And in the hadith of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet ﷺ said: "The mu'adhdhin is forgiven as far as his voice reaches. Everything, whet

These hadiths, and others like them, show that raising the voice for the adhān is something prescribed and encouraged in the Sharīʿah. Therefore, any means that achieves this objective, without involving anything prohibited, is also permissible. That is why the mu'adhdhins in the early generations would climb onto the roofs of houses and buildings so that their voices could reach as far as possible. Once you understand this, and you also realise that loudspeakers did not exist in their time, it becomes clear that they used whatever means were available to them, namely climbing onto rooftops. Later, in subsequent generations, they climbed minarets. When loudspeakers became available, they replaced the earlier method of climbing onto rooftops, because they achieved the same purpose—and even more effectively. This makes the difference between loudspeakers and prayer lines clear. Furthermore, loudspeakers unquestionably achieve their intended purpose. This is not based on guesswork or assumption. The same cannot be said about the lines, whose intended purpose is to straighten the rows. Anyone who looks at the matter fairly can see that the lines do not fully achieve this objective. In fact, they may even become a cause of crooked rows. This is because if people use the lines to align themselves by their toes, it is impossible for the rows to be truly straight, since people's toes are not all the same length. Some people have long toes, while others have short toes. So the intended benefit is not achieved. If, instead, they align themselves by their heels or the backs of their feet, the result is no different. True straightness is still not achieved, because some people have long heels while others have short heels. This is something that can be clearly observed, and no one would deny it except someone who is being stubborn. Therefore, the intended purpose of the lines is not achieved in the manner required by the Sharīʿah. Furthermore, the lines on the carpet often distract people from reflecting and having khushūʿ in the prayer. Khushūʿ is the very essence and soul of the prayer. The Sharīʿah places great importance on preserving attentiveness and presence of heart during the prayer and on removing anything that distracts from it. For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ forbade praying when food has been served, or while a person is resisting the urge to relieve himself, and anything else that has the same effect of distracting a person from having khushūʿ in the prayer. Likewise, when the Prophet ﷺ prayed while wearing a garment that had decorative markings on it, his gaze fell upon those markings. When he finished the prayer, he said: "Take this garment of mine to Abū Jahm, and bring me the plain garment of Abū Jahm instead, for it distracted me during my prayer." If this was the case with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then what about those who came after him? This shows that a person should keep away from anything that distracts him from having khushūʿ in the prayer. Furthermore, drawing lines has caused the Sunnah of straightening the rows and giving it proper attention to die out. The imam now relies on the lines and begins the prayer immediately without first checking whether the rows are actually straight, as the Prophet ﷺ used to do. In fact, some imams do not even look behind them at all. If they do turn around, people call out to them, "Start the prayer! Start the prayer!" Anyone who reflects carefully and thoughtfully will realise that this alone is enough reason to abandon drawing lines altogether. This is the nature of innovations: they cause the Sunnahs to die out and replace them. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah said: "For this reason, it is reported from the Prophet ﷺ in a hadith: 'Whenever a people introduce an innovation, Allah removes from them a Sunnah equal to it.' This was narrated by Imām Aḥmad. He then said: "This is something that anyone who reflects on his own condition can observe, whether he is a scholar, a worshipper, a ruler, or one of the common people. That is why the Sharīʿah strongly condemns those who introduce innovations and dislikes them. If innovations merely left a person with neither reward nor sin, the matter would be light. But they inevitably bring corruption. One of their harms is that they diminish the benefit a person receives from the Sharīʿah, because the heart cannot contain both the replacement and that which it has replaced." [End of quote from Iqtiḍāʾ as-Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm, 1/543–544] He also said: "Likewise, you will never find anyone who abandons part of the Sunnah that must be believed in and acted upon except that he falls into an innovation. And you will never find a person of innovation except that he has abandoned some part of the Sunnah, as mentioned in the hadith: 'Whenever a people introduce an innovation, they abandon an equivalent Sunnah.' This was narrated by Imām Aḥmad." [End of quote from Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, 7/173] Footnote: The hadith mentioned by Imām Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah was narrated by Imām Aḥmad with the wording: "Whenever a people introduce an innovation, an equivalent Sunnah is taken away from them." It is narrated from Ghudayf ibn al-Ḥārith ath-Thumālī, whose status as a Companion is disputed. Shaykh al-Albānī rahimahullah graded this hadith as weak in As-Silsilah ad-Ḍaʿīfah (no. 6707). What is authentically established is the statement that will be mentioned next from the eminent Tābiʿī Ḥassān ibn ʿAṭiyyah al-Muḥāribī rahimahullah, who said: "Whenever a people introduce an innovation into their religion, Allah removes from them an equivalent Sunnah, and it will not be returned to them until the Day of Resurrection." This was narrated by ad-Dārimī in the introduction to his Sunan (no. 99), and also by Abū Nuʿaym in Al-Ḥilyah (6/73), and Ibn Baṭṭah in Al-Ibānah al-Kubrā no. (228), and al-Lālikā’ī in Sharḥ Uṣūl Iʿtiqād Ahlis-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah no. (129), and Ibn Waḍḍāḥ in Al-Bidaʿ no. (90). Imām Abū Muḥammad al-Barbahārī rahimahullah said: "Know that people never introduce an innovation except that they abandon an equivalent Sunnah. So beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, every innovation is misguidance, and misguidance and its people are in the Fire. Beware of the small newly invented matters, because small innovations eventually become large. Likewise, every innovation that was introduced into this Ummah began as something small that resembled the truth. Those who entered into it were deceived by this, then they were unable to leave it. It then became great and turned into a religion that people followed."] End of quote from Sharḥ as-Sunnah, pp. 37–38] Furthermore, if we open the door to personal preferences and things people consider beneficial without evidence, we will be forced into many innovations, and many problems and objections will arise. For example, as has occurred with some misguided people, they will say that pronouncing the intention aloud is legislated. Some may even say that it is obligatory. Why? They will say: Because it is a means of achieving a great benefit that is required in the Sharīʿah. It is a means of cutting off Shaytan’s attempts to whisper doubts to the Muslim regarding his acts of worship. This is a noble objective intended by the Lawgiver. So, if a person verbally says his intention and makes himself and those near him hear it, he closes the door of whispers for Shayṭān, and Shayṭān will no longer be able to whisper to him afterwards.