Praying behind the radio and performing the obligatory acts completely with the imam: Is it valid? And as it is said: “Actions are only by intentions”?
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The questioner : Praying behind the radio and performing the obligatory acts completely with the imam: Is it valid? And as it is said: “Actions are only by intentions”?
The Shaykh : Praying behind the radio or behind the television, following the imam whom one hears through them, is not valid. This is because congregational prayer requires that the people be gathered together and that their rows be connected. If they are outside the mosque and their rows are not connected, their prayer is not valid, even if they hear the imam’s takbir, his response, and his recitation. This is because the congregation is derived from gathering, and gathering is necessary. Gathering does not occur with this distance and dispersion.
Furthermore, if this door were opened for people, they would become lazy about congregational prayer. Each one of them would pray behind the radio or behind the television and say, “I have caught up with the congregation, and there is no need for me to go out and tire myself.”
The Shaykh : Praying behind the radio or behind the television, following the imam whom one hears through them, is not valid. This is because congregational prayer requires that the people be gathered together and that their rows be connected. If they are outside the mosque and their rows are not connected, their prayer is not valid, even if they hear the imam’s takbir, his response, and his recitation. This is because the congregation is derived from gathering, and gathering is necessary. Gathering does not occur with this distance and dispersion.
Furthermore, if this door were opened for people, they would become lazy about congregational prayer. Each one of them would pray behind the radio or behind the television and say, “I have caught up with the congregation, and there is no need for me to go out and tire myself.”