Reh gayi rasm e Azaan, Rooh e Bilali na rahi, Falsafa reh gaya, Talqin e Ghazali na rahi
Assalamu Alaikum Brothers/Sisters
I tried writing down this article regarding “The Usage of Loudspeaker in Salah” for a long time, but was unable to make some time for it.
I was thinking of writhing down a article on this topic from a long time, but was unable to due to time constraints and some family issues. Finally I managed to find some time and completed this article . AlhamDulilah.
By writing this article I don’t mean to be judgmental towards any sect or group of Muslims. I just wanted to tell you about my understanding regarding the use of loudspeaker in prayer. The only reason why I present this, is for you to research and think upon.
After all it’s the Quality of prayer we perform which matters to Allah the most and not the Quantity. May Allah Guide us all.
As a lot is being said and written about Innovations and Bidah in Religion. I rarely came across any Sheikhs/Molvies/Imams describing use of Loudspeaker in Prayer as a form of Bidah. Every sects and divisions in Islam prays to and worships to Allah by the help of Loudspeakers. Small to Big, no mosque is considered complete without a loudspeaker in it.
Five times daily prayers to Juma’a prayer. No prayers in Jamah goes without being performed by the help of a Loudspeaker. All of our preaching and praying is now dependent upon a Good quality, High Definition Loudspeaker. Other than its advantages, no one thinks of its Disadvantages before installing it in a mosque. Because we are too used to being happy followers than hard thinkers. The moment some authoritative and scholarly person in Islam indulge in an act of Bidah, everyone else follows behind, with a pre-conceived mindset, that the Scholar does everything right and never commits a mistake in his field of specialization. And then the race of blind following continues.
Take for instance a Juma’a Congregation in our Mosques . All of us following the Imam by the help of loudspeaker amplifying his Takbirs. Everything goes fine and well in the first rakah until the sujud. All of a sudden if loudspeaker goes mute due to power shortage , and no one after the third or forth line can hear the Imam giving his Takbirs. Our foreheads remains stuck to the ground waiting for the Takbirs to be heard. Waiting to raise our heads from Sujud.
What kind of scenario can you imagine at this point? When the sound of the Imam is nowhere to be heard. How do you think will the muqtadis proceed with the rest of the Rakahs? Only those few lines of people who stood near to Imam can hear his Takbirs and continue, where as those who are far from him will remain in sujud throughout the prayers. Some might even get impatient and raise their head to look around in confusion. Who do you think is responsible for this disturbance created? I believe it is because of our Interference with the established system of Prayer by following a Bidah newly added to it. While rejecting the Sunnah way of Praying in Jamah. It is we who are responsible for creating such a disturbance in Prayer and religion by means of Bidah by Loudspeaker.
[This thing happened in our Mosque a year back.]
Such a scenario only reminds me of how far we’ve reached in corrupting our religion by adding to it whatever we like and making it Impure as much as we can. Allah announces in his book
…The Religion of Allah is certainly pure. (Sura Zumar 39:3)
and we all will be held responsible for adding Bidah to our DEEN.
Imam Maalik (May Allah have mercy on him) said: “ Whoever innovates in Islam, considering his innovation to be “good” has in effect claimed that Muhammad(S.A.W) failed to complete the message. For Allah said: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed my favours upon you.” Therefore that which was not a part of the religion on that day is not a part of it now.” Is there anything more clearer than this. And even after knowing this, We try to find excuses to indulge in Bidah in & out of our ‘Salah’, As If our Prophet (S.A.W) didn’t know and didn’t show us how to perform our prayers.
Any Innovation that gets accepted into Islam is because they are considered to be Good deeds in Islam. Thinking that it will be a source of reward from Allah and coming closer to Almighty Allah. Prophet (S.A.W) knew of all these in advance, so in numerous times in Hadith He warned us of such things…
“The person who innovated something new in our religion which is not a part of our religion ,will be shunned and rejected .” (Bukhari)
“I urge you to adhere to my way (Sunnah) and the way of the rightly-guided successors (al-khulafa’ al-raashidoon) who come after me. Hold fast to it and bite onto it with your teeth [i.e., cling firmly to it], and beware of newly-invented matters.” (Bukhari ,Muslim).
No innovation is a Good Deed in Religion, even if it seems to be so. Innovation introduced are never Suspected nor Researched properly. Many Modern day Muslims do not even know what a Mukabbir is? A sunnah which got cancelled due to the introduction of loudspeaker. If you argue by saying that ,”If the loudspeaker is doing the mukabbirs job, what’s wrong in using it?” Then I will have to say that you have said that without giving much thought into the matter. It doesn’t do the Mukabbirs job. And that can be explained in many ways. One is when the Imam Rises from Rukhu Saying ..”samiallahu liman hamidah” ..the mukabbirs job is to say …”Rabbana walakal hamd” not the ..”samiallahu lim….” . But do you hear our loudspeakers saying “Rabbana walakal hamd”? No. If not then how is it doing the Mukabbirs job? Have we not replaced a Sunnah with something new and foreign to Islam?
Following a Mukabbir after the Imam is the Sunnah way of praying in big congregation. Not a Loudspeaker. Thats how Our Prophet (s.a.w) prayed and performed Hajj all his life. What bout the sunnah of Giving Azan From A higher Place outside the mosque. After the introduction of loudspeaker in the mosque, it became easier for all the muazzins to forget the sunnah and give azan from inside the mosque. Thus resulting in the Removal of yet another Sunnah of our beloved Prophet (S.A.W). And few kow that to give Azaan inside the Mosque is Makrooh.
The Prophet (Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam) also said :
…Pray as you have seen me praying.. (Sahih Bukhari Book 1 Vol 1, Hadith 604).
Do we find any Hadith that our Beloved Prophet (Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam) took the help of anything like loudspeaker in a prayer. While the peaceful flow of action in congregation prayers and its completion is “totally dependent” on the loudspeaker nowadays. I really want to know, “Are we really praying in the way our beloved Prophet[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] used to pray?” Think about It for a moment.
Using Of Loudspeaker In our Prayers Is another Kind of Bidah. Used Everywhere, just because everyone considers loudspeaker to be of something good, for which he receives reward from Allah and therefore doesn’t suspect it to be an innovation. Prophet[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] Never asked us to give azan from inside the mosque. Nor did he advise us to give it from a low place at ground level.
On His[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] last pilgrimage to Mecca, How do you think Prophet (Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam) performed his prayer in congregation and completed the whole of the Hajj. And how do you think , did He[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] give His[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] famous Last Sermon infront of one hundred & twenty four thousand(124000) Sahabas who are believed to have witnessed the sermon. Without the help of any material or medium to transfer or amplify his sounds.
He[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] never Used any Material Objects to amplify his[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] sound for the big Congregation nor did he ask Bilal (R.A) to take the help of any material objects for announcing of Azan.
Oh, Yeah…I know some of you (my apology to the understanding readers, please) must be thinking by now that people at that time were super human and had the most blasting and thundering voice which was enough to call a million worshipers to prayer. And as you don’t have such abilities at this point in time, and that’s why it justifies your deviant behavior of innovating in Islam….. Right?
Do you know why our Prophet(S.A.W) was sent in the image of a Human Being? Just like us. So that you won’t have any such excuses as a pretext for changing the deen.
Remember that worship in every other religion is Materialistic in nature. They use all sorts of things like musical instrument, cymbals, piano, organs and Drums to worship their gods. Now we Muslims are slowly following into their footsteps. Microphone, loudspeaker, Amplifier and more recently we are seeing Dish Antenna and LCD Screen’s in many of the mosques in developed Muslim countries.
The Prophet [Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] said, “Surely you will follow the ways, of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e. inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you too would follow them,”
As Our prophet[Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam] was deciding on the mode of calling people to prayer. Out of all the proposed modes, those which were Materialistic in nature were rejected by our Prophet (Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam).
The proposed mode of calling were…Blowing A horn, Ringing a bell, Kindling a fire, all of which were materialistic in nature. Loudspeaker is a Material. And today we compete at making our azan as modern as automatic and robotic as possible. Egypt was the first to introduce Muazzinless azan ( Unified Prayer call) to its mosques in cairo, firing about 45000 muazzins from its capital. And what about those Lazy Muazzins Who take a Azan Clock, sets the time for Fajr Azan and places it infront of the microphone, so that the clock does his job while he sleeps till The Iqamah.
The Prophet (Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam) said, “Surely you will follow the ways, of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit (i.e. inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you too would follow them,”
We said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Do you mean the Jews and the Christians?” He replied, “Whom else?” (Bukhari)
It’s a shame that we have made our religion a matter of play and joke nowadays. Islam has become a test subject in our laboratory. Anybody can “inject” anything to it at their will. No one realises how closely they are imitating the practices similar to those of the non-muslims.
As Krishna, Buddah or Jesus stands between the worshiper and the God in the form of a statue as per their belief. Now a days in Islam so does the Loudspeaker. Even though the statue and the loudspeaker are all matter and objects, the only difference is – loudspeaker doesn’t have anything that resembles a Human being whereas the statues does.
People are so dependent on loudspeaker that if you Remove the loudspeaker, there won’t be any Jamah.
Isn’t it a sign of the End Times foretold by Our Prophet(Sallalahu alaihi wa salaam), that some Muslims will follow the example of Jews and Christians and imitate them blindly.
Every mosques in developed Muslim countries nowadays are installed with a DISH ANTENNA SATELLITE RECEIVERS, which receives and automatically plays the azan which is transmitted from one central mosque for the whole of the State. Thus removing any need for Muezzins, one of the greatest Sunnah of our prophet (S.A.W).
Seeing the progress and improvement made by an Arab Govt in the field of Innovated Islam, everyone feels happy and prays for the long life of the Sheikhs who first introduced this new Bidah.
Umar (RTA) said ” Every Innovation is Misguidance, even if the people consider it to be good. (Loudspeaker is an innovation, which is considered good by everyone who uses it)
“Indeed every new thing is an innovation and every innovation is deviation and every deviation leads to fire”
And loudspeaker is surely one such innovation and will lead us all to fire.
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) A Great Poet so beautifully predicted in his poem about the coming of this monstrous FITNA. He Writes…
“Reh gayi rasm e azaan, Rooh e Bilali na rahi,
Falsafa reh gaya, Talqin e Ghazali na rahi,
Translation:- The ritual of Adhan remains, but its Bilali spirit is gone. We still have the philosophy, but the approach of Ghazali is long gone.
May Allah give us His Guidance and Noor to be able to see and understand fitnas that come our way to deviate us from Siratal Mustaqim shown to us by our Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).
May Allah help us follow Our Prophet inch by inch every moment of our life and give us the ability to revive and uplift the Sunnah of our prophet (|S.A.W) as He is the best of the Creations and is the best of the Examples. Ameen.