Answer:

 

With the help of the Almighty King, the Bestower.

Allah’s name be the beginning, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. We convey our praise and peace upon His noble beloved.

 

First, the majority of the senior scholars considered following [iqtida] the sound of the loudspeaker not allowed. Just as Huzoor Mufti-é Azam Hind states:

 

“Those who do not hear the sound of the Imam, nor the sound of the repeater [mubaligh] reach them, nor do they see such people present [muqtadi] who do ruku and sujood based on hearing the sound of the Imam or the mubaligh. Their prayers are not fulfilled if they are doing these things by hearing merely the sound from the loudspeaker.”

[Fatawa Mufti-é Azam: 3/72]

 

Huzoor Sadr al-Afadil states,

“It is of no use to install a loudspeaker in the mosque, because it is not correct to use the loudspeaker to hear the imam’s recitation [qiraat].”

[al-Qawl al-Maqbul Compiler Mufti Muhammad Sahebdad Khan: p. 53]

 

Huzoor Sadr al-Shariah states,

“There is no harm to hear the khutbah through the loudspeaker, but it will invalidate the prayer while doing ruku and sujood on its sound.”

 

In another fatawa he states,

“The reason for this inadmissibility has still not come to mind […] but this innovation in prayer is not well known that comes from the way of the pious predecessors [salaf al-salihin], their disobedience is not good.”

[Fatawa al-Amjadiyya: 1/190]

 

Huzoor Hafiz al-Millat states,

“I have no research, precaution lies in abstinence.”

 

Further on he states,

In the noble hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Leave that which doubts and choose that which has no doubts.” Therefore, my opinion in this aspect is more accordingly that the loudspeaker should not be used at all during prayer, so that no malice and doubt of any kind remains in the prayer.”

[Muqaddima Fatawa Shareh Bukhari: 1/39]

 

Mufti Nizam al-Din Saheb examined the permissibility of microphone during prayer, but his position is also like that of Huzoor Hafiz al-Millat, namely to refrain from using the loudspeaker during prayer. He himself writes,

 

“Hazrat [Mufti Sharif al-Haq Amjadi (may Allah have mercy on him)] issued many fatawas about not allowing the loudspeaker in prayer. Nevertheless, the position of the writer is in the same chapter of that of Huzoor Hafiz al-Millat Mawlana Shah ‘Abd al-Aziz Muhaddith Muradabadi (may Allah have mercy on him).”

[Ibid: p. 41]

 

Based on the above sayings of the noble scholars, prayer should not be performed through the loudspeaker. Although under incompetence there are some sanctions on the verdict of the scholars if the prayer is done with the loudspeaker. But there is no admission in the described issue in the question, in which the Imam leads the prayer in the mosque on loudspeaker while the people perform the prayer in their own homes.

 

The said imam should know that there is a condition for following the prayer [iqtida], whereby the place must also be one. That is to say, the Imam and the followers [muqtadi] should be in one place only. And here this condition is lost, therefore the iqtida will not be correct either. Permission has been found in following the Imam in the books of Fiqh where a house is joined with a mosque, but that also with the condition that the rows are joined together, there should be no disturbance in any way in between.

 

It is stated in al-Badai’ al-Sanai’,

“The person who is outside the mosque and is following the one leading the prayer and the rows are not joined, then the following [iqtida] is not acceptable.”

[al-Badai’ al-Sanai’ Tartib al-Sharai’: vol. 1, p. 226]

 

It is stated in al-Muhit al-Burhani,

“Following in prayer [iqtida] outside the mosque is acceptable when the rows meet the rows of the mosque.”

[al-Muhit al-Burhani: vol. 1, p. 417]

 

It is stated in Fatawa al-Shami,

“If he is standing on the roof of his own house and his house is joined to the mosque, in this aspect following the prayer [iqtida] will not be correct, even if the state of the imam is not hidden from him, for there is a lot of space between the mosque and the roof of the house which changes the place.”

[Fatawa al-Shami: vol. 1, p. 587]

 

It is stated in Fatawa al-Alamgiri,

“If someone is standing on the roof of the house connected to the mosque, then following the prayer [iqtida] will not be valid even if the imam’s state is not hidden from him. The same is stated in Fatawa Qadi Khan and al-Khulasa, and this is correct.”

 

It is stated herein,

“The person who lives next to the mosque, follows the Imam of the mosque in prayer in his own home will be allowed in this aspect when there is no general road between his home and the mosque. And if there is a general road but the road will be filled because of the rows, then still the person who follows the imam of the mosque in prayer will be acceptable.”

[Fatawa al-Alamgiri: vol. 1, p.88]

 

Huzoor Sadr al-Shariah states,

“The imam and the muqtadi being in one place are conditional for the correct following of the prayer [iqtida]. That is, if the imam is in one place and the muqtadi in another, the iqtida is surely not correct.”

[Fatawa al-Amjadiyya: vol. 1, p, 181]

 

Conclusion:

The Imam leading the prayer through the loudspeaker and saying this to the people, “Do your prayer in your own houses”, is serious against Islamic law and a great misdeed. The Imam who proclaims false knowledge as such and as a result of wasting other people’s prayer has the obligation to repent, and it is imperative that he refrain from similar acts against Islamic law in the future.

 

Moreover, those people who read Juma and Eid’s prayer while following the loudspeaker in their own home, their prayer has not been fulfilled. On them remains Zuhr’s fard prayer in exchange for Juma. They have to overtake [qada] with Zuhr’s prayer. And in the future, they should not waste their prayers as such on an Imam. If such a prayer is performed on the loudspeaker of the mosque, what is then the need to go to the mosque. All should rather pray in their homes or shops. Then it is no longer necessary to build several mosques in one area. An imam is no longer needed in every mosque. One imam in one area will be sufficient. Because the prayer will be performed over the loudspeaker and everyone will stand in their own homes, shops, factories, businesses, streets, areas, and perform the prayers ––and Allah’s refuge is sought! And Allah Almighty knows best with rectitude.