Ruling on giving the adhan in a language other than Arabic

16,353

Question 169504

I want to know whether it is permissible for the adhan to be in a language other than Arabic? Is it permissible, for example, to translate the adhan so that people will understand it?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah:

The majority of fuqaha’ are of the view that the adhan is not valid in any language other than Arabic.

It says in al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (11/170): Translating the adhan: if the adhan is given in Farsi or any language other than Arabic, then the correct view according to the Hanafis and Hanbalis is that it is not valid, even if it is known that this is a call to prayer. This is the apparent view of the Malikis, because they stipulated concerning the adhan that it must be in the prescribed wording. The Shafa‘is discussed the matter further and said: If it is a call to prayer in congregation, and among them are those who know Arabic well, then it is not acceptable to give the adhan in any other language, but it is acceptable if there is no one among them who knows Arabic well. But if a person is giving the adhan for himself, if he knows Arabic well then it is not acceptable to give the adhan in any other language, but if he does not know Arabic well, then it is acceptable. End quote.

See: Bada’i‘ as-Sana’i‘, 1/113; ad-Durr al-Mukhtar ma‘a Ibn ‘Aabideen, 1/485; al-Majmoo‘, 3/137; al-Insaf, 1/413

With regard to translating it for the purpose of teaching its meaning in schools and the like, there is nothing wrong with that.

And Allah knows best.

Reference

Call for prayer

Source

Islam Q&A

Was this answer helpful?

Previous
Next
at email

Our newsletter

To join our newsletter please add your email below

phone

IslamQA App

For a quick access to our content and offline browsing

download iosdownload android