Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

AssalaamAleikum,

I WOULD LIKE YOUR OPION ON A MATTER REGARDING AN ISSUE IN MY NEIGHBOUR HOOD.

There is this very pious man in my neighorhood, he is a God fearing person and abides by all the rules set in Islam. However, every morning right before the Fajr azaan, he comes out of his house and starts calling out to all the sleeping neighbours that its time to pray wake up! He continous this yelling right till the Azaan starts. I would like to know that is it wrong if I go and tell him that he should stop doing this as he disturbing everyone, or is it wrong to stop him as he is calling out to the muslims that its time to pray and not sleep? I would like your opinion based on Sharee ruling.

Thankyou and JazakAllah.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Waking other for Fajr

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

One of the beauties and the wisdoms behind the declaration of the adhaan made by the caller from the mosques is to announce to the believers that the time of prayer is due. For someone else to get around the neighborhood and wake people before the adhaan is not at all necessary; and if there are non-muslims or children in the neighborhood it could be a cause for severe disturbance and fitnah. It may be that the person is doing it with good intentions, without realizing that his actions might be disturbing his neighbors.

Instead of an individual talking to him to stop his practice of waking everyone before the ‘fajr’ adhaan, it would be best if the man’s action were brought to the notice of the masjid’s ‘imaam’ or some elderly or wise man in the community; who would then tackle the issue with patience and wisdom by talking to the person in private to stop his rounds.

If the man has been asked by some specific neighbors to wake them up before fajr, the man should knock on their specific houses to wake them up; that would be the best course of action for him. But to wake up the whole neighborhood, unless they have specifically requested it, is something which would cause unnecessary disturbance and annoyance to some of its residents who might not be eligible for prayer.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan