What is the ruling on raising the voice in dhikr after the prayer? There is a man who annoys us by raising his voice, and he says that he saw Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen do that.

The questioner : The questioner says: What is the ruling on raising the voice in dhikr after the prayer? There is a man who annoys us by raising his voice, and he says that he saw Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen raise his voice. So he is doing as he did?

The Shaykh : Raising the voice in dhikr after the prayer is a sunnah (recommended practice), a neglected sunnah, unfortunately. This is because it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), who said: Recently, a small booklet was published, which is a response titled "The Investigation of the Speech on Raising the Voice in Dhikr After the Taslim." It is a good paper. Therefore, the sunnah is for people to raise their voices in dhikr after the obligatory prayers. If people all raise their voices, there is no disturbance or problem. It is correct if one person raises his voice while a man next to him is praying, perhaps making up his prayer, and he might be annoyed by it, but this is a specific issue. However, if people all raise their voices, the voices, when mixed, do not affect the one who hears them, because the effect occurs only when a voice is isolated and disturbs those around it. In any case, raising the voice in dhikr after the obligatory prayers is a sunnah that was practiced in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). We should revive this sunnah that many people have killed.

The questioner : What is the evidence, O Shaykh? Is the restricted dhikr from the absolute?

The Shaykh : The restricted dhikr is after the prayers.

The questioner : The evidence, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Subhan Allah al-Azim. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: This is very clear and explicit that this existed in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the statement of those who say that this was for teaching, this is one of the defects of knowledge: some people, when they adopt a school of thought, go to interpret the texts to fit it, forcing them. If the intention had been teaching, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have legislated it for the Ummah, but would have said to them, "Glorify and remember Allah thus and thus," and that would have sufficed. In fact, this happened; he taught them, peace and blessings be upon him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the poor Muhajireen, "You glorify, praise, and magnify Allah after every prayer three times and thirty times." So he taught people these adhkar. There is no need to raise the voice with them to establish the sunnah for the sake of teaching a known matter. Then, suppose that it was for teaching; it is teaching the origin of the dhikr and the description of the dhikr. Teaching the origin of the dhikr and teaching its description. What does its description mean? That it is done aloud, not secretly.