Giving adhan from inside the masjid

Giving adhān inside the masjid prayer hall

Question: Does the adhān have to be given from outside the masjid hall? Is there anything wrong with giving the adhān from inside the masjid prayer hall?

Answer:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين

There is no harm in giving the adhān from inside the masjid prayer hall.

In some texts of the Ḥanafī madhhab, it is mentioned that giving the adhān inside the masjid is makrūh (disliked).[1] However, this requires some context to be properly understood.

The purpose of the adhān is to announce the time of prayer and inform the community so that people can gather for the congregational ṣalāh. Traditionally, this was achieved by calling the adhān from a high place, such as the minaret, so that the sound could reach far and wide. If the adhān was made inside the masjid, the sound would have been confined within the walls, defeating its purpose. For this reason, some jurists considered it disliked—not because of the masjid hall itself, but because of the limitation it imposed on the reach of the call.

In our times, however, circumstances are different. The adhān is no longer restricted to the minaret; rather, it is often given from within the masjid building itself. In many cases, the voice does not travel far outside unless a microphone and loudspeakers are used. Where microphones are in place, the objective of the adhān—informing people of the prayer time—is fulfilled regardless of whether the muʾadhdhin calls from inside or outside the masjid hall.

See Fatāwā Dār al ʿulūm Zakarīyya: 2/90

And Allah knows best

Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad

[1] قال قاضيخان: وينبغي أو يؤذن على المئذنة أو خارج المسجد ولا يؤذن في المسجد (الخانية: ص11)

وقال ابن نجيم: وفي السراج الوهاج وينبغي للمؤذن أن يؤذن في موضع يكون أسمع للجيران ويرفع صوته ولا يجهد نفسه؛ لأنه يتضرر بذلك وفي الخلاصة ولا يؤذن في المسجد (البحرالرائق: 1/268)