What is the ruling on the remembrance of Allah in groups with a single voice, given that the hadith of the roaming angels suggests this meaning?

The questioner : And may peace and blessings be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers. To the honorable Shaykh, the hadith scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani: Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. Naturally, in the introduction I wrote the question regarding the long hadith of the roaming angels. The meaning of the hadith suggests to us that they were remembering Allah in groups with a single voice. What is the interpretation of this meaning? And is there a reward for the man sitting with them, even if he sat for a purpose other than the remembrance of Allah?

The Shaykh : As for whether he is rewarded, no, my brother. But it is hoped that he will be rewarded when he attends this gathering and the gathering becomes pleasing to him, so that his previous intention, which was not intended for worship, changes, and his attendance thereafter becomes an act of worship, and he is recorded as having a reward. However, if we imagine that he attended from the beginning of the session to the end for a material benefit, for example, or to see one of the people sitting there, then the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , so he has no reward. As for what concerns the first part of the question, which is that it appears these people were remembering Allah in a group and with a single voice, this, my brother, comes from the illusion caused by the existence of such gatherings where the remembrance of Allah is raised, where voices are raised in the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) collectively. But the righteous Salaf did not know of such raising of voices with a single voice. We mention authentic hadiths that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) denied raising the voice in dhikr in more than one hadith, even if it was a single voice, except in specific places such as the talbiyah and the like, which is a different matter. Among what is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Muwatta of Imam Malik and others is that he said: , . Therefore, the custom of the later scholars of collective dhikr in some places, such as the ten takbirs after the Maghrib and Fajr prayers collectively, first: raising the voice is not prescribed, as you heard from the previous hadith. Second: gathering to raise the voice with a single voice, although this was not the case in the time of the Salaf when the Messenger (peace be upon him) said this long hadith, they would listen to the remembrance of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) either by the recitation of the Qur'an, where one of them would read and the others would listen, following the method of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said once to Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and another time to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: . He said: "Read to me the Qur'an, and upon you it was revealed?!" He said: . This is how the Salaf were; one of them would read and the others would listen, one of them a scholar would explain some words or some verses and the others would also listen, and so on. As for reading the Qur'an with a single voice, or remembering Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with a single voice, this is one of the most reprehensible innovations that entered the later Muslims. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) denied raising the voice not only in the mosque, as I mentioned to you earlier his saying: , but in the desert, in the wilderness, in the open, he denied the Companions when they were raising their voices in dhikr. That is as Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said, as in "Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim": "They were on a journey, and when they ascended a high place, meaning a mountain, they would glorify Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and when they descended a valley, they would praise Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Abu Musa said: 'We used to raise our voices.'" He said (peace and blessings be upon him): , to the end of the hadith. The point is he said: "Be gentle with yourselves," and they were raising their voices in the desert, because the One you are calling is Hearing, Near, and Responsive, to the end of it. Therefore, this understanding of the hadith of the angels and attending gatherings of dhikr and that they were raising their voices in this gathering, this is an innovative understanding, which the scholars of the Salaf do not know at all. Therefore, it is not appropriate to interpret the hadith with this interpretation. Anyone else?