Shaykh al-Islaam ibn Taymiyyah was asked:
Question 1: Concerning
the one who causes confusion in the lines of prayer and those around
him by articulating the intention loudly. This was objected to but it
did not deter him from persisting in this. A person said to him, 'what
you are doing is not from the religion of Allaah and you are
contradicting the Sunnah.' He replied, 'this is from the religion of
Allaah which He sent His Messengers with and it is obligatory upon
every Muslim to do this and similarly the Qur'aan should be recited
loudly behind an imaam.' So did the Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu
alaihi wa sallam) or any one of his Companions use to do this? Or any
one of the four Imaams or any of the Muslim scholars? And if the
Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) and his Companions
and the scholars did not do this in prayer then what is obligatory upon
the one who attributes this to them and does this? Is it permissible
for a Muslim to come to his aid with even one word if he does this and
attributes this to the religion by saying to those who are objecting,
'everything that he is doing in his religion is what he desires and
your objection is based upon ignorance!' So are they correct in this or
not?
The Answer:
All praises and thanks are due to Allaah. Articulating the intention in
a loud voice is not legislated according to the opinion of all the
Muslim scholars. The Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam)
did not do it and neither did his Khaleefs, Companions, or the Salaf of
this nation and their Imaams do it. Hence whosoever claims that this is
part of the Religion of Allaah and that it is obligatory then it is
necessary to teach him the Sharee'ah and ask him to repent from this
opinion and if he still persists in this saying then he is to be
killed. Rather the intention that is obligatory for the actions of
worship such as wudu, ghusl, salaah, siyaam and zakaah etc. finds its
place in the heart by agreement (ittifaaq) of the Imaams of the
Muslims.
The intention is the
desire to do something and the place for desire is in the heart and not
upon the tongue by agreement of those possessing intelligence. So if a
person were to intend something in his heart then this intention would
be correct and proper according to the four Imaams and in fact all of
the Imaams of the Muslims - their former ones and latter ones - there
is no difference concerning this arising from those that deserve to be
followed and those whose rulings deserve to be paid consideration.
However some of the later followers of the Imaams thought that the
articulation of the intention was obligatory but they did not say that
doing so in a loud voice was obligatory but despite this, this opinion
is erroneous, contradicting the consensus (ijmaa) of the Muslims. This
due to the fact that it is known by necessity in the Religion of Islaam
to the one who knows the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu
alaihi wa sallam) and the sunnah of his Khaleefs and knows how the
Companions and their students used to pray that they did not articulate
the intention and neither did the Prophet (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam)
command them to do so and neither did he teach this to any of his
Companions.
Instead it is established in the Saheehs of Bukhaaree and Muslim that he (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) said to the Bedouin, "when you stand for prayer say the takbeer and then recite what is easy for you from the Qur'aan."
In the Sunan it is reported from him (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) that he said, "the key to prayer is purification, it is entered by saying the takbeer and exited by saying the tasleem."
In Saheeh Muslim from Aa'ishah (RA) that the Prophet (Sallalaahu alaihi
wa sallam) used to start the prayer by saying the takbeer and reciting
'All praise is due to Allaah....' [I.e. al-Faatihah].
It is established by mutawaatir transmission and the consensus of the
Muslims that the Prophet (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) and the
Companions used to commence the prayer with the takbeer and it is not
reported by a Muslim, neither from the Prophet (Sallalaahu alaihi wa
sallam) or from his Companions, that they used to articulate the
intention be it silently or loudly. It is known that had the case been
otherwise then for sure it would have been reported just as it is known
that it is impossible according to the Sharee'ah and habit for the
people reporting something mutawaatir to hide such a thing, therefore
due to the fact that no-one reports this it is safe to say with
certainty that it did not occur.
This
is why the later Legal Jurists differed over whether articulating the
intention was something recommended alongside the intention in the
heart. A group of the followers of Abu Haneefah, ash-Shaafi'ee and
Ahmad considered it to be recommended while another group of the
followers of Maalik, Ahmad and others did not consider it to be
recommended, this being textually reported by Ahmad and others. Rather
this latter group considered it to be a despicable innovation saying
that had it been recommended then the Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu
alaihi wa sallam) would have done it or at least ordered it for he
(Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) explained everything that would cause one
to draw close to Allaah, especially the prayer whose manner of
performance is to be taken only from him. It is established from him in
the Saheeh that he said, "pray as you have seen me praying."
Therefore this group said that adding this articulation to the prayer
is of the same level as adding new actions of worship (to the Religion)
such as the one who adds the adhaan and iqaamah to the Eed prayers or
the one who adds two rak'ahs of prayer on Marwah while performing the
circuit between Safah and Marwah.
Furthermore
they said that articulating the intention is also wrong according to
the intellect for the saying of someone 'I intend to do so and so' is
of the same level as him saying 'I intend to eat this food so that I
may satisfy my appetite' or 'I intend to wear these clothes so that I
may cover myself' and other such intentions which are already present
in the heart and therefore repugnant to articulate. Allaah said,
A group of the Salaf said concerning the saying of Allaah, "we feed you seeking only the Face of Allaah" [76:9] - 'they did not say this upon their tongues rather Allaah knew this from their hearts and informed us of this.'
In summary: there is no difference over the necessity of having the
intention in the heart, as for articulating the intention then there is
a difference amongst the later scholars whether it is detestable or
recommended. As for articulating it loudly then this is detestable,
forbidden and not legislated by agreement of the Muslims, the same goes
for repeating the articulation in a louder voice.
This
is true for the one leading the prayer, the one following the imaam and
the one who is praying alone. It is not legislated for all of these to
articulate the intention loudly or repeat this articulation by
agreement of the Muslims rather they forbid this, rather it is not
allowed even for the one who is praying alone to recite loudly in the
case that this harms someone else. The Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu
alaihi wa sallam) went to his Companions while they were praying and
said, "all of you are intimately conversing with his Lord so do not
recite over each other." As for the one who is following an imaam then
the Sunnah is for him to recite silently by agreement of the Muslims,
but if he were to, on some occasions, say a part of the dhikr loudly
then there is no problem in this, for example if the imaam were to
sometimes say a verse loudly in a prayer which is to be read silently.
It is established in the Saheeh from Abu Qataadah that he (Sallalaahu
alaihi wa sallam) would sometimes let them hear a verse in the Dhuhr
and Asr prayers.
And it is
established in the Saheeh that from the Companions who were following
him (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) in prayer were some who would say the
opening supplication loudly and say the supplication when rising from
ruku' loudly and the Prophet (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) did not
object to any of this.
The one who
persists in performing a bid'ah and considering it to be good then it
is desirable to punish him in such a way that would deter him and those
like him from such things. Whosoever attributes something false to the
Messenger of Allaah (Sallalaahu alaihi wa sallam) has erred and if he
knows and does not repent then he is to be punished. It is not lawful
for anyone to speak about the religion without knowledge or to
introduce into the religion something that is not part of it.
As
for the saying, 'everyone can do in his religion what he desires' then
this is a serious statement that is obligatory to repent from and if it
is not then its proponent should be punished, rather persisting upon
the likes if this statement necessitates killing. It is not upon anyone
to do anything in the religion except for that which has been
legislated by Allaah and His Messenger and not to do anything based on
his whims and desires. Allaah says,