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Is Not Praying in Congregation After Hearing the Adhan Disbelief?

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Answered by Shaykh Shuaib Ally

Question: Assalam alaykum,

There is a Hadith that mentions that not praying in congregation after hearing the call to prayer is Kufr.

Is this Kufr that takes you outside of Islam?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I have been unable to locate the narration you have mentioned. Regardless, scholars have offered a variety of interpretations for such narrations, which do not lead to considering people actual disbelievers or hypocrites.

For example, it has been posited that such strong wording has been used to deter people from neglecting praying in congregation after hearing the call; or that the intent was to compare a person who would leave a congregational prayer after hearing the call to a disbeliever or hypocrite, who could be expected to do something like this; or that behaving in such a manner could lead to disbelief or hypocrisy; or a combination of the above.
In short, scholars have not tended to interpret such language literally.

Please see the following for a discussion on the use of ‘disbelief’ in a similar narration: Are the People Who Fought After the Prophet’s Death Disbelievers?

Shuaib Ally

Is There a Difference Between the Hanafi and the Maliki Adhan?

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Answered by Shaykh Rami Nsour

Question: Is there a difference between how the Malikis and Hanafis recite the adhan??

Answer: There is a slight difference between the Maliki and the Hanafi adhan. The main difference is in the number of times the pronunciations are done. In the Maliki adhan, the statements are made twice each.

Instead of four takbirs at the beginning, there are two. Additionally, there is a repeat of the two tashah-huds. So the complete Maliki adhan is as follows;

Allahu akbar (twice)
Ash-hadu an la illah illa Allah (twice in a lower voice)
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah (twice in a lower voice)
Ash-hadu an la illah illa Allah (twice in a voice louder than the first time)
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah (twice in a voice louder than the first time)
Hayya alla salah (twice)
Hayya allah falah (twice)
Allahu akbar (twice)
La illaha illa Allah (once)

Another difference in the iqama is that the Malikis do all of the pronunciations of the adhan once each except for the two sets of takbirs, which are kept at twice each.

[Khalil, Mukhtasar]

Rami Nsour

Reciting the Adhan in a Melodious Manner

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Answered by Ustadh Salman Younas

Question: I recently saw a YouTube video of people singing with a daff drum, and I was inspired. I want to try and incorporate this style into my adhan. Would this be permissible?

Answer: assalamu `alaykum

Reciting the adhan in a beautiful voice is permitted and recommended. Doing so in the manner of melody and song is disliked according to many scholars though some stated that the dislikedness only applies when it leads to a change in meaning or incorrect pronunciation. [Ibn `Abidin, Hashiya; Saffarini, Ghida’ al-Albab]

As such, I would advise you to be cautious when attempting to deliver the adhan in various styles that resemble song and to avoid it if you feel it will potentially lead to incorrect pronunciations.

Salman

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Maliki Ruling on Calling the Adhan and Iqama in the Ears of Newborns

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Answered by Shaykh Rami Nsour

Question: What is the Maliki ruling on calling the Adhaan & Iqamaah in the ears of newborn children?

Answer:

Imam Malik on Calling the Adhan and Iqaama in the Ears of a Newborn

According to Imam Malik, the practice of calling the Adhaan & Iqamaah in the ears of newborn children is disliked (makruh) due to the fact that he did not find it as a practice in Medina. Imam Malik was very careful about considering something a sunna if there was not proof that the tradition was maintained by the scholars of Medina. Later Maliki scholars recommended implementing the practice due to the Hadith and this has been accepted as the practice of many of the Maliki scholars. (Al Hattab, Mawahib al Jalil)

Imam Malik, the Practice of Medina and the Madhab

Although the opinions of Imam Malik and the Practice of Medina represents a large amount of the Maliki rulings, there are many opinions of the Madhab that are from Malik’s students or later Maliki mujtahid Imams. Thus, when one follows the Maliki madhab, or any of the four valid schools of thought, they are not only following the opinions of one scholar but rather the opinions of a large group of scholars using similar methodological principles.

The Call to Prayer (Adhan) and Prayer Timings

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Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: [1 ] Should the adhan be made at the START of the time when the five prayers becomes permissible, or can it be delayed in order to better fit the timings of the congregational prayers (e.g. making adhan late for Fajr, as its congregational prayer is usually delayed in the Hanafi madhab)? [2] Also, the dua which we say after adhan (.. اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ), should we only say it after really having heard the adhan, or can it also be said when the adhan “should” have been made according to the time, in an area were adhan can’t be heard.

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.

[1] There would no harm in delaying the call to prayer (adhan) until the recommended times for prayer.

[2] The supplication is normally said after the call to prayer (adhan). If the call to prayer (adhan) is usually given in one’s neighbourhood and one cannot hear it, it would be recommended to give the call to prayer (adhan) oneself — though, it need not be long nor loud. Thereafter, one can say the supplication.

[Haskafi, al-Durr al-Mukhtar; Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah/Tahtawi, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi]

And Allah alone gives success.

Wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Giving the Call to Prayer (adhan) in an area where it is already given

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Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: We offer prayers in Jamat at our office without giving Adan because we all hear Adan from near surroundings.

 

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I hope you are in the best of health and spirits, insha’Allah.

According to the Hanafi school, if the call to prayer is given in one’s vicinity, the sunna would be fulfilled and it would not be disliked to leave it. [Haskafi, al-Durr al-Mukhtar]

It would however remain recommended to give the call to prayer (adhan) when reasonably possible.

See: Fiqh of Adhan and Iqama When Praying Alone

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

The Vowelling of the Word “Akbar” in the Call to Prayer (adhan)

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Answered by Sidi Faraz Khan

Question: A teacher in my community said that saying “Allahu Akbara Allahu Akbar” is wrong according to the rules of grammar and that it’s supposed to be “akbaru”. I’ve always learned that it’s “akbaru” according to the Hanafi scholars. Can you please clarify.

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray you are well.

The upshot according to Ibn `Abidin is that there are three opinions for vowelling the word “akbar” in the first Allahu akbar of each set [i.e. Allahu akbar Allahu akbar]:

(a) with a fatha [Allahu akbara ‘Llahu akbar] based on intending to stop there. This is because stopping would entail the meeting of two sukuns, which although normally turns the first vowel into a kasra, in this case turns it into a fatha to keep the pronunciation of the name of Allah afterwards heavy (tafkhim) instead of light (tarqiq). Imam Tahtawi mentions, however, that the vowelling of dhamma [Allahu akbaru ‘Llahu akbar] would also be a valid option in dealing with the meeting of two sukuns, as the dhamma would still preserve the heaviness (tafkhim) of the name of Allah afterwards.

(b) with a dhamma [Allahu akbaru ‘Llahu akbar] based on the correct grammar (i`rab), as it is the predicate (khabr) of the nominal sentence.

(c) with a sukun [Allahu akbar Allahu akbar], as supported by Imam Shurunbulali in his Imdad, Imam Zayla’i in Tabyin, Imam Kasani in Bada’i, and a group of Shafi`is. According to some jurists, this view is supported by the statement of the follower (tabi`i) Ibrahim al-Nakha`i, “The adhan is jazm.” In Arabic grammar, jazm is the state of a word that is vowelled with a sukun. However, Ibn `Abidin clarifies that grammar terminology was not established at the time of the Followers (the students of the Companions). Hence, its meaning is not related to vowelling. Rather, it refers to its linguistic meaning, as jazm means “certainty,” alluding to the fact that in the adhan, one may not elongate the initial hamza letter of “Allahu akbar” which turns the sentence into a question “Is Allah the greatest?” One must keep the initial hamza short, so that it is a statement of jazm or “certainty,” i.e., “Allah is the greatest.”

Ibn `Abidin then states that what appears correct to him is the second opinion, that of the dhamma [Allahu akbaru ‘Llahu akbar] based on the correct grammar (i`rab).

However, he ends the discussion saying that he later came across a treatise on this subject by Sayyidi Abdul Ghani al-Nablusi, who states that the sunna is to either (a) stop with a sukun [Allahu akbar Allahu akbar], or (b) to connect the two sentences, in which case one intends stopping yet pronounces the fatha [Allahu akbara ‘Llahu akbar] based on the aforementioned reasoning of the meeting of two sukuns. He also states that if one pronounces the dhamma [Allahu akbaru ‘Llahu akbar], one would have gone against the sunna.

So to summarize, although Ibn `Abidin himself initially states the dhamma seems correct [Allahu akbaru ‘Llahu akbar], he ends the discussion with the exact opposite ruling, namely, that the other two options are correct and that the dhamma is incorrect. Perhaps because he ended the discussion as such, it is the stronger ruling. Not to mention, the sukun option is supported by three other major Imams in the school, namely Shurunbulali, Zayla`i, and Kasani. Ibn `Abidin’s son, `Ala al-Din, also states the two options of sukun or fatha in his Hadiyya, and that the dhamma is contrary to the sunna.

Nevertheless, one can appreciate from the above discussion that each of the three options is valid linguistically, and is espoused by at least one major Imam. Hence, the issue should not be a matter of dispute. Rather, the way of Sunni orthodoxy (Ahl al-Sunna) is to respect valid difference of opinion and to not allow such issues to cause discord (fitna) within the community. And Allah knows best.

[Radd al-Muhtar 1:258-9; Maraqi ‘l-Falah, Hashiyat al-Tahtawi 1:274; al-Hadiyya al-`Ala’iyya 57]

wassalam
Faraz Khan

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Differences Between the Adhan & Iqama

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Answered by Sidi Salman Younas

Question: What are the differences between the adhan and iqama?

Answer: assalamu `alaykum

Generally, the call to prayer (adhan) and the call to commence (iqama) are the same. However, there are a few differences between them, which include:

1. The additional wording of “the prayer has commenced” (qad qamat al-salat) in the iqama.
2. The iqama being recited in a quicker manner than the adhan.
3. The person giving the iqama does not place his fingers in his ears nor does he turn his head left or right.

[Ibn `Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

These are the major differences between the two, though there are more relating to dislikedness, repeating the recitation of each, and so forth.

Wasalam
Salman

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

Does Playing a Recording of the Adhan Fulfill the Sunna? What if There is No Adhan in One’s Area?

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Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: Does the sunna of adhan get fulfilled by playing a recording of it? Would one have to respond/listen to such a recording if played? What should one do if there is no adhan in one’s area?

Answer: In the Name of Allah, the Benevolent, the Merciful

Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and spirits. The sunna of the adhan is only fulfilled by a live rendition of the adhan–even if through live broadcast (of an actual person giving the adhan).

Given this, the sunna of listening to and responding to the adhan is also contingent upon a live adhan (even if broadcast).

However, it would be praiseworthy to listen and respond, out of respect for the remembrance of Allah (Most High).

If an adhan isn’t given in one’s area, then one should strive to uphold the sunna of giving the adhan–whereby one also fulfills the sunnas of listening to the adhan; responding to the adhan; sending blessings upon the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) after it; and then making the specific du`a’ of intercession; and ending with du`a’ for oneself. These are blessings one should strive not to miss out on.

See also: “Fiqh of Adhan and Iqamah When Praying Alone”

And: Adhan Podcast

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

Can the Response of the Adhan Be Delayed ?

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Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question:   Can the response of the Adhan be delayed ?

Answer :  The sunna is to give the response to the adhan as the muezzin says the adhan, this should be our practice under normal circumstances. When busy, one is permitted to reply all at once after the adhan is given, as long as there wasn’t an undue delay, as understood from the major texts of the Hanafi school. [ Radd al-Muhtar]

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani