SALAAT AND LOUDSPEAKERS?

Q. Is it permissible to use loud-speakers for Salaat?

A. Due to the ignorance of the masses and the inaad (enmity), jahaalat (ignorance), and nafsaaniyat
(submission to base desire) of even the Ulama, it is best that we present the Fatawa of the Akaabireen whom even the non-entities accept as Seniors.

Hadhrat Mufti Mahmudul Hasan Gangohi (rahmatullah alayh) said:
“Loud speakers should not be used in Salaat. The Imaam Sahib should put a stop to it.” (Fataawa Mahmudiyyah, Vol.2, page 128)

In Fataawa Raheemiyyah, Vol. 1, page 209, it is said: “Whether the voice transmitted by the loudspeaker is the original voice or an artificial representation of the original voice (such as an echo), there is difference of opinion among the experts (the technologists). (There is no longer any difference of opinion of the experts on this issue. Besides the consensus of the experts, it is just common sense that the voice which

reaches a kilometre away is not the original or actual voice. The voice is ‘rebuilt’ after its ‘capture’, then transmitted. The sound which reaches the ears of the audience, is the sound of the reproduced voice of the speaker. It is never the original voice—The Majlis)
If it is the reproduced voice, then the Iqtida will not be valid by following the voice……Even if it is not a reproduction (but is the original voice), then too there is no permission for the utilization of a loudspeaker in Salaat because it is in conflict with the simplicity which is the characteristic of Islamic acts of ibaadat. Hadhrat Shah Waliyullah (rahmatullah alayh) said that encumbrances and pretence in ibaadat are among the factors which alter the Deen. This was the malady in which the priests of the Yahood and Nasaara were involved.

In addition, a loudspeaker interferes with the khushoo’ of Salaat.

There is more corruption than benefit in using a loudspeaker for Salaat, hence the Shariah does not permit it. Furthermore, there is no need for a loudspeaker in Salaat because the validity and perfection of the Salaat are not dependent on hearing the recitation of the Imaam. An arrangement could be made for relaying the Takbeeraat-e-Intiqaal by means of appointing (human) Mukhabbireen (proclaimers).

It is also improper to use a loudspeaker for the khutbah…”

In an elaborate Fatwa of a number of pages, Hakimul Ummat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thaanvi (rahmatullah alayh) stated the impermissibility of using a loudspeaker for Salaat.
(Imdaadul Fataawa, Vol.`1, from page 581 to 600)

Extract from a lengthy fatwa of Hadhrat Husain Ahmad Madani (rahmatullah alayh): “The Salaat of all
those who perform their Salaat on the basis of this instrument is faasid (invalid)….It is therefore necessary to refrain from using it. All the arguments which have been presented for permissibility or preferability of the loudspeaker, from the Fiqhi angle, does not carry the weight of a grain of wheat (in other words, all such arguments are devoid of substance).” Imdaadul Fataawa, Vol.1, page 598

There is consensus of all our senior Ulama on the prohibition of using loudspeakers for Salaat and Khutbah.

THE MAJLIS VOLUME 18 NUMBER 01