The Shaykh’s warning about the innovation of repeating the call behind the imam without need.

The Shaykh : No, may Allah reward you. Our purpose in this detail is not to equate broadcasting the adhan with broadcasting the iqamah. In fact, broadcasting the iqamah today reminds me of an old innovation, which is the mu’adhdhin repeating the call behind the imam. When we were in Syria, we did not know of this repetition except in large mosques, and it is very clear in that context. Its origin is in Sahih al-Bukhari. But in Ramadan, the mosque is very small, so the imam leads the people in tarawih. A repeater is needed to repeat what? The takbir. The takbir is the imam’s voice, and his voice fills the empty space of the mosque because it is small. So why this repetition? There is certainly no need for it, because the repetition was legislated for the sake of being heard, and here the hearing is achieved by the imam’s voice alone, which is sufficient. Now, we return to the distinction between large and small mosques that the doctor mentioned, may Allah reward him with good. We say that every mosque has its own ruling. But do you see now a mosque with a loudspeaker that distinguishes between a large and a small mosque? No, the matter is consistent. But when we want to address the matter with wisdom and consideration for the Shari’ah and its rulings, we say that the large mosque uses the loudspeaker within the limits of need, not within the limits of the need to broadcast the adhan. If the adhan is broadcast, it should include those who are farthest from the mosque. But broadcasting the iqamah in a large mosque has an existing need within that mosque. So this detail is necessary. But that does not necessarily mean we make it a consistent rule, such that as we announce the adhan we announce the iqamah, and as we announce the adhan and iqamah we also announce the imam’s recitation of the Qur’an. This ruling reminded me of this, and in reality, this is from the wisdom of Allah the Exalted saying: You must have known that I was here a few months ago to perform ‘Umrah, and it was permitted for me to travel around the Saudi lands for about two months for the first time in my life. And from this, if Allah wills, much good came about. I was in Ta’if when the adhan for Maghrib was called, and I was with some of our brothers accompanying us from some countries, and they were traveling with me. So I took the concession and did not go down to the mosque, and I prayed at home as the imam. And then I was surprised by something I had never experienced before: I was reciting, and the imam was reciting too. The imam was reciting, and his voice was broadcast like the adhan, so it was disturbing me. If it was not disturbing me, it was disturbing others, the women and the household, about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: At that time, I paid attention to this issue and said that we should be aware that it is not permissible to broadcast the prayer as we broadcast the adhan. And I also began to observe, and the more I thought, the more I increased in faith in the correctness of this awareness and warning. We went to some of the lands in the Eastern Region, and to Ha’il, I think. Yes, and they held a gathering for us. Yes...
Al-Halabi : In Jubayl?

The Shaykh : No, no, Ha’il. I know Jubayl.

Another questioner : The khurj.

The Shaykh : No, al-Kharj. We went there. What other lands are there in Saudi Arabia?

The questioner : Abha, Khamis Mushayt, Dammam, Ta’if, Dhahran, al-Ahsa, Qatif.

The Shaykh : Yes, al-Ahsa, may Allah reward you. Al-Ahsa. They held a large camp for us, and we delivered some words from ‘Asr until the adhan for Maghrib. The camp had more people than any mosque at that time, so we prayed there as the imam. Before the prayer, we heard an adhan from here and an adhan from there. There are many mosques there, praise be to Allah. Then the adhan is broadcast with a loudspeaker, and soon the prayer is broadcast with a loudspeaker, so you hear the imam’s recitation from here and the imam’s recitation from there, and it becomes what? Disturbance for each other. Then, when we prayed, we were affected by the same disturbance that affected others. So we should observe the legal rules and apply them well, while considering the precision of the legal rulings in Islam. The known distinction between the adhan and the iqamah does not permit us to equate them in broadcasting. And this is, unfortunately, the reality today, and this precise jurisprudential meaning is not observed. And I think now you must be praying in the mosque, and we have already prayed.

Another questioner : On the same topic, regarding the adhan, if it is without a microphone, it obligates the one who hears it to attend the congregational prayer. So what if it is with a microphone?

The Shaykh : No, the distinction between the two matters is necessary, because the loudspeaker may carry the voice to someone in the desert. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) says in a well-known hadith: So the one who hears means the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) refers to the natural hearing that a person is capable of, and then is able to respond to it. But the adhan via a loudspeaker is heard in distant and very distant places. Therefore, if the one obligated to pray in congregation is in a place where he would hear the adhan if it were a natural adhan, then he is the one who must attend, whether he heard the natural adhan or the artificial one, if that expression is correct. Otherwise, if we expand the circle, we burden people with what they cannot bear. This is the answer to your question.