"And in the same way We made you a moderate Ummah (community), so that you should be witnesses over the people, and the Messenger a witness to you. And We did not appoint the Qiblah which you used to observe except to know him who follows the Messenger as distinct from him who turns on his heels. And, it was burdensome indeed, but not on those whom Allah guided. And Allah is not to let your faith go waste. Certainly Allah is very kind, very merciful to the people." (2:143)

[The earlier verse has dealt with the subject of the Qiblah or the orientation for Salah and has indicated that the "Straight Path" is identical with a willing acceptance of the divinely ordained injunctions of the Shari'ah. Since the Islamic Ummah has accepted these injunctions without the least hesitation, the present verse says, by way of parenthesis, a few words of praise for it, bringing out the superiority of the Islamic Ummah over other Traditional communities. (Bayan al-Qur'an)]

The verse qualifies the Islamic nation (Ummah) with the objective Wasat which signifies "moderate, middle or central", and is usually applied to a thing considered to be the best of its kind. According to a hadith reported by al-Tirmidhi from the blessed Companion Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, the word Wasat is to be interpreted as "just" - in the sense of being "the best" (Qurtubi). The verse points out that just as Allah has granted to the Muslims a Qiblah which is superior to all other orientations, in the same way He has bestowed upon the Islamic Ummah the unparalleled distinction of being moderate, balanced and just - in short, the honour of occupying the central position among all the Ummahs or Traditional communities.

This distinction will manifest itself in its full resplendence on the Day of Judgment. Those among the earlier Ummahs who had been denying their prophets would, on that day, pretend that they had never received a book from Allah nor had any prophet given them any kind of guidance. The Islamic Ummah would, then, be called upon to bear witness, and it would, testify that prophets had been coming from Allah in every age, and providing guidance to each and every people. The earlier Ummahs would raise the objection that since the Islamic Ummah did not exist at that time and could not possibly know what had been happening before it came into being, its testimony against the earlier peoples could not be valid. In reply to this, the Islamic Ummah would maintain that even if- it was not an eyewitness to the events of the past, yet it had received an authentic report from the most reliable source of information that can possibly be - that is, from the Last Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and from the Last Book of Allah. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him himself would be called in as a witness, and he would confirm the testimony of his Ummah. (For details, see the various Ahadlth reported in the collections of al-Bukhari, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Imam Ahmad).

The Most Moderate of All People

According to the present verse, the characteristic quality which confers a superiority on the Islamic Ummah over others is its being Wasat - (a word which has been variously translated into English as "midmost, moderate, just, intermediary, middle, central or justly balanced.") In order to explain the implications of the word Wasat, commentators have usually made use of another Arabic adjective Mu'tadil (signifying "moderate or temperate") and the noun I'tidal which means "being equal"; both the words come from the root 'Adl which signifies "to be equal, or to make equal."

[So, the purpose of the present discussion we shall choose the English word "moderation" in order to explain certain essential features of the Islamic Ummah.]

In this regard one would like to know why the superiority of a human group or individual should be made to depend on the quality of moderation. Let us begin this discussion with a quite tangible fact. All the medical systems, old or new, are unanimous in accepting the principle that the health of the human body depends on the temperateness of the different elements of which it is composed, and that illness or disease comes from a disturbance of this equilibrium. According to the ancient Greek medicine, which was further developed by the Muslims, these elements or "humours" are four in number - blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile -, and the humours produce four physical states in the body - heat, cold, wetness and dryness.

As long as the four states are properly balanced against one another, the human body enjoys good health; but as soon as there is an immoderate increase or decrease in any one of them, the body becomes diseased, and if the balance is not properly restored in time, it may succumb to the forces of death. Similarly, in the ethical and spiritual sphere too health depends on temperateness and inner equilibrium, and illness arises out of intemperance and disequilibrium, which, if allowed to grow, results in spiritual death. At the same time, anyone who has eyes to see would readily discover for himself that the essence of manhood which places man at the head of all created beings, does not lie in the physical states of his body - that he, in fact, shares with all the animals - but in something higher and subtler: namely, spiritual perfection. As the great Sufi poet Rumi has said: "Manhood does not reside in the flesh, or in the fat or in the skin; manhood is nothing else than seeking to please the Friend." As to those who ignore this essential attribute of man and allow it to be destroyed in themselves, Rumi says: "These people you see all around are non-human; they are not men, but only wear the masks of man."

The Universal Man

This being so, we are naturally led to the conclusion that he alone can deserve the title of Al-Insan al-Kamil ("the Universal Man") who has attained ethical and spiritual equilibrium along with physical equilibrium. This quality has specially been granted to all the prophets (A.S), and, in its most perfect form, to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him who is thus "the Universal Man" par excellence. As for humanity in general, Allah has, on the other hand, created a stable and complex system of medicines, instruments and physicians for the physical well-being of man; similarly, He has, on the other hand, sent His prophets who bring divine guidance for man, and who are provided with a certain amount of requisite physical force too, so that they may pi'omulgate this law of equilibrium and moderation in the world. The Holy Quran defines the purpose of sending prophets and messengers of Allah to men, and of giving them Divine Books:

"Indeed, We have sent Our messengers with the clear signs, and We have sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that men might uphold justice. And We have sent down iron in which there is great might, and many uses for men." (57:25)

Let us add by way of explanation that "the Book" is meant for producing inner equilibrium and temperateness in men, and "the Balance" for producing equilibrium in their social conduct and economic transactions - the "Balance" may also stand for the Shari'ah of every prophet which helps us to define what "equilibrium" really is in its various applications in the different spheres of human life, and which serves to establish justice in the world.

Now, let us recall that the verse under discussion characterizes the Islamic Ummah with the word Wasat ("moderate, middle, central"). Our discussion must have made it clear that this simple word comphrehends all the qualities which it is possible for an individual or a community of men to possess in this world.

Through such a characterization of the Islamic Ummah, the Holy Qur'an has thus indicated that this Ummah possesses the essential quality of manhood to a degree of perfection that no other Ummah does, and that it is superior to all others in serving the purpose for which the whole cosmic order has been created, and for which all the prophets and divine books have been sent.

The Universal Community

Certain other verses of the Holy Qur'an define this essential quality of the Islamic Ummah in more specific terms. For example: "Among those We have created there is an Ummah which guides by the truth, and by it dispenses justice." (7:181) That is to say, the Islamic Ummah displays its spiritual equilibrium in giving up the pursuit of individual desires and interests in order to follow divine guidance and try to make others too do the same, and in settling all kinds of disputes in the light of divine law without being influenced by the vested interests of a person or a group. Another verse is still more specific:

"You are the best Ummah that has been brought forth for men, bidding to good deeds and forbidding evil deeds and believing in Allah." (3:110)

It is the best Ummah, for it has been granted a unique Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him who taught us to respect all other prophets, and a Book which is the most comprehensive and the most perfect of all the Divine Books, and has in itself been endowed with the quality of temperateness, moderation and equilibrium to a degree as no other Ummah does enjoy; it has been destined to be the recipient of the most subtle modes of knowledge, to outshine others in all the forms of faith and practice, and, above all, in the fear of Allah - its field of action not limited to any one country or race but extending all over the world, and infusing all the spheres of human existence.

The phrase: "raised for mankind." (3:110) indicates that the very purpose for which it has been brought into being is to work for the good of men, and to help them find the way to salvation and to Paradise, its function and, so to say, its very insignia as an Ummah being to guide people towards good deeds and to dissuade them from evil deeds. This role of the Islamic Ummah has been formulated very succinctly in a hadith: : "Religion consists in having the good of others at heart" - particularly of other Muslims. Let us add that the good deeds towards which this Ummah is meant to guide others are those which have been defined as such by the Shari'ah, while the evil deeds from which it is to dissuade them include infidelity (Kufr), association (Shirk), innovations in religion (Bid'ah), sins of different kinds, illegitimate customs, transgression of divine commandments, immoral or indecent actions, etc.

As to dissuading people from evil deeds, this too may take various forms - it may require the use sometimes of the tongue, sometimes of the hand, sometimes of the pen and sometimes of the sword - in fact, it would include all the forms of Jihad. As far as the extensive and intensive display of this particular quality is concerned, no other Ummah can compare with the Islamic Ummah.

Moderateness: A Comparative View

Let us now consider how far the temperateness or the moderation of this Ummah is borne out by actual facts. Since it is not possible here to make a detailed comparative study of the respective beliefs and practices of all the Ummahs, we shall give only a few examples which would, we hope, satisfactorily establish the superiority of this Ummah over others.

First of all, let us take up the doctrinal aspect. In the case of the earlier Ummahs one would observe that on the one hand they took their prophets to be the sons of Allah and started worshipping them: "The Jews said, 'Ezra is the son of Allah', and the Christians said, 'Christ is the son of Allah'." (9:30) -, and that on the other hand some people from among them, in spite of having recognized and acknowledged their prophet on the basis of his oft-repeated miracles, refused to obey him when he asked them to take part in a holy war, and bluntly said: "Go forth, you and your Lord, and fight; we will be sitting here." (5:24) We sometimes see even the spectacle of prophets being tortured by their own followers.

On the contrary, we have the Islamic Ummah which has such a deep love for the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him that Muslims have, in every period of their history, taken it to be the greatest blessing to be able to sacrifice their own lives and even the lives of their wives and children at his call, and yet it has never exceeded the limit, and has placed the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him only in the station of a prophet and not in the station of Allah. In spite of knowing him to be the most perfect of all the prophets, it has been calling him Abdullah wa rasuluh : "the servant of Allah, and His messenger." The doctrinal position with regard to him, as defined in the famous Arabic poem "Qasidah al-Burdah", is that, short of attributing "the sonhood of Allah" to him (which the Christians do in the case of Christ, and which constitutes an act of infidelity), anything that one says in his praise would be correct; or, in the words of a Persian poet, addressing the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him: "In short, after God, you are the greatest."

When we turn from the doctrinal aspect to a consideration of the actual attitudes and practices in the matter of worship and rites, we again find similar excesses and aberrations on the part of earlier Ummahs. On the'one hand, we see their religious scholars misinterpreting or changing the injunctions of their Shari'ah and even distorting the Sacred Books for a few pieces of silver, and inventing all kinds of ruses to get rid of divinely ordained rites; on the other hand, we find people giving up the world altogether, imprisoning themselves in monastic cells, refusing to accept their share in the blessings of the physical world which Allah has not only granted to man but the enjoyment of which also He has permitted, and, in short, believing that imposing hardships on oneself carries the highest merit and is in itself an act of worship par excellence. The history of Islamic Ummah, on the contrary, presents a totally different picture.

On the one hand, it has never adopted monasticism as the supreme form of religious life - in fact, Islam forbids such an attitude. On the other hand, through its readiness to sacrifice property and life, even children and all for the sake of the commandments of Allah and His Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, the Ummah established its sway even politically over a considerable area of the world. It has demonstrated in its practice as no other Ummah has that religion is meant to be put into action in the market-places and the halls of power as much as in the mosques and the contemplative retreats. It is the Islamic Ummah which has shown the world how the poor in spirit can move about in the robes of kings, and the kings in spirit conceal themselves in the garb of beggars - all because the king as well as the beggar knows that the greatest dignity lies in being the servant of Allah.

In the sphere of human and social relations too, the earlier Ummahs have in their behaviour been guilty of excess in one way or another. On the one hand, we see an indifference to human rights and particularly an utter disregard of the rights of women, and, in general, a pursuit of individual interests and desires irrespective of the question of right and wrong. On the other hand, we have the display of an exaggerated sentimentality which forbids the eating of animal flesh. in spite of Allah having made it lawful, and which frowns upon the killing of an insect even accidentally. It was the Islamic Ummah and its Shari'ah which established an equilibrium and a just order in the field of human relations.

On the other hand, it set down a clear code of human rights, extended them to women as well, and prescribed that not only in times of peace but on the battle-field itself the enemies too must enjoy certain inalienable rights. On the other hand, it clearly demarcated every right and every duty, and put down every act of falling back from the prescribed mark or exceeding it as a crime. The Islamic Shari'ah also taught that one should try to fulfil all of one's obligations towards others, but if one saw one's own rights suffer, one should exercise patience and forgiveness.

In the economic sphere too, the other Ummahs have been a prey to excesses of different kinds. For example, in our own age we have, on the one hand, the Capitalist system which pays no heed to the distinction between the lawful and the unlawful, and is totally blind to the welfare of the people, but exalts the amassing of wealth as the highest virtue; on the other hand are certain economic systems which have no respect for personal property. In actual fact, the essence of these two hostile systems is the same - the pursuit of worldly things as the be-all and the end-all of human life. Contrary to this, the Islamic Shari'ah brings the conflicting elements into an equilibrium, giving to each its proper place.

On the one hand, it does not allow the amassing of wealth to be made the ultimate end of man's effort, nor does it make human dignity depend on the considerations of money or rank or office. On the other hand, it promulgates certain principles for the distribution of wealth in a balanced manner so that no member of a society should be deprived of the basic necessities of life, nor should an individual or a group appropriate all the available wealth. The things which can be shared in common by all the members of a society have been entrusted to public or joint control, while in certain specific things the right to private property has been fully respected. It made a clear-cut distinction between lawful (Halal) possessions and unlawful (Haram) possessions, insisting on the spiritual merit of lawful possessions and laying down the rules for making use of them.

Injunctions and Related Considerations

(1) According to the present verse, Allah has made the Islamic Ummah an equitable and just, and hence a trustworthy community,"so that" it may be qualified to bear witness. From this we infer the legal principle that one who is not 'Adil (trustworthy - as defined by the Shari'ah) cannot be acceptable as a witness in a court of law.

(2) According to al-Qurtubi, this verse establishes Ijma', or the consensus of the Islamic Ummah, as one of the four deciding agencies in the matter of legislation. For, the very fact that Allah Himself has accepted this Ummah as a trustworthy witness as against the other traditional communities, shows that the consensus of this Ummah is a deciding factor in legislative matters, and that it is necessary (Wajib) to act upon it. Thus, the consensus of the blessed Companions has to be accepted by their successors, and that of the latter by the next generation.

According to Al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, this verse establishes the principle that the deeds and actions of this Ummah which have been approved by a consensus are all of them commendable, for, if one were to admit the possibility of a consensus on an error, the Ummah cannot be characterized as being moderate and just.
Imam al-Jassas adds that the dependability of the consensus is not particular to the time of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, or of the blessed Companions, but that the consensus of the Muslims in any age whatsoever is equally trustworthy, for this verse is addressed to the whole Ummah which includes not only the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him but also the succeeding generations of Muslims upto the Day of Judgment. Thus, the Muslims living in any age whatsoever qualify as the witnesses of Allah whose agreement on a certain point becomes a deciding factor in matters of legislation, and who cannot arrive at a consensus on anything which should constitute an error or a deviation.

[Let us not, however, forget that consensus or Ijma' in this context does not at all imply a sort of referendum on the basis of adult franchise, but means the agreement of a majority of such scholars as fulfil the necessary conditions for pronouncing a judgment in the matters of the Shari'ah - that is to say, tliose who possess the authority to exercise Ijtihad. It goes without saying that once a consensus of this kind has been arrived at in any matter, the majority of the Ummah accepts it, and holds by it.]

The History of the Qiblah

There is some difference of opinion among the blessed Companions and their Successors as to whether it was the Baytullah at Makkah or the "Baytul-Maqdis" at Jerusalem which was appointed as the Qiblah, when the five daily prayers were made obligatory in Makkah al-Mukarramah before the Hijrah (the migration of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, from Makkah to Madinah). According to the blessed Companion 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, the first Qiblah was the Baytul-Maqdis, and continued to be so even after the Hijrah for some sixteen or seventeen months, and it was only then that Allah commanded that the Baytullah be taken as the Qiblah.

However, the practice of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him at Makkah was that he used to offer his prayers between al-Hajar al-Aswad ("the Black Stone") and al-Rukn al-Yamaniyy ("the corner facing Yemen") so that his face should be turned towards the Baytullah and the Baytul-Maqdis both at the same time. But this was no longer possible when he migrated to Madinah, and hence his keen desire that the Baytullah be appointed as the new Qiblah. (ibn Kathir) But other Companions (R.A) are of the view that when the five daily prayers were made obligatory at Makkah, it was the Baytullah which served as the Qiblah for the Muslims as it had for Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna Isma'il (A.S). As long as the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him stayed at Makkah, he continued to observe this Qiblah. But after the Hijrah, Allah ordained a change in the orientation, and the Baytul-Maqdis was appointed as the Qiblah, which it continued to be for sixteen or seventeen months.

Then came a new commandment, and the Baytullah was restored as the Qiblah. Al-Qurtubi, relying on the authority of Abu 'Amr, prefers the second view to the first. The raison d'etre of these changes of orientation has been explained like this. When the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, came to Madinah, he had to deal with the Jews, and in order to familiarize them with Islam he adopted their Qiblah under divine commendment. But, by and by it became evident that a stubborn peo'ple like the Jews would not easily give up their hostility to Islam.

So, Allah allowed him to go back to the original Qiblah, which, being the Qiblah of his forefathers, Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna Isma'il (A.S), was naturally dearer to him. In fact, the mosque of Sayyidna Salih (A.S) was oriented towards the Baytullah, as is shown by an incident reported by al-Qurtubi from Abu al-'Aliyah al-Riyahi. The latter once had a debate with a Jew concerning the orientation adopted by Sayyidna Musa (Moses (A.S)). The Jew insisted that the great prophet turned in his prayers towards the Sakhrah, The Dome of the Rock in the Sacred Mosque at Jerusalem, while Abu al-'Aliyah maintained that he stood near the Sakhrah, but his face was turned towards the Baytullah. Finally, the latter suggested that the dispute could be decided by having a look at the mosque of Sayyidna Salih (A.S) situated on a hill below the Baytul-Maqdis. And, on visiting the mosque, they found that it was oriented towards the Baytullah.

Now, according to those who prefer the first of the two views, the raison d'etre was that it was necessary at Makkah to differentiate the Muslims from the idol-worshippers and to emphasize the distinction between the two, and hence the Baytul-Maqdis was appointed as the Qiblah of the Muslims instead of the Baytullah which was at that time the Qiblah of the mushrikin. Then, after the Hijrah, there arose a new need at Madinah - that of highlighting the distinction between the Muslims and the Jews. So, the Qiblah of the Jews was given up, and the Baytullah was adopted as the Qiblah of the Muslims.

On account of the difference between these two views, the phrase "the Qiblah which you used to observe" has also been interpreted in two ways. On the basis of the first view, "the Qiblah" referred to in the present verse can only be the Baytul-Maqdis which was the first and earlier Qiblah; on the basis of the second, it can also be the Ka'bah which was the earliest and the first Qiblah. Anyhow, the real import of the verse remains the same in either case - the commandment with regard to the change in orientation is a test of the faith of those who claim to be the followers of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, which would openly demonstrate the distinction between those who are genuinely obedient to Allah and His Messenger Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, and those who follow their individual opinion. History records that after this verse had been revealed, those who were weak in their faith, or were just hypocrites, forsook Islam, and even accused the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, of having gone back to the ways of his own people - that is, of the mushrikeen.

Injunctions and Related Considerations

(1) The present verse shows that sometimes an injunction based on the Sunnah, or the Tradition of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him is abrogated by the Holy Qur'an. As Imam al-Jassas points out in his "Ahkam al-Qur'an", the Noble Qur'an does not specify that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was ever commanded, before the Hijrah or after, to turn in his prayers towards the Baytul-Maqdis: we find the relevant evidence only in the Hadith and the Sunnah. It comes to mean that a practice which had been established by the Sunnah was abrogated by this verse of the Holy Qur'an, appointing the Baytullah as the Qiblah.

(2) This verse also goes to show that the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah too, in a certain respect, cannot be delinked from the Holy Qur'an, and that the Holy Qur'an recognizes the legitimacy of those injunctions which find no mention in the Holy Qur'an but have been instituted by the Hadith alone. For, the present verse clearly states at the end that prayers which had been offered, taking the Baytul-Maqdis as the Qiblah, as commanded by the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, are altogether valid and acceptable to Allah.

(3) This verse helps us to resolve a delicate problem in Islamic jurisprudence pertaining to the "Khobar al-Wahid" (which is a Hadith reported by one or two persons only). The question which arises in this respect is whether an injunction laid down in the Holy Qur'an, or definitely authenticated otherwise, can be abrogated by such a hadith. The Hanafi school of jurisprudence holds that it cannot, while the reports concerning this verse suggest that it can do so, if strong indications are present to establish the authenticity of such a hadith. For, al-Bukhari, Muslim and nearly all the authentic collections of the Ahadith report the following circumstances from several Companions (R.A). When the divine commandment changing the Qiblah came down, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him offered his prayers at the time of Asr (or, according to other reports cited by Ibn Kathir, at the time of zuhr) facing the Baytullah. Some Companions, departing from the mosque, happened to pass by the mosque of the Bani Salamah tribe, and found these people offering their prayers in the direction of the Baytul-Maqdis.

So, they called out to inform them that the Qiblah had now been changed, and that they had just offered their prayers along with the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him; in the direction of the Baytullah. On hearing this, those people at once changed their orientation to Baytullah even in the course of the prayers. Nuwaylah Bint Muslim relates that women who were in the back row came forward, so that when the orientation had been changed, men were again in the front row and women in the back row. (ibn Kathir) Thus the Banu Salmah tribe adopted the new Qiblah the very same day. But the news reached Quba the next day in the course of the Fajr prayers - as reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim from the blessed Companion Ibn 'Umar -, and the people of Quba too turned towards the Baytullah in the course of the prayers. (Ibn Kathir and Jassas)

After citing these reports, Imam al-Jassas concludes.

"Although this hadith is essentially a solitary report, (that is, Al-Khabar al-Wahid), yet, having been generally accepted and also being supported by strong indication with regard to its authenticity, it has acquired the status of a hadith that has been related by a number of trustworthy reporters in an uninterrupted succession -- a fact which always leads to certitude."

The Hanafi jurists agree with this conclusion. They must, however, face another question. This hadith acquired general acceptance only much later, while the news of the change in the orientation must have been conveyed to the Banu Salamah tribe and this hadith immediately without its being widely known? Al-Jassas replies that not only these people but all the Companions already knew that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him wished the Baytullah to be appointed as the Qiblah and had even been praying for it, and had begun to consider it quite probable that the injunction to retain Baytul-Maqdis as the Qiblah may not remain operative in the future. In other words, the probability of a change had made the continuation of the Baytul-Maqdis as the Qiblah a bit uncertain, and not definite. In view of this element of uncertainty, the Khobar al-Wahid was considered to be quite sufficient for abrogating the earlier commandment. Otherwise, a Khabar al-Wahid cannot justifiably abrogate a definite and final injunction laid down by the Holy Qur'an.

(4) The present verse helps to resolve an important problem which has been the subject of a controversy: if the 'Imam uses a microphone in leading Salah, would it be legitimate for the congregation to obey his call in their movements? If they can hear no more than the sound coming out of the loud-speaker, would it not invalidate their prayers?

As we have already noted, Al-Bukhari reports a hadith from the blessed Companion 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, relating how the people of Quba turned towards the Baytullah even in the course of their prayers as soon as they heard the commandment about the change in orientation. Commenting on this incident, the great Hanafi scholar al-'Ayni says: : "This hadith establishes the rule that a man who is not offering his prayers may teach or instruct the man who is engaged in his prayers." In another place, al-'Ayni also adds that from this hadith, al-Tahtawi has derived the rule that if a man engaged in his prayers hears the words spoken by one who is not so engaged, it does not invalidate his prayers ('Umdah al-Qarf).

Of course, the Hanafi jurists in general hold that if a man engaged in his prayers obeys the call of another man who is not participating in these prayers, it invalidates his prayers. What they, however, mean is that obeying someone other than Allah in the course of Salah invalidates it, but if one is actually obeying a divine commandment and the other man is acting only as a means of communicating this injunction to him, it does not invalidate the prayers at all. An example would make the point clear. If a man, joining the congregational prayers, finds that there is no room left in the first row, and that he would be the only one to stand in the second, he should, according to the jurists, pull someone back from the first row and make him join the second row along with himself. Now, on the face of it, the man who allows himself to be pulled back is obeying someone other than Allah in the course of the prayers, and this should invalidate his prayers. But, in fact, it is not so.

The most authoritative book of Hanafi jurisprudence, "Al-Durr al-Mukhtar", lays down the rule that the prayers of this man are perfectly valid. As to why his prayers would not be invalidated, Al-Tahtawi explains that this man has not actually been obeying the new-comer, but following a divine commandment conveyed to him by the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. Let us add that there are two different ways in which a man engaged in his prayers may obey the call of another man who is not participating with him in these prayers, (a) He may wish to please this man and to obey him. In such a case, the prayers would become invalid, (b) He obeys a commandment of the Shari'ah, conveyed to him by the other man. In this case, he is essentially obeying a divine commandment, and hence his prayers would not become invalid. (Tahtawi)

This discussion should make it easy to resolve the problem about the use of a microphone by an 'Imam in leading the congregational prayers. Technical experts hold that the sound coming out of a loudspeaker is exactly the sound produced by the 'Imam. If it is so, there is no question of the prayers being invalid. But if we suppose that the sound transmitted by a microphone is not exactly the sound produced by the 'Imam, but only an imitation of the sound, or a report of what he has been saying, even then it would be improper to suspect that the people offering their prayers have been obeying the command of the microphone. For, it is obvious enough that they have been obeying the commandment of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him to follow the movements of the 'Imam - the microphone does no more than inform them that the 'Imam has, for example, bowed himself down or prostrated himself, and in accepting this information and following his movements, they obey the 'Imam and not the instrument. And it is, of course, a divine commandment which requires us to obey the 'Imam in the congregational prayers.

(5) There is a phrase in the present verse which requires some explanation: "And Allah is not to let your faith go waste." If we take 'Iman (faith) in its usual sense, the phrase would be interpreted like this. When the Qiblah was changed, some stupid people thought that the Muslims had forsaken Islam, and that their 'Imam had now become null and void. The verse assures the Muslims that Allah would not allow their 'Imam to go waste, and asks them not to fall prey to such senseless conjectures.

On the other, on the basis of certain Ahadith, some early commentators have interpreted the word 'Imam in the verse to mean the Salah. According to this interpretation, Allah assures the Muslims that the commandment changing the Qiblah would in no way affect the validity of the prayers they have been offering so far in the direction of the Baytul-Maqdis - Allah would not allow these prayers to go waste, for they are valid, and have already been accepted.

Al-Bukhari has reported from the Companion al-Bara' ibn Azib, and al-Tirmidhi from the Companion Ibn 'Abbas Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him that when the Baytullah was appointed as the Qiblah, people became worried about the fate of those Muslims who had been praying in the direction of the Baytul-Maqdis, but had died before having the opportunity to pray in the direction of the Baytullah. (Ma'ariful Qur'an, Volume 1)

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 20th May 2011

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