Du’a After Salaah – Loud or Soft?

Question: Please comment on the practice of loud congregational Dua that takes place immediately after the Faraz Namaaz. Should such Dua take place silently or audibly, as many many Musaajied have such Dua audibly.

Answer: This Du’a should be made silently and not audibly, neither in ‘chorus-style’ where the Aameens echo throughout the four corners of the Masjid thereby disturbing the Masbooqs completing their missed Rak’aats.

Regarding this Du’a which if made audibly can be branded as ‘disturbing’ and/or ‘disruptive’, the following points should be noted:

1. Salaah takes preference in the Masjid over other Ibaadaat – including Tilaawat, Du’a, etc.
2. In light of the above, it is not permissible to read the Qur’an Majeed audibly or indulge in any act of optional (Nafl) worship if it will disturb someone engaged in Salaah inside the Masjid.
3. It is a fact that many Masaajid have several Masbooqs (late comers) completing their missed Rak’aats after Salaam. Hence, if the Imaam engages in LOUD Du’a which will coincide with some people engaged in completing their missed Rak’aats, it will cause interference to the such people. Thus, their right – the main Ibaadat to be made inside the Masjid by the menfolk – will be in the process sacrificed. How can anyone concentrate in his Salaah on the one hand while on the other hand an audible Du’a is made (read point no. 5 as well to understand this better)? Hence, such a disturbing Du’a – though this D’ua (the Du’a after Salaah) has many virtues – is impermissible and should be refrained from.
4. Added to the above, unfortunately, many Masaajid today use microphones. Hence, after Salaam, while the Masbooqs are completing their missed Salaah, the Imaam’s loud Du’a is amplified on the mic. Due to this, the concentration of the Masbooqeen is disturbed. This applies to whether there are 100’s of Masbooqs, or just one Masbooq. The Haq (Right) of a person in Salaah in the Masjid should be respected.
5. The Usool (Principle) regarding Du’a after Fardh Salaah is that of Sirr (silent Du’a). Mufti Shafee’ (Rahmatullahi alaih) has explained important aspects regarding this in his Ma’riful Qur’an under the Aayat, “Supplicate to your Rabb humbly and secretly.” (A’raaf, Aayat 55)

Hazrat Mufti Saab has specifically mentioned about the Imaams in the Masjid. Some great personalities have been quoted saying that loud Du’a is Makrooh, and that soft-Du’a has more merit.

The incident of Khaibar is also mentioned wherein Nabi (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said to the Sahaabah when their voices were pitched during Du’a, “You are not calling someone deaf or absent…”

Towards the end of this topic, Hazrat Mufti Saab makes Du’a that ‘May Allah guide the Imaams of the Masaajid in our time who seem to have forgotten this teaching of the Qur’an and Sunnah and the instructions of the pious elders in this matter.’

6. Some Musallis regard a loud Du’a after Salaam as necessary. They perhaps feel offended when an Imaam Saheb makes a soft Du’a and perhaps also feel their Salaah is incomplete due to there being no loud Du’a after which Aameens could be said.
7. In light of the above point, loud Du’a after Salaah will be Bid’ah.

Note: If there are Sunnah Salaahs to be read after the Fardh Salaah (like in the case of Zuhr, Maghrib and Esha), then in addition to the Du’a being soft, it should also be ‘short and sweet’.

Du’a after Fardh Salaah, Eid Salaah and Taraweeh Salaah – even after the Khatam in Taraweeh – should be made silently.