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Fatwa CenterRepeating after the mu'aththin if he mispronounces the athaan
Question
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. The muezzin in our mosque pronounces the azan very badly. He elonges some things in such a way that the meaning is changed. Is it still prescribed for me to repeat his words? Please note that he has already been advised but does not listen to those advising him.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Pronouncing the athaan in a prolonged manner that changes the meaning makes this athaan invalid. Daqaa’iq uli An-Nuha ma’a Muntaha Al-Iraadaat, authored by Al-Buhooti, from the Hanbali School of jurisprudence, reads, “The athaan becomes void if the meaning is changed by prolonging the pronunciation or making a lisp [or lallation]; an example of the first case would be: prolonging the hamzah (first letter which represents the glottal stop) in the word 'Allaah' or in the word 'Akbar', or prolonging the letter baa' in the word Akbar.”
Also, Tuhfatul-Muhtaaj authored by Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami from the Shaafi’i school reads, “The athaan of a dissolute person, child, or blind person is disliked as it is most likely that they would make mistakes. The same applies to elongating (the pronunciation of words) or chanting provided that it does not change the meaning; otherwise it is forbidden. Rather, changing the meaning too much is kufr (disbelief), so one should be very careful about this, as this is not permissible.”
Repeating the forbidden or disliked athaan is not legislated; Ash-Sharh Al-Kabeer, authored by Ad-Dardeer Al-Maaliki reads, “It is desirable for a person who hears the athaan to repeat it, i.e. to say the same thing as the mu'aththin (the person calling the athaan), unless the athaan is disliked, then, in such a case, one should not repeat its words.”
Ad-Dussooqi said in his commentary while commenting on this statement, “His saying, ‘unless the athaan is disliked,’ means like when the athaan is called for a missed prayer whose time has elapsed, or for a funeral prayer, or when it is called during the time of necessity [please, refer to fatwa 84538], or when it involves elongating the words; and even more so when the athaan is forbidden.”
Based on the above, if the athaan in your mosque is as you described it, then it not permissible to repeat it.
Allaah knows best.
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