Reciting Salat and Salam Audibly after Salat al-Jumu‘ah

Question:

Is it permissible, on the basis of the Speech of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), to perform Salat and Salam audibly after Salat al-Jumu‘ah in front of the dais and mihrab of the mosque, giving importance [to it] and with persistence [on it]? Honour us with the correct response, while being rewarded by Allah, and appreciated by the people.

Answer:

It should firstly be known that the Sahabah (Allah’s pleasure be upon them), and those after them from the Tabi‘in and their successors, were the foremost in goodness, eager for all that is good with respect to the Bright Shari‘ah, because they practiced all that they believed to be the Sunnah of their noble Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and all that is good in the Shari‘ah. This proves that nothing obligatory or recommended remains after them except what the Noble Qur’an and hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him with the best of blessings and salutations) obligated. If the mind of anyone after them invented something, it may be permissible (mubah), but it is not permissible to give it excessive importance and invite people to it and blame those who leave it.

When we study the practice of the Sahabah and their successors in this issue of ours, we find that they would perform Salat on the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and they deemed it an important and rewarded act. However, the manner of their performance of it is different from the manner described in the question, as they would send Salat individually and with humility, and they would not do it in groups congregationally at the daises and mihrabs, and their gathering for this purpose and announcing it as they announced the adhan is not established in any of the narrations.

Thus, it is clear that Salat on the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) is rewarded, and the manner described [in the question] is not recommended, because if that was good, the Sahabah would have done it in a beautiful way and with careful attention.

Furthermore, there are a number of other corrupt consequences to this practice:

1. Salat is a supplication in the presence of the Truth (Glorious and Great is His Glory), and it has been established in its place that supplication silently is better. Allah (Blessed and Great is He) said: “Supplicate to your Lord with humbleness and with secrecy.” (Qur’an 7:55)

2. It resembles showing-off, and places of suspicion should not be entered into.

3. The best that can be said about it is that it is permissible (mubah), yet the fools of our time adhere to it strongly unlike their adherence to the congregational [prayers], and they give importance to it and condemn those who leave it, to such a degree that some of them believe it is obligatory. It is established in jurisprudence that making that which has not been necessitated duty-bound [on oneself] is impermissible because it goes against the noble verse: “This day I have perfected for you your religion and I have completed upon you My favour,” [to the end of] the verse (Qur’an 5:3).

4. Some of them perform it standing and believe that the Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) is “present in every place, seeing all things” (hadir fi kulli makan, nazir ila kulla shay’), and we fear disbelief (kufr) for this belief as is not hidden to any Muslim, as encompassing all things with knowledge and its presence in every place is from the exclusive qualities of Allah (Glorified is He), and associating another in this [quality] is shirk with Allah (Exalted is He) – we seek protection in Allah from it.

In sum, this method [of sending Salat and Salam] has not been established in the generations whose excellence has been attested to, and especially when joined to the corrupt consequences we discussed, it becomes an ugly practice. All Muslims should avoid it and prevent the one who practices it as much as he is able.

And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) knows best.

The lowliest, Muhammad Taqi al-‘Uthmani (13/6/1379 H [December, 1959])

“The answer is correct.”

The slave, Muhammad Shafi‘ (Allah pardon him)

Fatawa ‘Usmani, 1:114-6