Ruling on raising the voice in dhikr after the prayer

Firstly: 

The fuqaha’ differed with regard to raising the voice in
dhikr after the prayer. Some of them were of the view that it is Sunnah and
some regarded it as makrooh and said that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do that all the time; he only did
that in order to teach people then he stopped doing it. 

The reason for the difference of opinion is that they
differed concerning the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (805) and Muslim
(583) from Abu Ma’bad, the freed slave of Ibn ‘Abbaas, that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may
Allaah be pleased with him) told him that people used to raise their voices
in dhikr when they finished an obligatory prayer at the time of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Ibn ‘Abbaas said: I used
to know when they had finished (the prayer) by that, when I heard it. 

According to a report narrated by al-Bukhaari (806) and
Muslim (583), Ibn ‘Abbaas said: We knew when the prayer of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had finished from
the takbeer. 

But they differed as to whether this indicated something that
was done all the time or not, and whether it went against the verse
(interpretation of the meaning): “And remember your Lord within yourself,
humbly and with fear and without loudness in words in the mornings and in
the afternoons, and be not of those who are neglectful” [al-A’raaf 7:205]
or not. 

Among those who favoured raising the voice in dhikr after
prayer were al-Tabari, Ibn Hazm, Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] and others. 

Among those who were of the view that it was for teaching
only were al-Shaafa’i and the majority. 

Al-Shaafa’i (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: My view is
that the imam and the person praying behind him should remember Allaah after
they finish praying, but they should recite dhikr in a low voice unless he
is an imam who is to be learned from, in which case he should recite in a
loud voice until he thinks that it has been learned from him, then he should
recite quietly, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And
offer your Salaah (prayer) neither aloud nor in a low voice” [al-Isra’
17:110] , meaning – and Allaah knows best – du’aa’; “neither aloud”
means do not raise your voice and “nor in a low voice” means, so low
that you cannot hear yourself. 

I think that what Ibn al-Zubayr narrated about the tahleel
(reciting Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah) of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him),and what Ibn ‘Abbaas narrated about his takbeer is like
what we have mentioned above. Al-Shaafa’i said: I think he only raised his
voice a little in order to teach the people, because most of the reports
that we have quoted do not mention reciting tahleel or takbeer after saying
the tasleem. 

Some reports say that dhikr was recited after the prayer, as
I have described, and some say that he did not recite any dhikr after
prayer. 

Umm Salamah stated that he would stay after the prayer and
she did not refer to any dhikr out loud, and I think he only stayed to
recite some dhikr that was not said out loud. End quote from al-Umm
(1/127). 

Ibn Hazm (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Raising the
voice in takbeer following every prayer is good. End quote from
al-Muhalla (3/180). 

al-Bahooti said in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa’ (1/366),
referring to Ibn Taymiyah’s view regarding reciting dhikr out loud as
mustahabb: The Shaykh (i.e., Ibn Taymiyah) said: It is mustahabb to recite
tasbeeh, tahmeed and takbeer out loud following every prayer.  

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have
mercy on him) was asked about the ruling on this issue and he replied: 

Reciting dhikr out loud following the obligatory prayers is
Sunnah. This is indicated by the report narrated by al-Bukhaari from the
hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), that
the people used to recite dhikr out loud when they finished obligatory
prayers at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him). He said: I used to know when they finished (the prayer) by that,
when I heard it. This was also narrated by Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawood. In
al-Saheehayn it is narrated that al-Mugheerah ibn Shu’bah (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) say when he finished the prayer: “Laa ilaaha
ill-Allaah wahdahu laa shareeka lah… (There is no god but Allaah alone,
with no partner or associate…).” And words cannot be heard unless the
speaker says them out loud. 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him)
and a number of the earlier and later generations favoured this view, based
on the hadeeths of Ibn ‘Abbaas and al-Mugheerah (may Allaah be pleased with
them). Reciting out loud is general and applies to every dhikr that is
prescribed after prayer, whether it is tahleel (saying Laa ilaaha
ill-Allaah (there is no god but Allaah), tasbeeh (saying Subhaan
Allaah (Glory be to Allaah)), takbeer (saying Allaahu akbar
(Allaah is Most Great)) or tahmeed (saying Al-hamdu Lillaah (praise
be to Allaah)), because of the general meaning of the hadeeth of Ibn
‘Abbaas. There is no report from the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) to suggest differentiating between tahleel and other
dhikrs, rather in the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas it says that they would know
that the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) had ended from the takbeers. Thus the view of those who say that the
voice should not be raised in tasbeeh, tahmeed and takbeer is refuted. 

With regard to those who say that raising the voice in these
dhikrs is an innovation (bid’ah), they are wrong. How can something that was
known and practised at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) be a bid’ah? Shaykh Sulaymaan ibn Sahmaan (may Allaah
have mercy on him) said: It has been proven that the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that and approved of it, and the
Sahaabah used to do that at the time of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) after he taught it to them, and he approved
of them doing it, so they acted upon the teachings of the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); they did it and he approved of
that after teaching them and he did not criticize them.  

As for the argument that reciting out loud is disapproved
because of the verse “And remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and
with fear and without loudness in words in the mornings and in the
afternoons” [al-A’raaf 7:205], we say: the one who was enjoined to
remember his Lord within himself, humbly and with fear, was the same one who
used to recite dhikr out loud following obligatory prayers. Does the one who
says this know better what Allaah meant than His Messenger did?  Or does he
believe that the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
knew what was meant but went against it? Moreover, the verse speaks of dhikr
at the beginning and end of the day (“in the mornings and in the
afternoons”), not the dhikr that is prescribed following prayers. In his
Tafseer, Ibn Katheer interpreted reciting out loud as meaning too loud or
extremely loud.  

As for the argument that reciting out loud is disapproved
because of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him): “O people, take it easy”, the one who said “O people, take it
easy” is the same one who used to recite dhikr out loud following the
prescribed prayers. There is a place for this and a place for that, and
truly following means following every text when appropriate. 

Moreover, the context of the phrase “take it easy” indicates
that they used to raise their voices in a manner that caused them hardship,
hence he said “take it easy”, i.e., be kind to yourselves and do not exhaust
yourselves; there should be no hardship or undue effort in reciting dhikr
out loud. 

As for the one who says that it disturbs others, it may be
said to him: If you mean that it disturbs those who do not have the habit of
doing that, once the believer understands that it is Sunnah, it will no
longer disturb him. If you mean that it disturbs other worshippers, then if
there is no one among the worshippers who joined the prayer late and is
making up what he missed, then the raising of voices will not disturb them
at all, which is what actually happens, because they are all taking part in
it. But if there is someone among them who joined the prayer late and is
making up what he missed, if he is so close to you that you will be
disturbing him, then you should not recite so loudly as to disturb him, so
that he will not become confused in his prayer, but if he is far away from
you then he will not be disturbed by your reciting out loud. 

From what we have mentioned it is clear that the Sunnah is to
raise the voice in dhikr following the obligatory prayers, and that does not
go against any saheeh text or sound opinion. End quote. 

He also said: When voices are mingled with one another then
there will be no disturbance, as you can see on Fridays when the people all
read Qur’aan out loud, then someone comes and prays and he is not disturbed
by that. 

And he (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: What matters is
the correct view, which is that it is Sunnah to recite dhikr following the
prayers in the manner prescribed, and it is also Sunnah to recite it out
loud but not to raise the voice so much that it becomes annoying, because
that is not appropriate. Hence when the people raised their voices in dhikr
at the time of the Messenger SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) when they were coming back from Khaybar, he said: “O people, take it
easy.” What is meant by raising the voice is that which does not cause
hardship or annoyance. End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (13/247, 261). 

Secondly: 

From what we have mentioned above it is clear that the matter
is broad in scope, and that the difference of opinion is an ancient matter.
Perhaps the correct view is that which was mentioned by the Shaykh (may
Allaah have mercy on him) about raising the voice, but it should be raised
in a manner that does not cause annoyance. 

What I mentioned about uneducated people and the elderly, I
will repeat it once again. It may be appropriate to read the words of the
Shaykh to them so that they may learn the Sunnah and be encouraged to apply
it. 

May Allaah help us all to do that which He loves and which
pleases Him. 

And Allaah knows best.