❖ Shar‘i Ruling on Loud Dhikr in the Mosque with Lights Turned Off ❖
Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil fī Ḍawʾ al-Qurʾān wal-Ḥadīth, Vol. 1, p. 492
✿ Question:
Some people in our local mosque, after Maghrib prayer, gather together, turn off the lights, and perform loud dhikr in a specific manner such as saying “Allāh Hū, Allāh Hū”, while swaying their bodies. At the end, they also distribute sweets. What is the ruling on this practice?
(Question by: ʿIsmat Khān Chhachhar Wālī, Gujranwala – 3rd July 1986)
✿ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd:
The manner of dhikr described in the question—gathering in the mosque, turning off the lights, raising voices, swaying with the dhikr, and distributing sweets afterwards—has no basis in the Qur’an, Sunnah, or the authentic practice of the Prophet ﷺ. Therefore, it is not permissible to engage in dhikr in this manner.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Whoever introduces into this matter of ours (Islam) that which is not from it, it is rejected.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1/371; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2/77)
In another narration:
“Whoever performs an act not in accordance with our matter (religion), it will be rejected.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim)
Allah also commanded:
﴿وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ تَضَرُّعٗا وَخِيفَةٗ وَدُونَ ٱلۡجَهۡرِ مِنَ ٱلۡقَوۡلِ بِٱلۡغُدُوِّ وَٱلۡأٓصَالِ وَلَا تَكُن مِّنَ ٱلۡغَٰفِلِينَ﴾
[al-Aʿrāf 7:205]
“And remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and in fear, without loudness in words, in the mornings and evenings, and do not be among the heedless.”
Abū Dāwūd also recorded a report in Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Tasbīḥ bil-Ḥaṣā, condemning innovated practices in dhikr.
Conclusion:The practice of turning off lights, loudly chanting Allāh Hū in unison with swaying movements, and distributing sweets afterwards is a bidʿah (innovation). The correct dhikr is what is taught in the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah: done with humility, sincerity, and without innovated forms.
