Can the people on one floor of a building follow the prayer performed in congregation upstairs? The imam uses a microphone to make his voice heard.
Dear Brother / Sister,
When a prayer is performed in congregation, the imam and the congregation should be in the same place really and virtually. Being in the same place can be ensured by making the ranks adjacent. If the prayer is performed in the same building, they are regarded to be in the same place.
Therefore, when one floor that is used as a mosque in a building is not enough for the prayer in congregation, the people upstairs or downstairs can follow the imam as long as they hear the takbirs of the imam through loudspeakers or by the repetition of a muezzin. They do not have to see the imam or the people who see the imam.
If the sound connection is cut off, the prayer of those on the other floors are invalidated since they cannot follow the movements of the imam.
(Ibn Abidin, Raddu’l-Mukhtar, I, 369-370, 394; Abdurrahman al-Jaziri, Kitabu’l-Fiqh ala’l- Madhahibi’l-Arbaa, I, 415)
Questions on Islam
- Is the prayer valid if there is a wall between the imam and the congregation that follows him? What are the reasons that prevent following an imam?
- Which nafilah prayers apart from tarawih prayer can be performed in congregation? How should we make intention (niyyah) for them?
- If somebody joins the prayer of two people who are performing a prayer in congregation, where does he need to stand?
- Can the sunnah of the morning prayer be performed after the fard of the morning prayer?
- Is it permissible to talk about worldly issues in mosques? Are there any verses, hadiths, words of the companions, etc. that prohibit such conversations?
- What is the wisdom behind the imam performing prayers in a higher place than the place the congregation stands on?
- At least how many people are necessary to perform tasbih prayer? Can it be performed with two people: one imam and a person following the imam?
- What should we do if iqamah is called while we are performing a sunnah prayer?
- If a person who has not performed the sunnah of the morning prayer (fajr) arrives at the congregation performing the fard, should he perform the sunnah prayer or follow the congregation?
- What are the issues that a person who will be an imam for people from different madhhabs should pay attention to? How is the issue of wudu?
