Which is better: the Tarawih and Tahajjud prayers with internal loudspeakers within the mosque, or external ones so that people in the streets and neighboring houses can hear them?

External loudspeakers should not be used for prayer due to the many harms they entail and the disturbance they cause to the mosque's neighbors. Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked about the ruling on using loudspeakers on the minaret and their effect on other mosques. He replied that this is prohibited because it causes disturbance to people in nearby homes and mosques, citing the hadith of Al-Bayadhi and Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri, in which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade raising one's voice in recitation to the extent of disturbing other worshippers, saying: "Let not some of you raise their voices over others with the Qur'an," and "So let not some of you harm others, nor let some of you raise their voices over others in recitation, or he said, in prayer." Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned that no one has the right to raise their voice in recitation such that it harms others.

Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen refuted the justifications some claim for raising the voice, explaining that they contradict the prophetic prohibition and lead to disturbance for worshippers and students of knowledge, distract the congregants from listening to their imam, and may cause some worshippers to follow another imam, or to be negligent in attending the mosque, or to rush when the prayer is nearing its end. He also mentioned that the presence of those who hear this recitation while they are engaged in amusement contradicts the claim that women benefit from it, and that the desired benefit of hearing beautiful recitation is individual and is outweighed by the aforementioned harms.

The Sheikh emphasized the principle: "If benefits and harms conflict, it is obligatory to consider the greater and more significant of them," and that warding off harm takes precedence over acquiring benefits if they are equal. He advised against raising voices from minarets in compliance with the Prophet's command, peace and blessings be upon him, and out of mercy for Muslims. He made an exception for the Two Holy Mosques (in Mecca and Medina), as well as for large mosques during Friday prayers, provided they are not close to each other; otherwise, loudspeakers should be placed on the mosque wall instead of the minaret.