1. "O you who believe! When the call is given out for prayer on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allâh and leave off business." (62:9).
The adhân (lit. an announcement) is an announcement of the time of prayer in the words of h. 3, on hearing which Muslims flock to the mosque or to a place of prayer. and the iqâmah (lit. setting upright of a thing or establishing an affair) is a similar call in the words of h. 4, at which those gathered in the mosque arrange themselves into ranks and the prayer service is started. Though prayers were said in congregation from the very start when this institution was established very early at Makkah the adhân and the iqâmah were introduced after the flight to Madînah. But the adhân is not only an announcement to the people to gather together for prayer; it is as well a declaration of the principles of Islâm, made with a loud voice, from every locality inhabited by Muslims. It is an announcement to the whole world five times a day as to what Islâm is and what it stands for. In the shahâdah there is a declaration of the basic principles of Islâm that there is no god but Allâh--God is only One--and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh. In the takbîr there is the declaration that Allâh is the greatest of all and that, therefore a Muslim bows before none but Allah--Allâhu Akbar the watchword of Islâm is repeated no less than six times in the adhân. In hayya 'ala-l-salâ (come to prayer) there is the declaration of the real message of religion which is the realization of the divine in man. This can only be attained through prayer, by drinking deep at the Divine source. In hayya 'ala-l-falâh (come to success) we are told that success or full development of the human faculties, can be attained only through prayer or the realization of the divine in man.
The adhân thus serves a double purpose; it is an announcement of the time of prayer and at the same time an announcement of the principles of Islâm and the significance underlying them. It replaces the meaningless ringing of a bell or the blowing of a trumpet by the most effective propaganda of religion that can be thought of. To everyone's door, nay, to his very ears. is carried the message every morning, every noon, every afternoon, every evening and at the time of going to bed that the Unity of God and the messengership of Muhammad, peace
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and blessings of Allâh be on him, are the fundamental principles Islâm, and that any one can attain to complete self-development through the realization of the divine in him, which is brought about by prayer.
Muslims must give up all business on hearing the call for prayer (v. 1). How adhân was started is stated in hh. 1, 2, while h. 3 gives the words of the adhân and h. 4 the words of the iqâmah. Hh. 5-8 relate to the mode of delivery of the adhân, while hh. 9, 10 show that the adhân must be delivered from a high place and in the loudest voice so that it may reach the largest number of people, The deliverer of the adhân must be a man who is respected for his virtues and he should take no remuneration for this service (hh. 11, 12). The call must be obeyed (h. 13). The words of the adhân should be repeated when it is being delivered, and a prayer must be offered after it has been delivered (hh. 14-16). The adhân may be called out earlier than the time of prayer if there is some other object in view (h. 17). Hh. 18. 19 relate to the delivery of the iqâmah.
1 It is reported about Ibn 'Umar that he used to say,
The Muslims when they came to Madînah used to gather together and they made an appointment for prayers; no call was given for it. So they talked about it one day. Some of them said, Have a bell like the bell of the Christians; others said, Rather a bugle like the horn of the Jews; 'Umar said, Would
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you not appoint a man who should sound a call for the prayer.[1] The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, said, "O Bilâl! get up and give a call for prayer."
(B. 10:1.)
2 Anas said,
When the number of people increased, they conversed that they should make known the time of prayers by some means which they may recognize. So they mentioned that they should light the fire or
[1. It appears from other hadîth that the portion that follows relates to another occasion. A consultation was held but nothing was decided then, though 'Umar seems to have made a suggestion that, instead of ringing a bell or blowing a horn, a man should be appointed to give a call for prayers. According to one hadîth 'Abd Allâh ibn Zaid was shown in a vision how to give a call for prayer. So when the Messenger of Allâh came the next day, he informed him: O Messenger of Allâh! I was half asleep and half awake when there came to me one who showed me how to deliver the adhân. The narrator of the Hadîth added, 'Umar had been shown it twenty days previously but concealed it, then he informed the Holy Prophet (AD. 2:27). Bukhârî refers to this by quoting 'Umar as saying, Would you not appoint a man who should give a call for prayer. It was, however, the Holy Prophet's order--or maybe, he himself had received a revelation, similar to the visions of 'Abd Allâh and 'Umar as some reports show--which gave the sanction to the adhân.]
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ring a bell. Then Bilâl was commanded to callout the adhân, repeating the words, and to say the iqâmah, uttering the words only once.
(B. 10:2.)
3 Abû Mabdhûrah said,
I said, O Messenger of Allâh! Teach me the way of delivering the adhân. He said, So he touched his forehead (and) said:
"Thou shouldst say:
'Allâh is the Greatest, Allâh is the Greatest, Allâh is the Greatest, Allâh is the Greatest.'
Thou shouldst raise thy voice with it; then thou shouldst say,
'I bear witness that there is no God but Allâh, I bear witness that there is no God but Allâh, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh.'
Thou shouldst lower
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thy voice with it; then thou shouldst raise thy voice with the bearing of witness,
'I bear witness that there is no God but Allâh, I bear witness that there is no God but Allâh, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh. Come to prayer, Come to prayer; Come to success, Come to success'.
Then if it is the morning prayer, thou shouldst say, 'Prayer is better than sleep' 'Prayer is better than sleep';
(Then thou shouldst say),
'Allâh is the Greatest, Allâh is the Greatest, there is no God but Allâh.'"[2]
(AD-Msh. 4:4.)
[2. The repetition of the shahâdah a second time as stated in this hadîth is known as tarjî' (lit. returning to a thing again and again). As the previous hadîth and the one that follows show, the general practice in the Holy Prophet's time was that the adhân consisted of fifteen sentences, Allâhu-Akbar four times, ashhadu an lâ ilâha illa-llâh twice, ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasûlu-llâh twice (both sentences beginning with ashhadu are known as the shahâdah) hayya 'ala-l-salâ (pronounced 'ala-s-salâ) twice (turning the face to the right), hayya 'ala-l-falâh twice (turning the face to the left), Allâhu Akbar twice and lâ ilâha illa-llâh once. The tarji' or repeating the two shahâdah sentences twice again in a still louder voice seems to have been resorted to only occasionally. In the adhân for the morning prayer the sentence al-salâtu (pronounced as-salât) khair-un mina-l-naum (pronounced mina-n-naum) was added after hayya 'ala-l-falâh, and repeated twice.]
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4 Ibn 'Umar said,
In the time of the Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, (sentences of) the adhân used to be repeated twice, and (those of) the iqâmah (were uttered) only once, with this exception that he used to say, Prayer is ready, Prayer is ready.[3]
(AD-Msh. 4:4.)
5 Sa'd reported that
The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, commanded
[3. As compared with the adhân, the sentences were uttered only once in the iqâmah, according to this Hadîth. the significance being that sentences that were uttered twice in the adhân were uttered once in the iqâmah. The iqâmah thus consists of Allâhu Akbar being uttered twice--in the adhân it is uttered four times--each of the shahâdah sentences once, hayya 'ala-l-salâ and hayy'ala-l-falâh each once (without turning to right or left), qad qâmati-l-salâ twice, Allâhu Akbar and lâ ilâha illa-llâh once.
But the iqâmah may also consist of all the sentences of the adhân with the addition in its proper place of qad qâmati-l-salâ uttered twice. Between the delivery of the adhân and the iqâmah there is another difference. The sentences of the adhân are delivered leisurely and in as loud a voice as possible, while the delivery of the iqâmah is marked by quickness.]
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Bilâl to put his two forefingers into his ears (when delivering the adhân); this, he said, would help in the raising of thy voice.
(IM-Msh. 4:4.)
6 It is related about Bilâl that he put his two forefingers into his ears (when delivering the adhân), while Ibn 'Umar did not put his fore-fingers into his ears;[4] and Ibrâhîm said, There is no harm in delivering the adhân without performing ablution; and 'Atâ' said, Ablution is necessary and it is the (Prophet's) practice.
(B. 10:19.)
7 Abû Juhaifah said,
That he saw Bilâl delivering the adhân. (He said), So I followed him when he turned his face to one side and to the other in the adhân.
(B. 10:19.)
[4. Fore-fingers are not put into ears in the iqâmah.]
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8 Mûsâ said,
I saw Bilâl (when) he went forth to the Abtah and delivered the adhân, so when he reached hayya 'ala-l-salâ, hayya 'ala-falâh, he turned his neck to the right side and to the left and did not turn round.[5]
(AD. 12:34.)
9 A woman of the Banî Najjâr said,
My house was the highest house in the environs of the mosque and Bilâl used to deliver the morning adhân on it.[6]
(AD. 2:31)
10 'Abd Allâh reported ... that
Abu Sa'îd Khudrî said to him, I see thee living
[5. With hayya 'ala-l-salâ, the mu'adhdhin turns his face to the right side and with hayya 'ala-l-falâh to the left.
6. A high place, the top of a house or a minaret, would carry the voice farthest.]
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among goats and in the desert, so when thou are among thy goats or in thy desert and deliverest the adhân for prayer, raise thy voice with the adhân, for neither jinn nor man nor anything else hears the voice of the crier within its reach but it shall bear witness for him on the day of Resurrection.[7]
(B. 10:5.)
11 Abû Hurairah said, The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, said:
"The Imâm is a surety and the deliverer of the adhân is one in whom confidence is placed;[8] O Allâh! direct aright the leaders of prayer and grant protection to the deliverers of the adhân."
(AD. 2:32)
[7. The voice in delivering the adhân should be raised as high as possible.
8. The hadîth speaks of the imâm as dzâmin, being as it were a surety that prayers are observed in the right manner; and it speaks of the mu'adhdhin (one {footnote p. 98} who delivers the adhân) as mu'taman, i.e., one in whom trust is placed, which indicates on the one hand that he is the keeper of the time of prayer and on the other that he must be a man who is respected on account of his high qualities.]
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12 Uthmân ibn Abi-l-'Âs said,
O Messenger of Allâh! Make me the imâm of a people. He said:
"Thou art their imâm and do thou follow the weakest of them[9] and appoint a mu'adhdhin who does not take any remuneration for his adhân."[10]
(AD. 2:39.)
13 Abu Hurairah said,
The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, commanded us (saying):
"When you are in the mosque and a call for prayers is sounded, let not one of you go out until he has said his prayers."
(Ah-Msh. 4:23.)
[9. The imâm should have regard for the weakest and make his prayer so light that the weakest man may not feel it a burden.
10. Islâm thus requires that a duty which relates to the prayers should be performed out of love.]
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14 Abû Sa'îd Khudrî reported that
The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, said:
"When you hear the adhân, say what the mu'dhdhin says."
(B. 10:7)
15 Yahyâ said,
Some of our brethren related to me that when he (Mu'âwiyah) heard the words, Come to prayer, he said, There is no strength nor power but in Allâh, and he said, Thus did we hear your Prophet, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, say.[11]
(B. 10:7.)
16 Jâbir reported that The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, said:
[11. Hayya 'ala-l-salâ being an order, the proper response to it is that given in this hadîth, When the adhân is being delivered, the hearer should repeat its sentences and when it is finished, be should offer the prayer mentioned in the next hadîth.]
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"Whoever says when he hears the adhân,
'O Allâh! the Lord of this perfect call and everliving prayer, grant to Muhammad nearness and excellence and raise him to the position of glory which Thou hast promised him,'
My intercession will be due to him on the day of Resurrection."
(B. 10:8.)
17 'Abd Allâh reported on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, (who) said:
"Let not the adhân of Bilâl prevent one of you from taking his breakfast,[12] for he delivers the adhân while it is night, so that he may send back the one of you who is saying his
[12. "Breakfast" here means the meal taken before dawn when a man intends to fast. The hadîth thus allows the calling out of the adhân before the time of prayer. By prayer in the concluding portion is meant the tahajjud prayer.]
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prayer or awaken the one who is sleeping."
(B. 10:13.)
18 Abd Allâh reported that The Messenger of Allâh, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, said:
"Between every two adhâns, there is a prayer for him who likes."[12] (He said this) thrice.
(B. 10:14.)
19 Ziyâd said that
He delivered the adhân, and Bilâl desired to call out the iqâmah but the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allâh be on him, said:
"O brother of Sudâ'! The one who calls out the adhân shall call out the iqâmah.",[14]
(Ah. IV, 169.)
[13. By the two adhâns are meant the adhân and the iqâmah. The interval between the two should be at least such that a man may be- able to say two rak'ahs of optional prayer. Another hadîth says that there should be an interval such that a man taking his food may finish it, say, about a quarter of an hour.
14. There may be exceptions to this general rule. Sudâ' is the name of a tribe in Yaman and Ziyâd was a member of this tribe.]
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