Loudspeakers should not be used outside the mosque for the prayer

Outdoor loudspeakers should not be used for the prayer,
whether that is for taraaweeh, tahajjud or any other prayers such as Fajr,
Maghrib and ‘Isha’, because that leads to many negative consequences and
causes disturbance to the neighbours of the mosque.

 Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked: 

In recent times it has become very common for the imams of
mosques to use outdoor loudspeakers, which are usually placed in the minaret
and the volume is set very high. By doing this, some mosques disturb one
another in the prayers in which Qur’aan is recited out loud, by using these
loudspeakers for the recitation. What is the ruling on using loudspeakers
for the prayers in which Qur’aan is recited out loud when the sound from the
minaret will disturb other mosques? 

He replied: 

What you have mentioned about using loudspeakers on the
minaret for the prayers in which Qur’aan is recited out loud is something
that is not allowed, because it causes a lot of disturbance for the people
in houses and other mosques nearby. Imam Maalik (may Allaah have mercy on
him) narrated in al-Muwatta’ (178), from Sharh al-Zarqaani in Baab al-‘Aml
fi’l-Qiraa’ah (How Qur’aan is to be recited) from al-Bayaadi Farwah ibn ‘Amr
– may Allaah be pleased with him – that the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out to the people when they were
praying, and their voices were loud in recitation, and he said: “ A
worshipper is conversing with his Lord, so let him think about the One with
Whom he is conversing. Do not raise your voices above one another when
reciting Qur’aan.” 

Abu Dawood (1332) narrated, under the heading, “Raising the
voice when reciting Qur’aan in night prayers” that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri –
may Allaah be pleased with him – said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) observed i’tikaaf in the mosque and he
heard them raising their voices in reciting Qur’aan. He drew back the
curtain and said: “Each of you is conversing with his Lord, so do not
disturb one another, and do not raise your voices above one another in
reciting Qur’aan – or in prayer.” Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: The hadeeths of
al-Bayaadi and Abu Sa’eed are both sound and saheeh. 

These two hadeeths show that it is forbidden to raise one’s
voice in reciting Qur’aan in prayer to such an extent that it disturbs
others, and that this is a nuisance and is forbidden. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa
(23/61): No one has the right to raise his voice so much when reciting out
loud that he disturbs others, such as other worshippers. 

In an answer he gave in al-Fataawa al-Kubra (1/350) he
said: Whoever does anything that disturbs the people in the mosque, or does
anything that will lead to that, should be stopped.  

With regard to the excuses offered by those who raise their
voices, that may be answered in two ways: 

1 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) forbade people to raise their voices above one another in reciting
Qur’aan, and explained that this causes annoyance. It is well known that the
believer has no option and cannot ignore the ruling of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning): 

“It is not for a believer, man or woman, when
Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any
option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger, he
has indeed strayed into a plain error”

[al-Ahzaab 33:36] 

It is also well known that a believer should not put himself
in a position where he causes disturbance or annoyance to his brothers. 

2 – The excuses that they give, even if they have some
grounds, nevertheless are outweighed by the forbidden things that happen as
a result of raising the voice, such as the following: 

(i)               
doing something that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade, namely
worshippers raising their voices above one another

(ii)             
Annoying other worshippers who
can hear one, as well as others such as people who are studying or trying to
memorize Qur’aan

(iii)           
Distracting members of
congregations in neighbouring mosques from listening to the recitation of
their own imam, which they are commanded to listen to.

(iv)           
Some of the worshippers in
neighbouring mosques may end up following the imam who is raising his voice
in rukoo’ and sujood, especially if they are in a big mosque with a large
congregation which they could be confused by the voice of an imam that
drowns out the voice of their own imam. We have heard of many such
incidents.

(v)             
It may lead to some people
becoming negligent about hastening to attend the mosque, because they can
hear the prayer of the imam rak’ah by rak’ah, step by step, so they dawdle,
thinking that the imam is at the beginning of the prayer, until they miss
most or all of the prayer.

(vi)           
It may cause the people who are
coming to the mosque to rush when they heard the end of the imam’s
recitation, as we see happening. Thus they do something that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade, i.e., rushing,
because they hear this amplified voice.

(vii)         
There may be people in the
houses who hear this recitation when they are engaged in some idle pursuits
or idles talk, as if they are careless about the reciter. This is the
opposite of what those who support raising the volume suggest, which is that
many of the women in the houses will hear the recitation and benefit from
it. This benefit may be achieved through listening to tapes with recordings
of the recitation of skilled reciters. 

With regard to the comment by those who support raising the
volume that it may influence some people and make them come and pray,
especially if the voice of the reciter is beautiful, this may be true, but
it is a rare benefit that is outweighed by the harmful effects mentioned
above. 

The basic principle on which there is consensus is that if
there is a conflict between pros and cons, we must look and see which
outweighs the other and judge accordingly. If they are equal, then warding
off harm takes priority over bringing benefits. 

My advice to my Muslim brothers is to err on the side of
caution and to be compassionate towards their Muslim brothers who are
disturbed by their worship because of what they hear of these amplified
voices that are so loud that the worshipper does not know what he is saying
or what he should say in the prayer of du’aa’, dhikr and Qur’aan. 

I heard that a man was leading the prayers and was reciting
the tashahhud, but nearby there was a mosque from which he could hear the
recitation of the imam, and he started to repeat the tashahhud because he
couldn’t hear himself think, so he made the prayer too long for himself and
for the people behind him. 

Moreover, if they do this and stop amplifying the sound from
the minarets, they will be showing compassion towards their brothers, in
obedience to the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him): “Do not raise your voices above one another in reciting Qur’aan,”
and his words, “Do not disturb one another, do not raise your voices above
one another in reciting Qur’aan.” There is no secret that the heart finds
spiritual joy and contentment in obeying the commands of Allaah and His
Messenger. 

He also said: 

There is no reason not to make an exception in the case of
the Mosques in Makkah and Madeenah and the jaami’ mosques in which Friday
prayers are held, because some of the worshippers may be outside the mosque
and need to hear the voice of the imam. This is subject to the condition
that the jaami’ mosques are not so close to one another that they would
disturb one another. If that is the case then the loudspeakers on the walls
of the mosques should be set up so that the khutbah and prayer can be heard,
and the loudspeakers on the minarets should be turned off at that time, so
that benefits may be achieved without disturbing others. 

See Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/74-96.