text for raising the voice; no; because there is silence here on the issue, so I say: the interest of these people who are ignorant that the imam must say in every case: Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah. So if we raise our voice as is the general custom as you mentioned earlier; they will say the salam with us, so the public interest requires that we keep it secret, and the first thing they hear from the imam is: ; meaning the narrator when he transmitted the story of 'Umar did not transmit to us, I mentioned this I think, that 'Umar raised his voice in the takbir; is that what we said? And therefore.

The questioner : I said so, but does the lack of transmission require the lack of occurrence here?

The Shaykh : No, it does not require it. I am answering you: what do you want to build on my answer? Go ahead and build. It does not require it, but at the same time it does not imply it.

The questioner : It does not require this... I want to understand the method of reasoning only.

The Shaykh : We brought examples—may Allah bless you—regarding unrestricted public interest... and the verse. I really remember an example we raised in this journey in several places. The loudspeaker that the mu'adhdhins use today, do you know it?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay, they use it in the adhan and the iqamah and in reciting the Qur'an; is that not so?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : I say: its use in the adhan is permissible; because it achieves a legal meaning; and it is recommended for the mu'adhdhin to have a loud voice, and for the mu'adhdhin to be in a high place in achieving this legal public interest, which is conveying the voice to the farthest place, and there are hadiths that encourage that; because the voice, no matter how far it reaches from stone or brick, will be a witness for them on the Day of Resurrection; do you remember without a doubt all these things?

The questioner : But I have a problem with some of it...

The Shaykh : I am asking you; where is the problem? A problem regarding what?

The questioner : A problem regarding the fact that it is obligatory for the one who hears the call to come to it.
... ... ...

The Shaykh : ... I am telling him a story now, but he says: he has a problem! So my speech has not yet ended. The problem focused on what? Perhaps the problem will be on the point that I am circling around more, or there is no problem as I hope; in that case, the problem will be in another point that I did not circle around.

The questioner : We are now learning the method of the...

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you, the point is I am distinguishing between broadcasting the voice of the mu'adhdhin in this new device, which I see as a legitimate public interest; based on what I mentioned earlier, and I asked you to remember what I answered me; immediately you said to me: I have a problem, instead of answering me: yes, I remember these things you are referring to, that it is recommended for the mu'adhdhin to be loud-voiced, and to be in a high place, and so on; is this correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Fine, now they do not distinguish between a mu'adhdhin in this broadcast and what? The mu'aqqim. So here I say: does the mu'aqqim call in the mosque or on the roof of the mosque around...? Where is the Sunnah for the mu'aqqim to perform the iqamah?

The questioner : Inside the mosque.

The Shaykh : Inside the mosque, was this legislation for a wisdom—even if we do not know it—or was it—God forbid—futile?

The questioner : Far be it.

The Shaykh : Far from it, so now I see broadcasting the iqamah as an innovation as many do, this is what I wanted to reach, why? Because this incident, which is one incident, relates to the adhan with one device, relates to the adhan, relates to the iqamah; so we say in the adhan it is permissible; because it achieves a legitimate public interest, whereas in the iqamah it does not achieve a legitimate public interest; are you with me in this?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Good; so this means it is not legitimate; right?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Because it goes against the Sunnah.

The questioner : In the iqamah.

The Shaykh : In the iqamah, yes, this is an example of the topic we mentioned about Ibn Taymiyyah; that if the requirement was present in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in adopting the means, and then he did not adopt it despite the presence of the requirement; then it is not permissible for us to create a means; because this requirement was present in the time of the Messenger; is this clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay; his example regarding the Old Covenant, the adhan for the two festivals; his example now is broadcasting the iqamah with a loudspeaker, because this means was possible at that time, as he did with the adhan; right?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And since he did not do so, it indicates to us that this difference or this separation between the form of broadcasting the adhan and the form of broadcasting the iqamah; so it remains as it was in the first era, and there is no ... between them today due to the existence of this modern means; I think the speech is fine up to here?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : We move on to the third matter, which is broadcasting the Qur'an on Friday and the remaining prayers, especially now in al-Hasa, I feel there is a reader here reading the Qur'an, and there is a reader there ... as if the people ... and the imam's recitation is broadcast by the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker here in the mosque is for those in the mosque to hear, not for the people outside, some of whom are playing and fooling around, some are busy and not listening to the Qur'an, and some may be in prayer - also - and it disturbs them. So, using the newly invented means that sometimes help achieve a benefit that is not prescribed should not be used in all cases except by the scale we transmitted from Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him).

The questioner : I mean, the issue here is known: the salam is raising the voice, in those hadiths reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If we want this issue where the traveling imam prays with a group of residents; so in this case he lowers his voice. The evidence for that is that the hadiths reported regarding the salam of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the response of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) - the narrator did not say: "So he said: Peace be upon you," , this is one point. And if he had raised his voice, the narrator would have said: "Umar said: Peace be upon you" , so the sunnah would be raising the voice. But since he did not say that, it indicates that the preferable is lowering the voice.
Another thing is the presence of the cause for that; for raising the voice with the salam may disturb the worshippers. So this and that concerns the generality derived from the action, not from the saying in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to raise his voice with the salam.

The Shaykh : I did not say regarding the disturbance. I say: It was not reported from the Messenger (peace be upon him) or from 'Umar. We said earlier from the Messenger with a weak chain, and from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab with a sound chain, that raising the voice was not reported; and therefore wisdom required lowering it; why? , despite that, after I prayed two rak'ahs and did what I reminded them of, the people made a commotion afterwards, and they said to the one who put me forward: Why did you put this imam forward for us? And he made a commotion and confusion for us, and similar words that I do not remember verbatim!!
So the point is: with this caution and explanation; how much more so if the sunnah were for the imam to say aloud: "Complete your prayer"?! No matter how good you think of the people; what will some of them at least do? Is it not that they will respond to the imam? And as happened in the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him) when he prayed 'Asr two rak'ahs, the people said salam with him and left ... until Dhu al-Yadayn stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah, did the prayer become shorter or did you forget? The hadith is known of course, the point is that the Shari'ah always places, as they say, a barrier to the means, taking causes and means so that people do not fall into violating the Shari'ah. So people are accustomed to pray four in the iqamah, and the imam happens to be a traveler, so the wisdom in making it even is the reason that the imam's salam is not heard by these people who are residents, but on the contrary, they are made to hear the Arabic sentence: .

The questioner : Complete.

The Shaykh : Complete, complete.

The questioner : I said: Establish.

The Shaykh : Establish, did I say? , so this was reported aloud and the salam was not reported, so at that time the Muslim is free not to raise his voice, especially in this wisdom we mentioned earlier, and explained in many journeys.