Is it true that you said the echo device in mosques, which repeats speech and brings humility, is forbidden, and does the worshipper in those mosques that have such devices commit a sin?
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The questioner : He says: May the Shaykh be respected, we pray tarawih in some mosques, and they have this device they call the echo, meaning the one that repeats the speech. It is something that helps with humility. We have heard your fatwa that this device is forbidden. Is this true? Does this prohibited repetition invalidate the prayer in this mosque? Does the worshipper in those mosques commit a sin or not? And what is the ruling regarding the imam in that case?
The Shaykh : Yes, I issued a fatwa that the echo is forbidden, and I hope that whoever hears this statement of mine conveys it, because the echo, as you heard, repeats the letter, especially the last letter. It repeats all the letters, but the letters before the last one merge into the second letter and the repetition is not distinct, but in the last letter the repetition is distinct. There is no doubt that this is an addition to the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and it equates the noble Qur'an with musical songs. This is something from which we were prohibited and which the Salaf condemned. The Salaf did not have this, but they said: if a person makes the intonations in the noble Qur'an like the intonations of songs, then that is prohibited and condemned. So what about when you use this device that adds to the Qur'an what is not part of it? It makes the ra' how many times? Several ra's, and the nun several nuns, and so on for the rest of the verse. We did not come to sing. Whoever wants to sing should go to another place. As for it being more conducive to humility, that is not the view of one who considers it forbidden. It is the view of an ignorant person who heard this singing and intoning and took pleasure in it. But for one who considers it forbidden and an addition to the speech of Allah of what is not part of it, he cannot be humble. Rather, he will only be more repelled from the place, the mosque, and the imam. I see that the imam who does this must be advised and told: "My brother, people rely on your trust, and this is a matter that is not permissible, so do not do it." There is no harm if he is content with the internal microphone, especially without the echo. There is no harm if this is clearer for your voice and easier for you, because a person in tarawih, if his voice is not very strong, might increase in raising his voice, which would be a burden and difficult for him. So if he makes the amplifier a normal amplifier, it helps him with that. This is not a problem, but on the condition: that there is no echo in the minaret. Yes.
The questioner : I say: Your statement "on the condition of the echo or the microphone," O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : On the condition that the amplifier is without echo. The echo should have its wire cut immediately and be removed at once.
The Shaykh : Yes, I issued a fatwa that the echo is forbidden, and I hope that whoever hears this statement of mine conveys it, because the echo, as you heard, repeats the letter, especially the last letter. It repeats all the letters, but the letters before the last one merge into the second letter and the repetition is not distinct, but in the last letter the repetition is distinct. There is no doubt that this is an addition to the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and it equates the noble Qur'an with musical songs. This is something from which we were prohibited and which the Salaf condemned. The Salaf did not have this, but they said: if a person makes the intonations in the noble Qur'an like the intonations of songs, then that is prohibited and condemned. So what about when you use this device that adds to the Qur'an what is not part of it? It makes the ra' how many times? Several ra's, and the nun several nuns, and so on for the rest of the verse. We did not come to sing. Whoever wants to sing should go to another place. As for it being more conducive to humility, that is not the view of one who considers it forbidden. It is the view of an ignorant person who heard this singing and intoning and took pleasure in it. But for one who considers it forbidden and an addition to the speech of Allah of what is not part of it, he cannot be humble. Rather, he will only be more repelled from the place, the mosque, and the imam. I see that the imam who does this must be advised and told: "My brother, people rely on your trust, and this is a matter that is not permissible, so do not do it." There is no harm if he is content with the internal microphone, especially without the echo. There is no harm if this is clearer for your voice and easier for you, because a person in tarawih, if his voice is not very strong, might increase in raising his voice, which would be a burden and difficult for him. So if he makes the amplifier a normal amplifier, it helps him with that. This is not a problem, but on the condition: that there is no echo in the minaret. Yes.
The questioner : I say: Your statement "on the condition of the echo or the microphone," O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : On the condition that the amplifier is without echo. The echo should have its wire cut immediately and be removed at once.