Question:
Assalamualaikum ustaz. Is it permissible to call the iqamah walking?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and gratitude to Allah SWT for His countless blessings for us all. Praise and salutations to our beloved Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his family, companions and all those who follow his footsteps until the Last Day.
Iqamah is a muakkad sunnah the same as adhan for Friday and the five obligatory prayers. [1] Among the evidences that it is sunnah to call the iqamah before praying is a hadith from Anas bin Malik RA, he said:
أُمِرَ بِلاَلٌ أَنْ يَشْفَعَ الأَذَانَ، وَأَنْ يُوتِرَ الإِقَامَةَ
“Bilal was ordered to repeat the call to prayer twice and the statement that the time for prayer had come (al-iqama) once.” [2]
Iqamah is right of the imam where the muezzin cannot call it out before getting the permission of the imam. Imam al-Nawawi said: “Scholars of the same madhhab with us said, ‘the time for adhan is handed to the muezzin, he doesn’t have to ask the imam first. As for the time of iqamah, it is handed to the imam, such that the muezzin cannot be called except after getting the signal/instruction from the imam.” [3]
In the question above, originally as stated in the book Mazhab al-Syafie, it is sunnah for a person who calls the adhan and performs prayer (iqamah) to stand and face the qibla. [4]
Furthermore, the fuqaha’ (fiqh scholars) agreed that it is sunnah for a person who performs prayer (iqamah) to stand straight and it is makruh to call the iqamah whilst sitting without any reasonable excuse. However, if there is a reasonable excuse, then it is fine. Likewise, it is also makruh to call the iqamah walking, riding and others without any debility. The reason is the fuqaha’ stated that it is makruh according to an athar from Bilal RA for he calls the adhan while riding an animal, then he disembarks and calls the iqamah for prayer. [5]
Hence, we are inclined to state that iqamah, when a person is walking, is makruh if he isn’t experiencing any debility for it contradicts the sunnah. Furthermore, the son of Imam Ahmad once asked his father (Imam Ahmad) regarding a man who calls the iqamah while he was walking. Imma Ahmad then replied that he preferred if the man stand still and call the iqamah. [6]
May Allah SWT grants us understanding in religion. Amin.
Wallahu a’lam.
[1] See al-Taqrirat al-Sadidah, pg. 229
[2] Narrated by al-Bukhari (607) and Muslim (378)
[3] See al-Majmu’ Syarh al-Muhazzab, 3/128
[4] See al-Majmu’ Syarah al-Muhazzab, 3/107
[5] See al-Mausu’ah al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kuwaitiyyah, 6/11
[6] See Masa’il Imam Ahmad, 1/185
