Ruling on Giving the Iqāmah from the Right or Left Side
Source: Fatāwā ‘Ilmiyyah, Vol. 1 – Kitāb al-Adhān, p. 251
Question by: Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Salafī, Abbottabad
❖ Question:
When the congregation stands for prayer, is it obligatory or recommended to give the Iqāmah from the right side?
Some people object if a person standing on the left side gives the Iqāmah.
What is the Shar‘i ruling on this matter?
❖ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh, ammā ba‘d!
✔ There is no clear statement in any authentic ḥadīth that Iqāmah must be given from the right side, nor is there any prohibition against giving it from the left side.
❖ Therefore, whether the Iqāmah is given from the right side, left side, or directly behind the Imām, all of these positions are permissible.
✔ To consider a specific side compulsory or to claim that giving Iqāmah from the left side is disliked (makrūh) is baseless and without any Shar‘i evidence.
❖ Hence, objecting to someone giving the Iqāmah from the left side is unjustified and has no basis in the Sharī‘ah.
📅 (Shahādat Magazine, October 2000 Edition)
Wa-Allāhu A‘lam bi-ṣ-Ṣawāb.
