Answered by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed
Translated by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
What is the opinion of the early scholars about having one call to prayer for all of the mosques such that the call to prayer is performed in one place and is broadcasted through the radio? Something similar occurs in Cairo and Istanbul.
The issue of having one call to prayer is a contemporary issue that is practically undiscussed by the early scholars because of a lack of medium [in that time] through which to broadcast one call to prayer. However, it is still possible to extract the ruling for this through the criteria found in the chapter of the call to prayer.
The call to prayer is a communal sunna according to the relied-upon position of the school of Imam al-Shafi’I, may Allah be pleased with him and have mercy on him. There is a weak position that says it is a communal obligation so that if the people of the city leave it then the ruler shoud force them to perform it even if by force. But according to the former, relied-upon position, they need not be forced to perform it.
The scholars say that the sunna of the call to prayer is only accomplished if it becomes apparent in the town such that everyone can hear it if they pay attention to it. It is therefore sufficient in a small town to call it from one place, and in a big town to call it from enough places such that the rites are manifest. If one person in a big town calls it from one side of town, the sunna is achieved only for that side of town and not the rest.
Our imams have also laid down conditions for the one who performs the call to prayer. One of these is that the one performing the call to prayer must be able to discern what’s happening around him.
Based on all of the above, one can conclude that if there is a single call to prayer for the whole city and it is broadcasted live such that a person actually performs the call to prayer for each prayer, and when he calls it, it is transmitted through a radio or the like in every locality so that everyone can hear it, then the sunna of calling to the prayer is fulfilled at the minimum level. This is because the main goal, namely informing people that the time of the prayer has entered, has been accomplished.
However, if the call to prayer that is broadcasted from the mosques is recorded and not live, then this does not count as a call to prayer. This is because a call to prayer that comes forth from a tape recorder is, in the literal sense of the word, attributed to the tape recorder, not the one whose voice is being played, and the tape recorder does not have the ability to discern [which is one of the conditions for the one performing the call to prayer].
Even though the sunna of calling to prayer is fulfilled at the minimum level by a single unified live call to prayer, it seems that it is better for each mosque to have its own muezzin who calls to prayer at the beginning of the prayer time so that many people can attain the merit of performing the call to prayer. In such a case, the muezzins should be careful to begin calling to prayer at the first the prayer time to avoid confusing people regarding the entrance of the time, which is the reason used to support the position that there should only be a single call to prayer.
يظهرُ أن الأولى أن يكون لكل مسجدٍ مؤذنٌ يرفعُ الأذانَ أولَ وقت الصلاة ليحوز الناسُ فضيلةَ التأذين، وينبغي للمؤذِّنين حينئذٍ مراعاةُ أول الوقت ليقع أذانهم في وقتٍ واحدٍ حذراً من اختلافِهم والتشويشِ على الناس في وقت الصلاة، الذي هو علةُ القائلين بتوحيد الأذان.