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The Hanah opinion is that amin should be said inaudibly at all times
during the prayer. They uphold that it was said aloud by the Messenger
~ a few times, in order to familiarize the Companions with saying
amin after the Fatiha; after which he would say it silently just like all
other invocations and supplications of prayer. Others state that amin
should be said aloud in all the audible prayers (i.e. Fajr, Maghrib, and
'Isha) and silently in the silent prayers (i.e. Zuhr and 'Asr).
The following points detail how the imam and the follower
[muqtadiJ should say amin:
(a) All scholars agree that the imam should say amin silently during
the silent prayers. As for the audible prayers, Imam Malik and Imam
Abu Hanifa are of the opinion that amin should be said silently in
them, and another group of scholars says it should be said audibly.
(b) Imam Malik (according to al-Mudawwanat al-kubra) and Imam
Abu Hanifa are of the opinion that the follower should always say
amin silently in both the audible and silent prayers. This is also one
opinion of Imam Shafi'i. Another group is of the opinion that the
followers should say amin audibly during the audible prayers and
silently during the silent prayers.
As mentioned earlier, the difference of opinion is only concerning
which of the two is more virtuous. Technically speaking, saying amin
aloud or silently is regarded by all the scholars as being a sunna act of
the prayer and not a ford, or integral part of it.
Allah ~ uses the dual tense in this verse and says "da 'watukuma,"
meaning "the prayer of you both." Since only Musa ~~\\ is mentioned
to have made the du a' and not Hamn ~~\\, the use of this dual tense
has been explained as implying that Musa ~\ was making the du a'
while Hamn ~~\\ was endorsing it with amino Since amin is a du a;
Allah referred to them both as invoking Him and said He had accepted
the du as of both.
In the "Chapter on the Imam Proclaiming Amin Aloud" [Babu
jahr ai-imam bi 'I-tamin]' Imam Bukhari quotes the words of 'Ata ibn
Abi Rabah, ~min is a dua'" (Sahih al-Bukhari I:102). Hafiz Ibn Hajar
further clarifies this in his commentary, where he states:
The one saying am in is considered a da'i [or "invocant"J as mentioned in
the words of Allah, "Accepted is your prayer (0 Musa and Harun)!" Musa
~\ was making the du 'a' and Hamn ~ was saying amin, as related by
Ibn Mardawayh through the narration of Anas ~ (Fath al-Bari).
At another point, the Qur' an provides a glimpse of the Last Day when
the Trumpet will be blown. Allah ~ says,
"And all voices will be humbled for the Most Beneficent, and YOll shall
hear nothing but the low sound of their footsteps" (al-Quran 20:108).
It may have been misconceived from the above analysis that the
Hanahs seem to have based their view on mere reasoning and analogy.
Therefore, in this section, we will present authentic hadiths to, God-
willing, dispel such misunderstandings and to provide concrete proof
of the Hanah opinion being in total accordance with the Sunna.
I. In a narration of Samura ibn Jundub and 'Imran ibn Husayn *,
it is mentioned that
they had a conversation, [during which] Samura ~ related two occa-
sions when the Messenger $ would observe a short silence [saktal [in
prayer]-one following the initial takbir and the second when complet-
ing wala 'I-daffin. 'Imran ibn Husayn ~ could not acknowledge this, so
they wrote to Ubay ibn Ka'b ~. His reply stated that Samura ~ has
remembered [correctly] (Sunan Abi Dawud 1:120).
This hadith proves that the imam should say amin silently. The reason
for this is that the Messenger of Allah $ ordered the Companions to
say amin and informed them that the angels and the imam also say
it. If it had been more preferable for the imam to say it aloud, the
Messenger $ would have had no reason to inform the Companions of
the imam's saying amin, because they would have heard it themselves.
Since the Messenger $ informed them that the imam also said amin,
it means that amin was normally said in a subdued tone.
3. Shu'ba reports from 'Alqama ibn Wa'il, who narrates from his
father, Wa'il, that
he [Wa'il] performed prayer with the Messenger ~. When the Messenger
~reached "ghayr al-maghdubi 'alayhim wala 'I-dallin," he said amin and
kept his voice subdued (Musnad Ahmad, Daraqutni, al-Mustadrak U,
Nasb al-raya 1:494).
This hadith has been narrated from Wa'il ibn Hujr ~ by Sufyan al-
Thawri and Shu'ba. The two reports differ however in that Shu'ba,
whose narration is above, relates that the Messenger of Allah ~ said
amin silently; whereas Sufyan relates from Wa'il that the Messenger
~ prolonged his voice [madda biha sawtahu] while saying amino
Sufyan's report has been used as evidence by those who claim that
amin was said aloud by the Messenger~. They have criticized Shu'ba's
report in a number of ways and, in doing so, have attempted to show
Sufyan's report as being the superior narration. On the other hand,
the Hanafis have taken Sufyan's report to mean that the initial "alif"
of amin was prolonged and not that the volume of the Messenger's ~
voice was raised. The Hanafi scholars have answered all the criticism
levelled against Shu'ba's report and have firmly established it to be
the more acceptable one regarding this issue [see Athar al-sunan, Fath
al-Mulhim, Darse Tirmidhi, etc.].
Had it been more preferable for the follower to say amin aloud, the
wording of this hadith could have read, "When the imam says amin,
you say it," as the imam's amin would have been the signal to the
follower to say amino However, the Messenger ~ instructed them to
say am in after the imam recited "wala 'l-dallin," since the amin was
pronounced silently by the imam.
There are in fact some narrations which contain the words, "When
the imam says amin, you say it;" however, this is interpreted as, "When
the time comes for the imam to say amin, you say it." It is not taken
literally since the normal practice of the Messenger ~ was to say
amin silently.
THE COMPANIONS AND FOLLOWERS ON THIS ISSUE
1. Abu Wa'il narrates that 'Ali and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud ~ did not
recite bismi'lLah, a'udhu bi'llah, or amin aloud [during the prayer]
(Majma' al-zawa'id 2:108).
2. Abu Wa'il narrates that 'Umar and 'Ali ~ would not recite bismi'llah
or am in aloud (!'la' al-sunan 2:215).
3. Imam 'Abd al-Razzaq in his Musannafand Imam Muhammad in
his Kitab al-Athar have related that the prominent Follower [tabi'i]
Ibrahim al-Nakh'ay said:
There are five things the imam should say silently: subhanaka 'llahumma
[thana], ta'awwudh, bismi'llah, amin, and Allahumma rabbana laka 'l-
hamd (Musannaf'Abd al-Razzaq 2:87).
This is Sufyan's report from Wa'il ibn Hujr, which was previously
discussed. It was stated above that the Hanafis prefer Shu'ba's report
over SufYan's in this issue.
The word "madda" used in this narration literally means "he
stretched." Hence, the hadith means that the Messenger ~ stretched
the initial alifof the amin and prolonged it, not that he said it aloud.
Shu'ba's version ofWa'i! ibn Hujr's 4> report (hadith 3 above), which
supports this interpretation, clearly mentions that the Messenger ~
subdued his voice while saying amino
2. Abu Hurayra 4> says,
When the Messenger ~ recited wala 'I-dallin, he said am in after it, which
could be heard in the first row (Sunan Abi Dawud).
The version of Sunan Ibn Maja contains the additional phrase, "The
masjid echoed with the sound" (Sunan Ibn Maja r:6r).
The answer to this hadith is that it is weak and cannot be accepted
as evidence, as one of its narrators, Bishr ibn Rafi', has been strongly
criticized by a number of hadith experts. Imam Bukhari states, "He
is not consistent in his narrations;" Imam Ahmad calls him weak;
Imam Nasa'i states, "He is not strong;" and Ibn Hibban states, "He
relates spurious narrations." (Mizan al-i'tidal U)
The second point to consider here is that if the sound of the amin
only reached the first row (as the main portion of the narration
mentions), then how did the whole masjid echo with it (as is added
in Ibn Maja's version)? Had amin echoed throughout the masjid,
everyone would have heard it. It is not clear how one version states
it was heard from the first row only, while the other states it was so
loud that the whole masjid echoed with its sound. Thus, this hadith
is self-contradictory and, as a result, cannot be accepted as evidence
in proving that amin was said aloud permanently.
This is not the only report from Wa'il in this regard. Another narra-
tion of his, mentioned in Sunan al-Nasa'i, states:
When the Messenger ~ recited "ghayr af-maghdubi alayhim wala 'I-daf-
fin," he said amino I heard him [say it] since I was behind him (Sunan
af-Nasa'i 1:147 U).
This indicates that he only heard the Messenger ilii say it because he
was behind him, and not because it was pronounced loudly.
Hence, even the narrations ofWa'il, which are considered as strong
evidence for those who say amin aloud, are surrounded by confusion.
On the other hand, the evidence of the Hanafi school is from great
Companions like 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, 'Umar, and 'Ali~, who have
plainly reported that one must say amin silently.
Therefore, since it is established that amin was said silently by the
Messenger of Allah ilii for the most part of his life, and that many of
the Companions and others gave priority to this method, it is the
preferred way.