Q:
1. I want to ask about a matter that I am very disturbed about. I recently came to know that in 1436, in Europe, Gutenberg made the printing press, and millions of books by the end of books by the end of fifteenth century had been printed and sold, thus increasing the overall educational level of the European population. However, in the Muslim world, especially in the Ottoman Empire, it was the opposite. Ulama gave the fatwa that printing press is Haram, and thus, in 1485, the Sultan Bayezid II of Ottoman Empire declared printing press as Haram. And in 1515, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, declared that anyone found using printing press in Ottoman lands, would be executed. I know that there must be some reason for which Ulama said that it is Haram. And I sometimes even get Waswaas about the truth of Ulama. Please can you tell me a clarifying answer.
2. Another same question is about the speaker. First Ulama said that it is Haram but later declared it as permissible. So I am confused that did Allah Na'oozubillah make a different law for different people of different times?
A:
1. Apparently there is no reason to declare printing as impermissible. What is the difference between printing and writing? Writing and reading was in vogue in the day of Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and the sahaabah-e-kiraam (radhiyallahu anhum). And printing is just another way of writing something. If the content is right and permissible then the printing will also be right, and if the content is incorrect, doubtful and misleading then the printing will also be impermissible.
2. Initially, the research on the speakers showed that the voice was not the original voice of the imaam, rather it is an echo. And the musallee is commanded to follow the imaam, not the echo that rebounds from the voice. And later when technology improved it had shown that it was the actual voice that was amplified.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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