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:

assalamo alaikum

dear sirs

could you pls. explain the difference between the azaan of shias and sunna. why there is a difference? is their salah also different from us? can one go to shias mosque to pray?

thanks

a sister in islam

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Answer:

Difference in Adhaan of Shia & Sunni

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.

Your Question: could you pls. explain the difference between the azaan of shias and sunna.

For anything that forms part of the deen, as believers we must first and foremost turn for guidance to the Quran and the Sunnah to determine is Truth. Thus firstly, to determine how did the Adhaan originate and how was it brought into practice by the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 1.96

The Adhaan or call to prayer was made part of the Shari'ah by the Messenger of Allah (saws) during the first year after the migration to Madinah.

Reported 'Abdullah ibn (Zaid ibn) 'Abd Rabbih, "When the Prophet (saws) was suggested to order the use of a bell to call the people to prayer, he (saws) disliked it because it resembled the Christian practice. While I was sleeping, a man came to me carraying a bell. I said to him, 'O slave of Allah, will you sell me that bell?' Said he, 'What would you do with it?' I replied, 'I would call the people to prayer with it.' Said he, 'Shall I not guide you to something better than that?' I said, 'Certainly.' Said he, 'You should say

“Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar.

Ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah, Ashhadu alla ilaha illallah,

Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasool-lal-lah, Ashhadu anna Muhammadar-Rasool-lal-lah.

Hayya 'alas-salah, Hayyah 'alassalah.

Hayya 'alal-falah, Hayya 'alal-falah.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.

La ilaha illal-lah.”

When the morning came, I went to the Messenger of Allah (saws) to tell him what I had seen. He said, 'Your dream is true, Allah willing. Go to Bilal, tell him what you have seen, and tell him to make the call to prayer, for he has the best voice among you.' I went to Bilal and told him what to do, and he made the call to prayer. 'Umar was in his house when he heard it. He came out with his cloak, saying 'By the One who has raised you with the Truth, I saw similar to what he saw.' The Prophet (saws) said, 'To Allah is the praise."

Related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ibn Khuzaimah and at-Tirmidhi.

Your Question: could you pls. explain the difference between the azaan of shias and sunna.

Our Shia brethren declare the exact same 15 quoted phrases like the rest of the believers, but add the following 5 phrases in their adhaan, thus making their adhaan of 19 phrases.

“Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar.

Ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah, Ashhadu alla ilaha illallah,

Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasool-lal-lah, Ashhadu anna Muhammadar-Rasool-lal-lah.

Ashhadu anna Aliyan Wali-Ullah, Ashhadu anna Aliyan Wali Ullah. (Translation: ‘I bear witness that Ali (r.a.) is the ‘wali’ (friend) of Allah.’)

Hayya 'alas-salah, Hayyah 'alassalah.

Hayya 'alal-falah, Hayya 'alal-falah.

Hayya ala khairil amal, Hayya ala khairl amal. (Translation: ‘Come to the best of deeds.’)

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.

La ilaha illal-lah.”

Thus although the statements that our Shia brethren have added in their adhaan are factual in their essence, that the Noble Companion of the Messenger of Allah (saws), Hadrat Ali ibn Abi Taalib (r.a.) is a friend of Allah, and that Prayer is the best of deeds, the truth is that (and even the learned scholars from amongst our Shia brethren will admit to this!) that these phrases were not included in the ‘adhaan’ during the time of the Prophet (saws) or even during the reign of Hadrat Ali (r.a.) when he was the Khalifah, but that these four phrases were added to the original declaration of the adhaan in later times.

Your Question: why there is a difference?

Beloved Sister, although the sequence of why the Muslim Ummah parted into the two major sects and who were the people responsible for the United Ummah to break into sects would require a volume of books to explain, I will try to give a short synopsis of why the difference arose between the believers.

During the time of the Prophet (saws), and even during the times of the first three Khalifahs, there was One United Muslim Ummah and absolutely no sects in Islam. During the reign of Hadrat Ali (r.a.) there arose political differences between Hadrat Ali (r.a.) and Hadrat Muawiyah (r.a.), but there were absolutely no religious differences or sects. As times and generations went by, the political differences increased between the various parties who wished to claim the leadership of the believers, and to differentiate one party from the other, some unscrupulous people unfortunately started to initiate religious and ritual differences….and that paved the way for the unfortunate break-up of the United Ummah of Islam into various sects and sub-sects which we see today!

This is not the first time in the history of mankind that people who believed fell into dispute amongst themselves after declaring belief in Allah and His Messengers. The Children of Israel did the same after the death of their Prophets, and it is indeed unfortunate that after being warned by our Lord in His Glorious Quran, the Muslim Ummah fell into the exact same trap of the Shaytaan and broke themselves into sects and sub-sects!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 45 Surah Jathiya verses 16-17:

16 We did aforetime grant to the Children of Israel the Book, the Power of Command, and Prophethood; We gave them for sustenance things good and pure; and We favored them above the nations.

17 And We granted them clear Signs in affairs (of religion): it was only after knowledge had been granted to them that they fell into schisms through insolent envy among themselves. Verily thy Lord will judge between them on the Day of Judgement as to those matters in which they set up differences.

Allah says in Chapter 30 Surah Rum aayat 31-32

"This (Islam) is the right and true faith, but most people do not know. (Be steadfast on this) turning wholly and sincerely towards Allah Alone, and fear Him, and establish the Salat, and do not be like the mushriks, who have set up their separate creeds and divided themselves into sects, each sect rejoicing in what it has."

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah Mu’minoon verse 52-55:

And you all belong to one and the same ummah, and I (Allah) am your Lord; so fear Me Alone! Yet afterwards the people divided themselves into different sects, and each sect rejoicing in what it has. Well, leave them deeply involved in their heedlessness up to an appointed time. What? Do they think that, by continuing to provide them with wealth and children, We are solicitous for their welfare? Nay, they do not understand the reality of the matter!

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 171 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Isra'il, so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication with his mother there will be among my Ummah one who will do that, and if the people of Isra'il were fragmented into seventy-two sects, my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects! All of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect. They (the Companions) said: ‘O Allah's Messenger (saws), which one is that?’ Whereupon he (saws) replied: ‘It is one to which I and my companions belong.’

Thus my beloved sister, the difference in the ‘adhaan’ is only a small by-product and result of a much bigger and deeper issue!

Your Question: is their salah also different from us?

Although all the obligatory acts of prayer as taught by the Messenger of Allah (saws) are almost identical between the two major sects, unfortunately there are several small differences which have been innovated in the prayers too!

Your Question: can one go to shias mosque to pray?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77-78:

O you who have believed, do ‘rukooh’ (bow down) and do ‘sajdah’ (prostration), and worship your Lord Allah Alone, and do righteous deeds: it may be that you attain true success! Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as one should. He has chosen you for His service, and has not laid on you any hardship in your religion. Therefore, be steadfast in the religion of your father Abraham. Allah had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you (muslims) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 2.67

Allah the Exalted has conferred a special blessing upon the Muslim Ummah - that is, the whole earth has been declared a mosque for it. Therefore, when the time for prayer comes, a Muslim may pray wherever he may be. Abu Dharr asked the Prophet, "What was the first mosque on the earth?" He (saws) said: "The Masjid al-Haram [in Makkah]." Abu Dharr asked: "which is the next oldest mosque?" The Prophet (saws) said: "The al-Aqsa Mosque." Abu Dharr asked: "How much time was there between [the building of the two]." The Prophet (saws) replied: "Forty years." Then, he (saws) said: "Wherever you may be, at the time of salah, you may pray for it [the earth] is all a mosque." (Related by Bukhari and Muslim.)

It is indeed unfortunate that when Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds, has named us ‘muslims’, some amongst us prefer to be recognized by self-invented man-made names like Shias, Sunnis, Ismailis, Itna Asharis, Hanafis, Shafeis, etc.!!!

The Messenger of Allah (saws) guided the believers that Allah Subhanah has declared the whole earth as a ‘masjid’ for the believers; thus the believers may pray wherever they wish to pray.

In light of the above clear guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, if a believer offers his prayers in any place, provided he prays his prayers as prayed and taught by the Messenger of Allah (saws); it is expected that the Lord Most Gracious will accept their prayers.

My dear and beloved Sister in Islam, although we could have given simple and straight-forward answers to your innocent questions, it is our duty as your brothers and sincere well-wishers in faith to give you a factual report and unveil what now unfortunately seems as a huge gap between the several sects of the Muslim Ummah. Our role as sincere believers in Allah and the Last Day is not to increase this gap, but try to the best of our ability to bring all the sects who have declared belief in Allah and His Last Messenger (saws) together, and strive to serve and worship our Lord Most Gracious as commanded and guided by the Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan