Adhan (the call to prayer: its ruling, wording, conditions, recommended features and the muezzin)

Adhan in the lexicon means announcing. In law it is announcing the time of an obligatory prayer with set and transmitted words in a fixed manner; some jurists take it as announcing only the approach of dawn. ¹ It is close in general sense to the call (da'wa), the summons (nida') and the calling to come, and the iqama is the announcement that the worshippers should stand for the prayer, with its own set words. Tathwib in the adhan is returning to the announcement after the announcement: adding "prayer is better than sleep" twice after the two hay'alas in the dawn adhan, which all jurists accept, or, as the Hanafis say, adding "come to prayer, come to success" between the adhan and the iqama. ¹

The jurists agree that the adhan is one of the marks of Islam and its outward rites, and that if the people of a town agreed to abandon it they would be fought. They differ on its ruling. One view makes it a communal obligation (fard kifaya), which is the sound Hanbali view in settled places and the Maliki view for the people of a city, and which some Hanafis adopt. Another makes it a strongly recommended practice (sunna mu'akkada), the preferred Hanafi view and the sounder Shafi'i view, and some Malikis say the same for a group waiting for others to join them. A third view makes it a communal obligation only for the Friday prayer. ^{1 2} The adhan was legislated in Medina in the first year after the hijra, according to the soundest view, though some say the second year and a few say in Mecca before the hijra, which is judged distant because it contradicts the sound reports. The account of Abdullah ibn Zayd's dream, which Umar confirmed, is the basis of the story that the Prophet ﷺ told Bilal to call the adhan. ^{2 6}

The adhan was legislated to announce the entry of the prayer time, to exalt God through the takbir, to show His law, and to call people to success. ⁶ Its merit is great: the reports say that if people knew its reward they would draw lots for it. Some jurists of the Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi'i schools even prefer the adhan to leading the prayer, on the basis of those reports, and say that the Prophet and his successors did not take it up because of the narrowness of their time. ⁶ When more than one person competes for the adhan, the one who meets its conditions goes first, and if they are equal, lots decide. ⁶

The words in Abdullah ibn Zayd's dream are those the Hanafis and Hanbalis adopt. They include four takbirs at the start, then the two testimonies, then the two calls to prayer and success, then the takbir and the tahlil. ^{6 3} The Shafi'is follow the report of Abu Mahdhura (may God be pleased with him) with the same words plus tarjia. Malikis, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan of the Hanafis hold that the takbir at the start is only twice, like the end, as was the practice of the early generation in Medina. ³

Tarjia is lowering the voice on the two testimonies while letting those present hear, then raising it again on them. It is disliked in the sounder Hanafi view, a sunna for the Malikis and in the sound Shafi'i view, permitted for the Hanbalis, and some Shafi'is hold it a pillar. ^{3 7} The tathwib at dawn is a sunna for all jurists; when Bilal came to call the Prophet to the dawn prayer and found him asleep, he said "prayer is better than sleep", and the Prophet told him to put it in his adhan. ⁷ It is disliked outside the dawn prayer according to the Malikis and Hanbalis, and that is the school's view for the Hanafis and Shafi'is. ⁷ The Kufan jurists of the Hanafis later introduced another tathwib between the adhan and the iqama, the addition of the two calls to prayer and success, which the earlier Hanafis approved only at dawn, while the later ones approved it in all prayers except the sunset prayer. Abu Yusuf allowed a tathwib that addresses rulers and judges, and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan rejected it, since people are equal in the congregation. ^{7 8}

The Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that the muezzin's blessing on the Prophet after the adhan is a sunna, and the hearer repeats it quietly. ⁸ The Hanafis and Malikis consider it a good innovation (bid'a hasana). The custom is said to have begun on minarets in Sha'ban 791 AH in the time of Sultan al-Mansur Hajji, after an earlier custom of saying the greeting before the dawn adhan. ⁸

At strong rain, wind or cold, the muezzin may say after the adhan, "pray in your homes"; Ibn Umar did so on a cold and windy night. ⁸

Entering the time is a condition, so the adhan is not valid before the prescribed prayer's time, except the dawn adhan, on which there is disagreement, and if it is given early it is repeated. ⁹ It is recommended to call at the start of the time so that people prepare. ⁹ The Shafi'is, Hanbalis and Abu Yusuf allow the dawn adhan in the last half of the night, the Malikis in the last sixth, and they also call a second adhan at the entry of the time; the Hanafis, except Abu Yusuf, allow it only at entry. ⁹ The Friday prayer has two adhans: the first at the entry of the time outside the mosque, on the minaret or similar, which Uthman ordered when people grew numerous, and the second before the preacher when he mounts the pulpit, which was the practice in the time of the Prophet and of Abu Bakr and Umar. Both are legislated. ^{9 4} Intention is a condition for the Malikis and Hanbalis: one who begins the takbir in dhikr and then decides to call the adhan starts it again from its beginning. Intention is not a condition for the Shafi'is in the sounder view, nor for the validity of the adhan among the Hanafis. ⁴ The Hanafis and Hanbalis require the adhan to be in Arabic, in the sound view, and the Shafi'is require it if there is someone among the congregation who knows Arabic. ⁴ Solecism that changes the meaning, like lengthening the hamza of "Allah akbar" or the ba of "akbar", voids the adhan; other solecism is disliked. ⁴ Order among the words of the adhan is obligatory for the majority; if the muezzin puts a word out of order, he begins again from the start. The Hanafis hold order is a sunna, so he repeats only what he put out of order. ^{4 10} Continuity: a short gap by silence or a little speech does not void the adhan for the Hanafis, Malikis and Hanbalis, and he builds on what he has said. A long gap with much speech voids it and requires a new start, and the Hanbalis add that grave small speech, such as abuse or slander, does the same. ¹⁰

The Shafis and Hanbalis require raising the voice so that the call is heard, when the purpose is to inform those absent of the congregational prayer; one who calls for himself or for someone present need only make himself or that person hear. ¹⁰ All jurists agree that the muezzin should not exhaust himself beyond his strength. ¹⁰ It is recommended that the adhan be called from a high place such as a minaret, so that the largest number of people can hear it. ¹¹

Facing the qibla during the adhan is a sunna for the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis, and the sounder view for the Malikis. Leaving it is permitted but disliked. Some Malikis and Hanbalis allow turning the body if that makes the voice carry better. ¹¹ At the two calls to prayer, the muezzin turns his face without his body: to the right at "come to prayer" and to the left at "come to success". ¹¹ Slowness (tartil) means deliberation with a pause between each two phrases, and joining each two takbirs in one breath, as the report commands. ^{11 5}

Islam is a condition: the adhan of an unbeliever is invalid. Manhood is a condition for the majority: a woman's adhan is invalid, since raising her voice may cause temptation, and the Hanafis regard manhood as a sunna while disliking a woman's adhan. ⁵ Sanity is a condition: the adhan of the insane and the drunk is invalid because they cannot discern. ⁵ The child who cannot discern cannot call the adhan, by agreement. A discerning child may call it according to the Hanafis and Shafi'is, one narration of the Hanbalis, and, according to the Malikis, if he relies on a trustworthy adult in knowing when the time has come. ⁵

It is recommended that the muezzin be in a state of ritual purity from both minor and major impurity, since the adhan is a great remembrance and calling it in purity is nearer to honouring it. The report from Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him) that the adhan is given only by one who has made ablution is judged cut off in chain, and the version stopping at a companion is sounder. A muezzin in a state of minor impurity may call it with disapproval, and one in major impurity likewise according to all jurists. ¹² He should be just (adl), since he is trusted with the times, and the adhan of an open sinner is valid with disapproval, though one Hanbali view does not count it. He should have a good voice, as the Prophet said to Abdullah ibn Zayd that Bilal's voice was "more resonant than yours", while the drawn-out and melodic delivery is disliked. ¹² He should put his two fingers in his ears, because that raises the voice, and call standing; sitting is allowed only for an excuse, or for calling for oneself in the Hanafi view. Calling on a mount is disliked except in travel, and Abu Yusuf and the Malikis allow it in a settled place. ¹² He should know the prayer times so that he calls at their start, which is why a sighted muezzin is preferred to a blind one. The muezzin should also be the one who sets the iqama, following the report of Ziyad ibn al-Harith al-Sada'i, when the Prophet said that "the brother of Sada' has called, and whoever calls shall set the iqama". ^{12 13} He should call for the sake of reward, taking no wage for it, and if no volunteer is found the imam pays a muezzin from the treasury, because the Muslims need it. Later Hanafis, Malik, some Shafi'is and one narration of Ahmad allowed a wage for the adhan because of that need. ¹³

The basic rule is that the adhan is legislated for the obligatory prayers, in settled places and on journeys, in congregation and alone, whether on time or made up, and this is agreed. The Malikis dislike the adhan for make-up prayers, and some say there is no adhan for a lone person or a settled congregation that does not intend to call others, though it is recommended to them on a journey. ^{13 14} Missed prayers: a single missed prayer is called for by the Hanafis and Hanbalis, and this is the relied-on Shafi'i view, on the report of Abu Qatada about the halt on the road in which the sun had risen when the Prophet woke. When several prayers are missed, the Hanafis prefer an adhan and iqama for each, while the Hanbalis and the relied-on Shafi'i view prefer the adhan only for the first and the iqama for the rest; the Shafi'is call the adhan if they expect people to gather, and otherwise the iqama alone. ¹⁴ Combined prayers: where two prayers are joined in the time of one, as the afternoon with the noon prayer at Arafat, or the sunset with the night prayer at Muzdalifa, the adhan is called once for the first. This is the view of the Hanafis, the Hanbalis and the relied-on Shafi'i view; the better-known Maliki view is that each has its own adhan. ¹⁴ A mosque where the congregation has already prayed: the Shafi'is hold that late comers should call the adhan without raising the voice, to avoid confusion; the Hanbalis say that they call and set the iqama if they wish, or pray without an adhan; the Hanafis distinguish a mosque with known worshippers from a mosque on the road; the Malikis say that one who comes after the congregation prays without an adhan. ^{14 15}

More than one muezzin may serve one mosque, and more than two is not recommended, since the Prophet had two, Bilal and Ibn Umm Maktum; a report says that Uthman had four, and more is allowed where there is need. ¹⁵ When one voice reaches the people they call one after another, but where one voice does not suffice they call by need, each from a minaret or area, or all together if they fear that the beginning of the time will pass. ¹⁵

The jurists agree that the adhan is legislated for the obligatory prayers only, and it is not called for others such as the funeral prayer, the witr and the two festivals, because the adhan announces the entry of times, the obligatory prayers are the ones fixed to times, and supererogatory prayers follow them; the funeral prayer is not a prayer in the full sense, since it has no recitation, bowing or prostration. Jabir ibn Samura (may God be pleased with him) reported that he prayed the festival with the Prophet several times without an adhan or iqama. ^{15 16} For the festivals, eclipses, the rain prayer and tarawih when prayed in congregation, the Shafi'is call "the prayer is gathering" (al-salat jami'a), as do the Hanbalis for the festival, the eclipse and the rain prayer, and the Hanafis and Malikis for the eclipse, on the report of A'isha about the eclipse of the sun. ^{15 16}

It is recommended for the hearer to repeat what the muezzin says, on the saying "when you hear the caller, say what the caller says". ¹⁶ At "come to prayer" and "come to success" he says "there is no power nor strength except in God". The report of Umar gives the whole sequence, including the repetition of each phrase and the closing "there is no god but God" said from the heart. ¹⁶ At the tathwib he says "you have spoken truly and done well", then blesses the Prophet, then makes the supplication after the adhan, since supplication between the adhan and the iqama is not rejected. ¹⁶ The Malikis repeat only the last two testimonies, not the tarjia nor "prayer is better than sleep". ^{16 17}

The adhan was legislated in principle to announce prayers, but it may be recommended for other occasions for blessing, comfort or to remove a sudden worry. ¹⁶ Shafi'i jurists extended this: calling at a newborn's ear, for a troubled person, behind a traveller, at a fire, at the massing of an army, when ghouls appear, for a lost traveller, for one with a seizure, for an angry person or one of bad temper, and at lowering the dead into the grave. ¹⁷ The Hanbalis mention only the newborn's ear, and it is reported that the Prophet called in the ear of al-Hasan when Fatima bore him. Malik disliked these things and considered them innovations, while some Malikis cited the Shafi'i view and said there is no harm in acting on it. ¹⁷

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.), unsigned, defines adhan, "announcement", as the call to the Friday service and the five daily prayers. According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet, soon after his arrival in Medina, deliberated with his companions on how to announce the hour of prayer. Some proposed a horn or a clapper, the wooden board the eastern Christians used; but 'Abd Allah b. Zayd reported a dream in which the call was given from the mosque roof. Umar recommended that manner, the Prophet ordered it, and Bilal then made the call. Becker found the historical model of the adhan in Christian worship, and Mittwoch perhaps in Jewish liturgy. ¹⁸

The Sunni adhan has seven formulas, in which the first is repeated four times, the profession of faith twice, and the call to prayer and to salvation twice. The Malikis repeat the first formula two times, and the Hanafis forbid the repetition of the second and third formulas (tarji), and pronounce the morning addition, "prayer is better than sleep", at the end. The Shi'i adhan has an eighth formula, "come to the best work", a shibboleth by which inhabitants knew that the government had become Shi'i when it was called from the minarets. The Ibadis and the Hanbalites, followed by the Wahhabis, allow no melody, while others sing the adhan to any tune that does not spoil the words. The call to other public prayers has one formula, "come to the public prayer", and the ikama that precedes the prayer in the mosque repeats the adhan's formulas. The article notes that the call is also whispered into a newborn's right ear. ¹⁹