Обсуждение:Призыв к молитве

Ссылки

• Salim, Abdol-Amir and Umar, Suheyl, “Adhān and iqāma”, in: Encyclopaedia Islamica, Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. Consulted online on 19 October 2021.

Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

«Объявление», технический термин для призыва к богослужению в пятницу и пяти ежедневных халатов [см. Ṣalāt]. Согласно мусульманской традиции, Пророк вскоре после своего приезда в Мадину (1 или 2 года после ¶ Хиджры) обсудил со своими спутниками наилучший способ сообщить верующим час молитвы. Некоторые предложили, чтобы каждый раз, когда зажигался огонь, должен был быть рог или nāḳūs (т. Е. Длинный кусок дерева захлопнулся с другим куском дерева; с такими нанусами христиане на Востоке, используемые в то время, чтобы объявить час Молитва). Но один мусульманин, "Абд Аллах б. Зайд, связанный с тем, что он видел во сне кого-то, кто с крыши мечети призвал мусульман к молитве. "Умар рекомендовал этот способ объявить шалата, и, как все согласились, этот адхан был введен по приказу Пророка. С того времени верующие были созваны Билалом, и до наших дней адхан был призван во время халата. Беккер (Isl., 1912, 386 ft.) Находит историческую модель адхана в христианском поклоне, Миттвох (Abh.Pr., Ak.W., 1913, Phil.-hist. Classe, No. 2, 22 ff.) , Возможно, менее убедительно, в еврейской литургии. Адхан ортодоксального мусульманина состоит из семи формул, шестой из которых является повторением первого: 1. Аллаху акбар: «Аллах самый великий». 2. Ashhadu a lā ilāha illa llāh: «Я свидетельствую, что нет бога кроме Аллаха». 3. Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh: «Я свидетельствую, что Мухаммед — апостол Аллаха». 4. Ḥayya’ala l-ṣalāt: «Приходите к молитве»! 5. Hayya’ala l-falāḥ: «Придите ко спасению»! 6. Аллах акбар: «Аллах самый великий». 7. Lā ilāha illa llāh: «Нет Аллаха, кроме Аллаха». Первая формула повторяется четыре (по маликитам два раза) раз один за другим, остальные формулы повторяются дважды, кроме последних слов: lā ilāha illa 'llhh, которые произносятся только один раз. 2-я и 3-я формулы после произнесения дважды повторяются в третий раз громче. Это повторение (tardjī') обычно считается рекомендованным законом, только ханафиты запрещают его. В утренней молитве (ṣalāt al-ṣubḥ) в адхане добавляются слова аль-Шалат хайр мин аль-nawm («молитва лучше сна»). Эта формула, также выраженная два раза и называемая tathwīb (повторение), вставлена ​​между 5-й и 6-й формулами, но ханафиты произносят её в конце. Адхан шиитов отличается от суннитов тем, что у первого есть восьмая формула (вставленная между пятым и шестым): Ḥayya’alā khayr al-'amal, «Придите к лучшей работе»! Эти слова всегда были шибботом шиитов; Когда они были вызваны из минаретов в православной стране, жители знали, что правительство стало шиитом (см. Снук Хургронье, Мекка, 63, С. де Саси, Хрестоматия арабе, текст, стр. 60; 169). Шииты произносят также окончательную формулу два раза. Мусульмане, которые слышат адхан, должны повторять свои формулы, но вместо четвёртого и пятого они читают: lā ḥawla wa-lā ḳuwwata illā bi-willāh, «нет силы и силы, кроме Аллаха», а вместо Tathwīb формула утром адхан, они говорят: ṣadaḳta wa-bararta, «ты говорил правдиво и справедливо». За адханом следуют формулы прославления, которые рекомендуются и точно определяются законом. Они опускаются только после обращения к магрибу Халату, потому что пространство времени, в которое должна быть сказано эта молитва, очень короткое. Для адхана нет фиксированной мелодии. Каждый адхан может быть модулирован по желанию с любой известной мелодией при условии, что правильное произношение слов ¶ не нарушается им. Ср Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, ii, 87: "В Мекке одновременно слышится разный воздух. Как и декламация Ḳur'ān, пение адхана в Мекке — высокоразвитое искусство ". Только среди бандалитов есть врачи, которые не допускают мелодии для адхана, и ваххаби следуют этому учению. Ибханы тоже не поют адхан. [Мелодия адхана см. Также ghinā.] Каждый мусульманин, который в одиночку или вместе с другими читает вышеупомянутые халаты дома или в поле, должен произносить адхан громким голосом, как это рекомендовано законом (см. Снук Хургрунье, Мекканишский спринтертер и Редренсартен, 87 = Верспр. Geschr. V, 83). В мечетях для выполнения адхана часто назначается муаддхин [q.v.]. Призыв к другим общественным ṣalāts, например. Те из двух праздников, которые при солнечном и лунном затмениях и т. Д. Имеют только одну формулу: аль-Шалат дджамиатан, «приходят к публичной молитве»! Говорят, что эта формула уже была актуальна во времена Пророка. Ср I. Goldziher, в ZDMG, 1895, 315. Важную информацию о модификациях формул адхана, представленных в разное время и в разных местах от начала Ислама, можно найти в Махризи, Ḵhiṭaṭ. Ii, 269 f. Из-за профессии веры, часто возникающей в адхане, мусульмане произносят её в правом ухе ребёнка вскоре после её рождения (см. Лейн, арабское общество в средние века, 186; Снук Хургронье, Мекка, II, 138), А также в ухе людей, которые должны обладать джинами (злыми духами). Салату в мечети сразу предшествует второй призыв, iḳāma [q.v.], который содержит те же формулы, что и адхан.

«announcement», a technical term for the call to the divine service of Friday and the five daily ṣalāts [see ṣalāt ]. According to Muslim tradition, the Prophet, soon after his arrival at Madīna (1 or 2 years after the ¶ Hid̲j̲ra), deliberated with his companions on the best manner of announcing to the faithful the hour of prayer. Some proposed that every time a fire should be kindled, a horn should be belown or nāḳūs (i.e. a long piece of wood clapped with another piece of wood; with such a nāḳūs the Christians in the East used at that time to announce the hour of prayer) should be used. But one Muslim, ʿAbd Allāh b. Zayd, related that he saw in a dream somebody who from the roof of the mosque called the Muslims to prayer. ʿUmar recommended that manner of announcing the ṣalāt, and as all agreed to it, this ad̲h̲ān was introduced by order of the Prophet. From that time the believers were convoked by Bilāl, and up to our days the ad̲h̲ān is called out at the time of the ṣalāt. Becker (Isl ., 1912, 386 ft.) finds the historical model of the ad̲h̲ān in Christian Worship, Mittwoch (Abh.Pr . Ak.W ., 1913, Phil.-hist. Classe, No. 2, 22 ff.), perhaps less convincingly, in Jewish liturgy. The ad̲h̲ān of the orthodox Muslim consists of seven formulas, of which the sixth is a repetition of the first: 1. Allāhu akbar : «Allāh is most great». 2. As̲h̲hadu an lā ilāha illa ’llāh : «I testify that there is no god besides Allah». 3. As̲h̲hadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh : «I testify that Muḥammed is the apostle of Allāh». 4. Ḥayya ʿala ’l-ṣalāt : «Come to prayer»! 5. Hayya ʿala ’l-falāḥ : «Come to salvation»! 6. Allāh u akbar: «Allah is most great». 7. Lā ilāha illa ’llāh : «The is no god besides Allāh». The first formula is repeated four (by the Mālikites two) times one after the other, the other formulas are repeated twice each, except the last words: lā ilāha illa ’llāh, which are pronounced only once. The 2nd and 3rd formulas after being pronounced twice are repeated a third time in a louder voice. This repetition (tard̲j̲īʿ) is generally considered as recommended by the law, only the Hanafites forbid it. At the morning prayer (ṣalāt al-ṣubḥ) the words al-ṣalāt k̲h̲ayr min al-nawm («prayer is better than sleep») are added in the ad̲h̲ān. This formula, also pronounced two times and called tat̲h̲wīb (repetition), is inserted between the 5th and 6th formulas, but the Ḥanafites pronounce it at the end. The ad̲h̲ān of the S̲h̲īʿites differs from that of the Sunnites in that the former has an eighth formula (inserted between the fifth and the sixth): Ḥayya ʿalā k̲h̲ayr al-ʿamal, «Come to the best work»! These words have at all times been the shibboleth of the S̲h̲īʿites; when called from the minarets in an orthodox country, the inhabitants knew that the government had become S̲h̲īʿite (cf. Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, i, 63; S. de Sacy, Chrestomathie arabe i, text, p. 60; transl., p. 169). The S̲h̲īʿites pronounce also the final formula two times. The Muslims who hear the ad̲h̲ān must repeat its formulas, but instead of the fourth and fifth, they recite: lā ḥawla wa-lā ḳuwwata illā bi-’llāh, «there is no strength nor power but in Allāh», and instead of the tat̲h̲wīb formula in the morning ad̲h̲ān, they say: ṣadaḳta wa-bararta, «thou hast spoken truthfully and rightly». The ad̲h̲ān is followed by formulas of glorification which are recommended and precisely determined by the law. They are omitted only after the call to the mag̲h̲rib ṣalāt, because the space of time in which this prayer must be said, is very short. There is no fixed melody for the ad̲h̲ān. Every ad̲h̲ān may be modulated at will with any known tune, provided that the right pronunciation of the ¶ words is not impaired by it. Cf. Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, ii, 87: «In Mecca one hears different airs at the same time. Like the recitation of the Ḳurʾān, the singing of the ad̲h̲ān is in Mekka a highly developed art». Only among the Ḥanbalites there are doctors who do not allow any melody for the ad̲h̲ān, and the Wahhābīs follow this doctrine. The Ibāḍīs, too, do not sing the ad̲h̲ān. [For the melody of the ad̲h̲ān see also g̲h̲inā .] Every Muslim who, alone or with others, recites the above-mentioned ṣalāts at home or in the field should pronounce the ad̲h̲ān in a loud voice as is recommended by the law (cf. Snouck Hurgrunje, Mekkanische Sprichwōrter und Redensarten , 87 = Verspr . Geschr . v, 83). At mosques, a muʾad̲h̲d̲h̲in [q.v.] is often appointed to perform the ad̲h̲ān. The call to the other public ṣalāts, e.g. those of the two feasts, those at sun and moon eclipses, etc., has only one formula: al-ṣalāt d̲j̲āmiʿatan, «come to the public prayer»! This formula is said to have been current already in the time of the Prophet. Cf. I. Goldziher, in ZDMG, 1895, 315. Important information on the modifications of the ad̲h̲ān formulas introduced at various times and in various places from the beginning of Islām is to be found in Maḳrīzī, Ḵh̲iṭaṭ . ii, 269 f. Owing to the profession of faith frequently occurring in the ad̲h̲ān, the Muslims pronounce it in the right ear of a child shortly after its birth (cf. Lane, Arab. Society in the Middle Ages , 186; Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, ii, 138) as well as in the ear of people supposed to be possessed of d̲j̲inn (evil spirits). The ṣalāt in the mosque is immediately preceded by a second call, the iḳāma [q.v.], which contains the same formulas as the ad̲h̲ān.

Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE / Call to prayer

Призыв к молитве — призыв к молитве (адхан), по мнению мусульманских юристов, предназначен прежде всего для того, чтобы уверить верующих, что время для молитвы наступило, но оно также принимает участие в акте поклонения ('ibāda); таким образом, Малики и Шанбали считают, что действительное исполнение призыва к молитве требует соответствующего намерения (nīya). Желательно совершать адхан в состоянии ритуальной чистоты, хотя большинство ученых считают, что оно технически обосновано, даже если оно выполняется в состоянии значительного загрязнения (джанаба). Исполнение адхана заслуживает похвалы даже в тех случаях, когда нет необходимости сообщать другим о времени молитвы; Пророк провозглашает в ḥadīth: "Если вы среди своих овец или в пустыне и исполняете призыв к молитве, поднимите свой голос; насколько голос человека, выполняющего призыв к молитве, достигает человека, джинна или другого, но что он свидетельствует о нём в День Воскресения "(аль-Бухари, Шаши, К. аль-Адхан, bāb 5). Желательно, чтобы люди совершали призыв к молитве перед Шалатом, но, если кто-то совершает молитву после истечения назначенного времени (qaḍā'), нужно делать это под своим голосом, чтобы не путать других поклонников. В принципе, адхан, потому что это акт преданности Богу (qurba), не должен выполняться за заработную плату, но большинство юристов признали, что из-за его вклада в благосостояние мусульманской общины муаддхин мог получить стипендию из государственной казны или из благочестивого фонда (вакф). Действительно, пост муаддхина исторически обычно был платной позицией (король, 293—303). Икама, второй призыв к молитве, адресованный тем, кто уже собрался для поклонения, произносится непосредственно перед началом молитвы. В хорошо аутентифицированной Гадите говорится, что после хиджры в Медину люди собирались и ждали ежедневных молитв без формального сигнала. Обсуждая этот вопрос в один прекрасный день, кто-то предположил, что они используют колотушку (накусы), как христиане, а другую, что они используют рог, как евреи; "Умар (т. Е. Как халиф 13-23 / 634-44) предложил отправить человека на молитву (то есть своим голосом), и для этой цели Пророк выбрал освобожденного раба Билала (аль-Бухари, Шаши, K. al-Adhān, bāb 1). Более длинный рассказ, рассказываемый в Сире Ибн Исхака (d. 150/767), следует кратким экспериментам с колокольчиками и колокольчиками с эпизодом, в котором «Компаньон» Abdallāh b. Зайд мечтает о таинственной фигуре, которая наставляет его словами призыва к молитве; когда Билал исполняет адхан по указанию: "Умар спешит из своего дома и подтверждает, что он мечтал об одних и тех же словах (Ибн Хишам, 2: 149—150, Гийом, 235-6). Неудивительно, что имами-шийские рассказы о происхождении адхана не дают центральной роли «Умару»; один утверждает, что Гавриил учил Пророку адхана на Небесах по случаю ми’раджа, а другой — Гавриил, спустился и научил Пророка адхану в присутствии Али (Говард, 226). Говард предположил, исходя из сообщений о том, что Билал произнес простой призыв к молитве у входа в резиденцию Пророка, а затем, чтобы призвать Абу Бакра (т. Е. Как халиф 11-3 / 632-4) и «Умар», призыв к молитве был намного проще, чем классическая форма, записанная Ибн Исхаком и аль-Бухари (д. 256/870); он предполагает, что другие элементы были введены во время ранних завоеваний (Говард, 223, 225). Адхан состоит из следующих формул: Аллаху акбар («Бог величайший»), четыре раза (по словам Малика, только два); ashhadu a lā ilāha illā llhh («Я свидетельствую, что нет бога, кроме Бога»), дважды; ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh («Я свидетельствую, что Мухаммад — Посланник Бога»), дважды; ḥayya’alā al-ṣalāt («Приходите к молитве»), дважды; ḥayyaāalā al-falāḥ («Приходите к спасению»), дважды; Аллаху акбар («Бог самый великий»), дважды; lā ilāha illā llhh («Нет бога, кроме Бога»), однажды. Малики и шафии считают, что шахада («Я свидетельствую, что нет бога, кроме Бога» и «Я свидетельствую, что Мухаммад — Посланник Бога») должен быть произнесён тихо в первый раз и громко второй. Сунни вставляют в адхан для рассвета молитву татвив, аль-Шалат хайру мин аль-nawm («Молитва лучше сна»), повторяется дважды; этот элемент, как говорят, был введен после времени Пророка и одобрен «Умаром». Неудивительно, что Имами и Зайди Шии отвергают это; вместо этого Шии адхан включает в себя отличительную формулу ḥayya’alā khayr al-'amal («Приходите на лучшее из работ»), элемент призыва к молитве, который требовал Шии, был ликвидирован Умаром (Говард, 219). Кроме того, начиная с периода хафавидов, многие Имами Шии приложили к нему заявление ашхаду анна «Алиан вали Аллах» («Я свидетельствую, что» Али является другом Бога ") к стандартной шахаде в призыве к молитве. Это дополнение считалось неортодоксальным большинством имамистов периода до Ṣафавидов, и его принятие учеными после возникновения шафавидов, по-видимому, было обусловлено политическими соображениями и «давлением народной практики»; тем не менее, «даже в середине девятнадцатого века многие шииты отказались повторять это» (Таким, 175). Икама состоит из тех же основных формул, что и адхан, хотя между школами существует некоторое различие в мнениях относительно количества повторений) — с добавлением qad qāmat al-ṣalāt («молитва началась») сразу после фразы "прийти к молитве ". Поскольку общественное качество адхана делает его заметным показателем религиозной ортодоксии, поощряемой властями того времени, правители разных периодов определили свою работу в формах, отражающих их религиозные планы. В Ираке, в четвёртом / десятом веке, Шии Буиды заменили ḥayya’alā khayr al-'amal для аль-Шалат хайр мин аль-Навма на рассвете адхана (Стюарт, 120). В период Фахимидов, в Египте, призыв к молитве на рассвете включал благословения на халифа Фахимидов; «Когда Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin) восстановил суннизм в Египте, эта практика была отброшена, и муэдзины добавили к вам слово» мир вам, Посланник Бога «до рассвета, призывающего к молитве каждый день» — формула, которая была первой расширенный и позднее вставленный в каждый из пяти ежедневных призывов к молитве (Стилт, 76-7). Альмохады Испании адаптировали tathwīb в формулу на берберском языке (Fierro, 227). Такие вмешательства продолжались и в современный период. В Турции правительство Кемализма в 1932 году постановило, что призыв к молитве (туркменский эзан) должен быть исполнен на турецком языке, а его действие на арабском языке подвергается судебным санкциям до 1950 года. В настоящее время единый адхан регулируется правительством несколькими Страны с мусульманским большинством, включая Иорданию, Турцию и ОАЭ, но инициатива транслировать единый призыв к молитве в Египте в 2004 году не была реализована из-за публичных споров.

Call to prayer — The call to prayer (adhān) is, according to Muslim jurists, intended primarily to inform believers that the time for prayer has arrived, but it also partakes of the character of an act of worship (ʿibāda); thus, the Mālikīs and Ḥanbalīs hold that valid performance of the call to prayer requires appropriate intent (nīya). It is desirable to perform the adhān in a state of ritual purity, although most scholars hold that it is technically valid even if performed in a state of major pollution (janāba). Performance of the ādhān is meritorious even in cases in which there is no need to inform others of the time of prayer; the Prophet declares in a ḥadīth, «If you are among your sheep or in the desert and perform the call to prayer, raise your voice; as far as the voice of the person performing the call to prayer reaches, there is no human, jinn, or other thing but that it bears witness for him on the Day of Resurrection» (al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, K. al-Adhān, bāb 5). It is desirable for individuals to perform the call to prayer before ṣalāt, but, if one is performing a prayer after the expiration of the stipulated time (qaḍāʾ), one should do so under one’s voice to avoid confusing other worshippers. In principle, the adhān, because it is an act of devotion to God (qurba), should not be performed for a wage, but most jurists have conceded that, because of his contribution to the welfare of the Muslim community, a muʾadhdhin could receive a stipend from the public treasury or from a pious foundation (waqf). Indeed, the post of muʾadhdhin has, historically, usually been a paid position (King, 293—303). The iqāma, a second call to prayer addressing those already gathered for worship, is pronounced immediately before prayer begins. A well authenticated ḥadīth states that, after the hijra to Medina, people used to gather and await the daily prayers without a formal signal. Discussing the matter one day, someone suggested that they use a clapper (nāqūs), like the Christians, and another that they use a horn, like the Jews; ʿUmar (r. as caliph 13-23/634-44) suggested that a man be sent to call to prayer (i.e., with his voice), and for that task the Prophet chose the freed slave Bilāl (al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, K. al-Adhān, bāb 1). A longer narrative, recounted in the Sīra of Ibn Isḥāq (d. 150/767), follows brief experiments with bells and clappers with an episode in which the Companion ʿAbdallāh b. Zayd dreams of a mysterious figure who instructs him in the words of the call to prayer; when Bilāl performs the adhān as directed, ʿUmar hastens from his house and confirms that he has dreamt of the same words (Ibn Hishām, 2:149-150; Guillaume, 235-6). Unsurprisingly, Imāmī Shīʿī accounts of the origins of the adhān do not accord the central role to ʿUmar; one states that Gabriel taught the Prophet the adhān in Heaven, on the occasion of the miʿrāj, and another that Gabriel descended and taught the Prophet the adhān in the presence of ʿAlī (Howard, 226). Howard has suggested, based on reports that Bilāl pronounced a simple summons to prayer at the door of the Prophet’s residence—and later, to summon Abū Bakr (r. as caliph 11-3/632-4), and ʿUmar—that the original call to prayer was much simpler than the classical form recorded by Ibn Isḥāq and al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870); he hypothesises that the other elements were introduced at the time of the early conquests (Howard, 223, 225). The adhān consists of the following formulae: Allāhu akbar («God is greatest»), four times (according to Mālik, only two); ashhadu an lā ilāha illā llāh («I testify that there is no god but God»), twice; ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh («I testify that Muḥammad is the Messenger of God»), twice; ḥayya ʿalā al-ṣalāt («Come to prayer»), twice; ḥayya ʿalā al-falāḥ («Come to salvation»), twice; Allāhu akbar («God is most great»), twice; lā ilāha illā llāh («There is no god but God»), once. The Mālikīs and Shāfiʿīs hold that the shahāda («I testify that there is no god but God» and «I testify that Muḥammad is the Messenger of God») should be pronounced quietly the first time and loudly the second. Sunnīs insert into the adhān for the dawn prayer the tathwīb, al-ṣalāt khayru min al-nawm («Prayer is better than sleep»), repeated twice; this element is said to have been introduced after the Prophet’s time and approved by ʿUmar. Not surprisingly, Imāmī and Zaydī Shīʿīs reject it; instead, the Shīʿī adhān includes the distinctive formula ḥayya ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal («Come to the best of works»), an element of the call to prayer that Shīʿīs claim was eliminated by ʿUmar (Howard, 219). In addition, beginning in the Ṣafavid period, many Imāmī Shīʿīs appended the statement ashhadu anna ʿAlīyan walī Allāh («I testify that ʿAlī is the friend of God») to the standard shahāda in the call to prayer. This addition was considered heterodox by most Imāmī scholars of the pre-Ṣafavid period, and its acceptance by scholars after the rise of the Ṣafavids seems to have been motivated by political considerations and by «the pressure of popular practice»; nevertheless, «even in the middle of the nineteenth century, many Shīʿīs refused to recite it» (Takim, 175). The iqāma consists of the same basic formulae as the adhān—although there is some difference of opinion among schools about the number of repetitions)—with the addition of qad qāmat al-ṣalāt («prayer has commenced») immediately after the phrase «come to prayer.» Because the public quality of the adhān makes it a prominent indicator of the religious orthodoxy being promoted by the authorities of the time, rulers of various periods have decreed its performance in forms reflecting their religious agendas. In Iraq, in the fourth/tenth century, the Shīʿī Būyids substituted ḥayya ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal for al-ṣalāt khayr min al-nawm in the dawn adhān (Stewart, 120). In the Fāṭimid period, in Egypt, the dawn call to prayer included blessings on the Fāṭimid caliph; «when Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (Saladin) re-established Sunnism in Egypt, this practice was dropped and the muezzins added the phrase ‘peace upon you, Messenger of God’ before the dawn call to prayer each day»—a formula that was first extended and later inserted into each of the five daily calls to prayer (Stilt, 76-7). The Almohads of Spain adapted the tathwīb into a formula in the Berber language (Fierro, 227). Such interventions continued into the modern period. In Turkey, the Kemalist government decreed in 1932 that the call to prayer (Turk. ezan) be performed in Turkish, and its performance in Arabic was subject to legal penalties until 1950. At present, a unified adhān is regulated by the government in several Muslim-majority countries, including Jordan, Turkey, and the U.A.E., but an initiative to broadcast a unified call to prayer in Egypt in 2004 was not implemented because of public controversy.

Iequran / Call to Prayer

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Call to Prayer (adhān, iqāma, nidāʾ ilāl-ṣalāt)

Definitions and Usage

Origin and Context

Adhān and Iqāma

Technical Terms and Legal Questions

Other Forms

Answering the Call

Merits and Commentary

Bibliography

Definitions and Usage

Three terms denote the call to prayer:al-adhān, al-iqāma, and al-nidāʾ ilā l-ṣalāt:

Adhān (lit. “announcement”) is a nominal form derived from the weak stem (al-mahmūz al-awwal)ʾ-dh-n, and from the derived second stem adhdhana in the sense of “announcing the time of prayer”. The “ritual call to prayer is performed with the well-known formula prescribed by Sacred Law at prayer times” (Ibn Qudāma, Muqniʿ and al-Sharḥ al-kabīr, al-Adhān wal-iqāma).Strictly speaking, “The linguists say the fundamental meaning of adhān is notification (iʿlām) and announcement, as in And a proclamation (adhānun) from Allah and His Messenger (Q 9:3); it can also be called al-adhīn and al-taʾdhīn. Al-Jawharī adds that the one who calls to prayer (muezzin, muʾadhdhin) may be called al-adhīn, that is, one who announces the prescribed prayertimes; this noun ison the faʿīl pattern,although in the agential sense of mufaʿʿil” (Nawawī, Majmūʿ,Bāb al-adhān). The place from whereadhān is called is themiʾdhana(synonym of minaret,al-manāra and ṣawmaʿa, which originally denoted a hermit’s cell; cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyya, Muḥarrar and Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, sub Q 22:40) (Zabīdī, Tāj).

Iqāma (lit. “rising”) is a verbal noun derived from the root q-w-m, a stem IV (aqāma/yuqīmu/iqāmatan) “hollow verb”. It is the injunction to stand up for prayer, and in reciting this formula it is as if the muezzin has made the sitting Muslims rise to perform prayer, hence its name (Ibn Mufliḥ, Mubdiʿ, sub Bāb al-adhān).

al-nidāʾ ilā l-ṣalāt (lit. “the call to prayer”) is a synonym of adhān (Zabīdī, Tāj, subʾ-dh-n), and is a derivation from the weak stem n-d-w, yielding the stem III forms nādā/yunādī/nidāʾanor munādātan (Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān, sub n-d-w), literally meaning“raising of the voice”. It may also be vocalized nudāʾ(as withduʿāʾ; see Jawharī, Ṣiḥāḥ). The “call to prayer” came to be designated by the expressions“adhān” and “iqāma” (Rāghib, Mufradāt).

The terms adhān, iqāma, and al-nidāʾ ilā l-ṣalāt do not appear in the Qurʾān in their nominal forms; the former noun appears in the meaning of “announcement”in (Q 9:3) and the latter two appear in verbal constructions.The general injunction to perform prayer is normally expressed using imperative forms of the verb IV stem aqāma, as in the masculine singular perform the prayer (aqimil-ṣalāta) (Q 11:114; 17:78; 20:14; 29:45; 31:17); the feminine plural (aqimna) (Q 33:33); and the masculine(aqīmū) (Q 2:43, 83, 110; 4:77, 103; 6:72; 10:87; 22:78; 24:56; 30:31; 58:13; 73:20). Other phrases include those who perform prayer (aqāmūl-ṣalāta) (2:277; 7:170; 9:5, 11; 13:22; 22:41; 35:18); so you lead them in prayer (fa-qamtalahum) (Q 4:102); if you perform prayer (la-in aqamtumu-l-ṣalāta) (Q 5:12); to perform prayer (yuqīmūl-ṣalāta) (Q 14:31, 37; 98:5); and who perform prayer (yuqīmūna l-ṣalāta) (Q 2:3; 5:55; 8:3; 9:71; 27:3; 31:4).

The phrase call to prayer appears in two verses: And when you make the call to prayer (nādaytum ilā-ṣ-ṣalāti), they take it as ridicule and sport. That is because they are a people who do not understand (Q 5:58) and O you who believe,when the call to prayer is proclaimed (idhānūdiyalil-ṣalāti) on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of Allah (Q 62:9). The mention of the Friday prayer has special significance, as it constitutes the weekly prayer at which believers assemblein congregation at mosques, on the day every creation was perfected (Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr).

Origin and Context

There was no formal call to prayer during the Makkan period and the first months of the Madinan era as per a report fromʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar, Allah be well-pleased with him and his father, who said, “When the Muslims came to Madina, they assembled and estimated the time of the prayer, but no one called to it (wa laysayunādībihāaḥad)” (Muslim, Ṣalāt, badʾ al-adhān).

When the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, prayed with earlier prophets during the Night Journey (al-Isrāʾ) “at the Farthest Mosque (al-Masjid al-Aqṣā), where all [earlier] Prophets were assembled, an angel performed the call to prayer and the iqāma, and Messenger of Allah led them in the prayer; some say (qīla) that Jibrīl, upon him peace, descended with it. Kathīr b. Murraadds, Jibrīl called[to prayer] in the heavens and ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, Allah be well-pleased with him, heard it [in Makka]” (Sarakhsī, Mabsūṭ, Bāb al-adhān; for Kathīr b. Murra, see Dhahabī, Siyar, sub Kathīr b. Murra, no. 11) (see Angels; Night Journey and Ascension).

Before the adhān was instated, Muslims used to simply say, “the prayer is assembled”(al-ṣalātu jāmiʿa) to announce the time of prayer. After the Prophet’s Hijra to Madina and the change of the direction of ritual prayer from Jerusalem to Makka (see Qibla), the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, reflected on how to gather believers to congregate. Certain Companions suggested the use of a trumpet (būq) (or: a horn, as practiced by the Jewish communities), and others a bell (nāqūs), as used by the Christians (Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqāt, Dhikr al-adhān; Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, sub Q 5:58; cf. Q 2:144; see also Ibn Mājah, Sunan, Adhān wal-sunna fīh). The historian and Prophetic biographer Ibn Hisham explains the emerging events:

While they were searching for a solution [for how to call Muslims to prayer], ʿAbdullāh b. Zayd (see al-Dhahabī, Siyar 2:375, no. 79), the brother of Balḥārithb. al-Khazraj,dreamt the call (al-nidāʾ). He went to the Messenger of Allah, upon him blessings and peace, and said: “O Messenger of Allah,this night a nocturnal visitor appeared to me in my sleep. A man passed by me wearing two green garmentsand carrying in his hand a bell. I said to him: ‘O slave of Allah, will you sell this bell?’ He asked me what I would do with it. I answered: ‘We can call [people] to the prayer by means of it.’ He asked: ‘Shall I show you something that is better than this?’” And he told him the wording of the adhān. As he (i.e.ʿAbdullāh b. Zayd) informed the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, he said: “Verily, this is a true vision, if Allah wills, go and tell Bilāl these words. He should call to prayer, since he has a more euphonious voice than you.”

(Sīra, Dhikr al-Adhān; see also Tirmidhī, Sunan, Mā jāʾa fī badʾi-l-adhān; for ʿAbdullāh b. Zayd, see al-Dhahabī, Siyar 2:375, no. 79; Ibn Ḥajar,Iṣāba, sub ʿAbdullāh, who identifies him as ʿAbdullāh b. Zayd b. Thaʿlaba b. Zayd b. al-Ḥārith b. al-Khazraj al-Anṣārī; and Ibn al-Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, Bāb al-ʿayn wal-bāʾ, who identifies him as ʿAbdullāh b. Zayd b. Thaʿlaba b. ʿAbd Rabbih b. Zayd, from BanūJusham b. al-Ḥārith b. al-Khazraj)

ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 23/644), Allah be well-pleased with him, saw the same dream at the same time but when he relayed it to the Prophet in the morning hours (Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, sub Q 5:58), he said, “Praise be to Allah for this,”and added, “The Divine Inspiration (al-waḥy) came before you” (Ibn Hishām, Sīra, Dhikr al-adhān).

Explaining Q 5:58 (And when you call to prayer, they take it for a ridicule and sport. That is because they are a people who do not understand), exegetes recount the story of a certain Madinan Christian who said, upon hearing the adhān, “may fire destroy the liar”—and that night he and his family were themselves consumed in a house fire lit by a spark from a torch borne by his servant (Ibn Kathīr and Ṭabarī, Tafsīrs). The unbelievers are also said to haveenviously accused the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, of inventing something unprecedented, a call they compared to the crying of a caravan (ṣiyāḥ al-ʿīr). Such allegations were answered by the verseAnd who is better in speech than him who calls to Allah… (Q 41:33), which some commentators gloss as referring to the muezzin (Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, citing Qays b. Abī Ḥāzim; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr, citing Ibn ʿUmar and ʿIkrima) and adduce as a Qurʾānic proof-text for the adhān(Ibn ʿĀdil, Lubāb, sub Q 5:58).

Four Companions, Allah be well-pleased with them (see Companions of the Prophet), were appointed by the Prophet as the first muezzins in the history of Islam (Ibn al-Qayyim, Zād, Fī muʾadhdhinīhi ṣallā-Llāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam):

• in Madina, Bilāl b. Rabāḥ (Ibn al-Athīr, Usd al-ghāba, al-bāʾ wal-lām);
• in Madina, Ibn Umm Maktūm al-Qurashī al-ʿĀmirī, known in Iraq as ʿAmr and in Madina as ʿAbdullāh b. Qays b. Zāʾida b. al-Aṣamm b. Rawāḥa (al-Dhahabī, Siyar, vol. 1, no. 77);
• in Qubāʾ, Saʿd b. ʿĀʾidh, known also as Saʿd al-Qaraẓ, the client of ʿAmmār b. Yāsir (Ibn al-Athīr, Usd al-ghāba(see Clients and Patrons); and
• in Makka, Abū Maḥdhūra Aws b. Miʿyar b. Lawdhān b. Rabīʿa b. Saʿd b. Jumaḥ al-Jumaḥī (al-Dhahabī, Siyar, vol. 3, no. 24).

Adhān and Iqāma

The Qurʾānitself does not specify the ritual formula of the adhān or iqāma. The adhān dreamt by ʿAbdullāh b. Zayd and attested by the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, is the following:

1. Allāhu akbar(x4) (“Allah is the greatest”)
2. ashhadu an lā ilāhaillā-Llāh (x2) (“I testify that there is no god but Allah”)
3. ashhadu anna Muḥammadan Rasūlu-Llāh (x2) (“I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”)
4. ḥayya ʿalā-ṣ-ṣalāt (x2) (“come to prayer”) (ḥayya meaning “approach it and devote yourselves to it with all haste: Zabīdī, Tāj, sub ḥ-y-y)
5. ḥayya ʿalā-l-falāḥ (x2) (“come to salvation”)
6. al-ṣalātukhayrunmin al-nawm (only for the dawn prayer; x2) (“prayer is better than sleep”)
7. Allāhu akbar(x2) (“Allah is the greatest”)
8. lā ilāhaillā-Llāh (“there is no god but Allah”) (see Nasāʾī, Sunan, Adhān, kayfa-l-adhān; Dhahabī, Siyar, vol. 2, no. 79; Ibn Hishām, Sīra, Dhikr al-adhān; Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqāt, Dhikr al-adhān; Ibn Qudāma, al-Kāfī, Bāb al-adhān; al-Shīrāzī, al-Muhadhdhab, al-Adhān wal-iqāma, Ibn Rushd, Bidāya, Fī ṣifat al-adhān).

The form of the iqāma, which immediately precedes the beginning of prayer, is provided in fiqh manuals and traditions:

1. Allāhuakbar (x2)
2. ashhadu an lā ilāhaillā-Llāh
3. ashhaduannaMuḥammadanrasūla-Llāh
4. ḥayya ʿalā-l-ṣalāt
5. ḥayya ʿalā-l-falāḥ
6. qadqāmati-l-ṣalāt (x2, except in the Mālikī School:Ibn Rushd, Bidāya, al-Faṣl al-thānī fī-l-iqāma) (“the prayer begins herewith”)
7. Allāhuakbar (x2)
8. lā ilāhaillā-Llāh

Technical Terms and Legal Questions

The formulas employed in adhān and iqāma are referred to with distinct technical terms in Islamic literature. The phrase Allāhu akbar (i and vii above) is known as al-takbīr. The two testimonies proclaiming the oneness of Allah and the messengerhood of Muḥammad, upon him blessings and peace (ii and iii above respectively), are known as al-shahādatān. The phrases ḥayya ʿalā-l-ṣalāt and ḥayya ʿalā-l-falāḥ (iv and v above) are referred to as al-ḥayʿala (Zabīdī, Tāj, subḥ-y-ʿ-l). The phrase al-ṣalātu khayrmin al-nawm (vi in adhān above) is known as al-tathwīb (Zabīdī, Tāj, sub th-w-b).The phrase lā ilāhaillā-Llāh (viii above) is known as tahlīl (derived from stem II of h-l-l; hallala/yuhallilu/tahlīlan) (Zabīdī, Tāj, subh-l-l).

The additional phrase for the fajr prayer adhān (tathwīb: al-ṣalātukhayrmin al-nawm, “prayer is better than sleep”) is attested by the report of Bilāl, Allah be well-pleased with him, the muezzin of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace: “Allah’s Messenger, upon him blessings and peace, ordered me to include the tathwīb in the early morning prayer and not to include it for the late night prayer” (Ibn Qudāma, Sharḥ, Adhān; another report, also from Bilāl: “You must not include the tathwīb before any prayer except the early morning prayer,” in Tirmidhī, Sunan, Ṣalāt, mājāʾ fī-l-tathwīb fī-l-fajr).

The adhān is recited deliberately (tarassul) but the iqāma more rapidly (ḥadr). Commentators explain that tarassul is a synonym of ittaʾada, meaning “to act slowly and to proceed deliberately” (Zabīdī, Tāj, subr-s-l), or more specifically “slowness, deliberateness (al-tamahhul), and leisureliness (al-taʾannī), as it is said that ‘someone came slowly’ (jāʾafulān ʿalā rislih)” (Ibn Qudāma, al-Sharḥ, Iqāma, masʾala wa yustaḥabb an yatarassal). Jābirb. ʿAbdullāh (d. 78/697) transmitted that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said, “O Bilāl, when you call the adhān, pronounce your call slowly. And when you call the iqāma, pronounce it more quickly. And leave between the adhān and iqāma as much time as is sufficient for someone eating to finish his meal and for someone drinking to finish his drink” (Tirmidhī, Sunan, Abwāb al-ṣalāt, mājāʾ fī-l-tarassul wal-adhān). ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, Allah be well-pleased with him, instructed the muezzin, “When you make the adhān, pronounce it slowly, and when you make the iqāma,be quick (cf.Zabīdī, Tāj, subḥ-dh-m); the reason for this is that the adhān is an announcement to those who are not close by and [pronouncing it] in a leisurely fashion enables it to reach more [people]; whereas the iqāma is an announcement to those present” (Ibn Qudāma, al-Sharḥ, Iqāma, masʾala wa yustaḥabb an yatarassal).

The legal schools discuss whether ritually calling the Muslims to prayer is an individual duty (farḍʿayn) or a collective duty (farḍkifāya).The Ḥanafī School considers it a “confirmed practice”(sunnamuʾakkada) for the five daily prayers and the Friday prayer alike (Kāsānī, Badāʾiʿ, Kitāb al-ṣalāti fī wājibāt al-ṣalāti; Marghīnānī, Hidāya, Kitāb al-ṣalāt, Bāb al-adhān;Ibn al-Humām, Sharḥ Fatḥ al-qadīr, Bāb al-adhān). The Mālikī School holds that it is obligatory at great communal mosques (masājid al-jamāʿāt), another opinion being that it is aconfirmed practice (Ibn Rushd, Bidāya, Adhān, al-qism al-thānī). The Shāfiʿī School has three positions: the majority hold that it is a recommended practice (sunna); a minority holds that it is a collective obligation; and a third, conciliatory position holds that it is a collective obligation for the Friday congregational prayer but a sunna in all other cases (al-Rāfiʿī, al-ʿAzīz, Fīl-adhān; al-Ramlī, Nihāyat al-muḥtāj,Faṣl fī bayān al-adhān wal-iqāma;see also Ibn Rushd, Bidāya, Adhān, al-qism al-thānī). The Ḥanbalī School holds it to be a collective obligation (Ibn Qudāma, al-Kāfī, Bāb al-adhān; al-Buhūtī, Kashshāf, al-Adhān wal-iqāma). Ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198) defines its legal status as a confirmed practice (sunna muʾakkada) for both individuals and groups (Bidāya, al-Faṣl al-thānī fī-l-iqāma).

By consensus,the adhān cannot be performed before the prescribed time of the prayer it annnounces. The Mālikī and Shāfiʿī Schools make an exception for the dawn prayer (fajr), but Ḥanafīs rejected this view: “If the call to prayer is pronounced before its proper time… for if the call were permitted before its time, one could perform all five times calls before the dawn prayer for all five daily prayers. No one allows this…Abū Yūsuf said that it was acceptable to pronounce the call to the dawn prayer at any time in the second half of the night, based on the practice of Bilāl, who would call to the dawn prayer during the night” (al-Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūṭ, Bāb al-adhān, wa-in adhdhanaqabldukhūl al-waqt; see also Ibn Rushd, Bidāya, al-Qism al-thālith, fī waqtih). Al-Qurṭubī (600-671/1204-1273) writes, “the exception is in the case of the dawn prayer; the adhān may be called before dawn according to the opinion of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, and Abū Tawr. Their proof is the saying of Allah’s Messenger [regarding fasting]: ‘Bilāl performed the adhān by night, and eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktūm performs the call (i.e. the iqāma)”(Tafsīr, sub Q 5:58).

The basic requirements for the performance of adhān, as based on various hadiths, include that one be standing (qāʾiman) (since the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, told Bilāl, Allah be well-pleased with him, “arise and sound the adhān” (qum fa-adhdhin)); in a state of ritual purity (mutaṭahhiran) (based on the hadith, “only a person in a state of ablution (mutawaḍḍiʾ) can make the call to prayer”)—except for the Ḥanafī School: Kāsānī, Badāʾiʿ, Kitāb al-ṣalāti, fīmāyarjiʿu ilā ṣifāt al-muʾadhdhin; standing in an elevated place(ʿalā mawḍiʿʿālin) (see Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, Bāb al-adhānfawq al-manāra); and facing the qibla (Ibn Qudāma, Muqniʿ, Masʾalayuʾadhdhinuqāʾiman).

Despite Abū Ḥanīfa’s early position, which became a minority view in the Ḥanafī School, allowing adhān to be given in Persian in communities where an Arabic adhān would not be understood, scholarly opinion does not permit pronouncing the adhān in any other language (Nawawī, Majmūʿ, al-Adhān, farʿ, al-thāmina). The formula is juridically prescribed in its “specific form (ʿalā wajh makhṣūṣ) and in specific words…in the form presented by the Angel descending from heaven” (Ibn Ābidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār, Kitāb al-ṣalāt, bāb al-adhān). From 1932 to 1950, the Turkish Republic of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) outlawed the use of Arabic and adhān was called in Turkish during this time.

Other Forms

New forms of the call to prayer appeared in Egypt under the Shīʿite Fāṭimid caliphate (r. 362-566/973-1171). The historian and geographer Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-Maqrīzī (765-845/1364-1442) writes:

Egypt used the form of the People of al-Madīna in the mosque of ʿAmr in Fusṭāṭ, in the mosque of al-ʿAskar, in the mosque of Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn, and in other mosques as well, but when Jawhar [b. ʿAbdullāh Abūl-Ḥasan al-Rūmī] al-Qāʾid (d. 381/992, general of the Fāṭimid Army; cf.al-Dhahabī, Siyar, vol. 16, no. 342) entered Egypt leading the army of al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh, on Friday, 8 Jumādā al-ūlā, 359, the Muslims prayed in the Mosque of Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn and the following words were added to the call to prayer: “Come to the best of deeds!” (ḥayya ʿalā khayr al-ʿamal)…In Aleppo during the reign of Sayf al-Dawla b. Ḥamdān, in the year 347, for the first time the phrase “And Muḥammad and ʿAlī are the best of humankind!” (wa Muḥammad wa ʿAlī khayr al-bashar) were also added to the call to prayer. (Khiṭaṭ, Dhikr al-adhān bi-Miṣr)

The phrase“Come to the best of deeds!” is still used by Shīʿite Muslims in their call to prayer.

Answering the Call

Exegetes, hadith scholars, and jurists agree that one who hears the call to prayer (adhān and iqāma both) should answer it according to a set formula (Ibn Rushd, Bidāya, Adhān, al-qism al-khāmis). According to the first of two opinions regarding the adhān, one should repeat its phrases, as based on a hadith report transmitted by Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (d. ca.65/684), Allah be well-pleased with him: “When you hear the call to prayer, say the like of what the muezzin says” (Bukhārī, Mā yaqūlu idhā samiʿa al-munādiya; Muslim, istiḥāb al-qawl mithl qawl al-muʾadhdhin). Thus, al-Khiraqī (d. 334/945), an early Ḥanbalī authority, says, “It is preferable that he who hears the call to prayer say the same words as in the call to prayer” (Mukhtaṣar, Bāb al-adhān).

The second opinion, accepted by the vast majority in the four extant Sunni legal schools, is based on other hadiths. ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (d. 23/644) reported:

Allah’s Messenger, upon him blessings and peace, said: When the muezzin says“Allah is the greates, Allah is the greatest,”let all of you say,“Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest”. Then he says “I testify that there is no god but Allah,” and you say “I testify that there is no god but Allah”. And when he says,“I testify that Muḥammad is the messenger of Allah,” you say“I testify that Muḥammad is the messenger of Allah”. When he says “come to prayer,” you say “there is no ability or power except with Allah”. And when he says “come to salvation,” you answer by saying “there is no ability or power except through Allah”. He says, “Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest,” and you say “Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest”. And he says “there is no god but Allah,” you answer the call by [saying] “there is no god but Allah”)—[anyone of you who does this]from his heart will enter Paradise. (Muslim, Ṣalāt, istiḥbāb al-qawl mithl qawl al-muʾadhdhinlimansamiʿahuthummayuṣallī; Nawawī, Majmūʿ, Adhān; Ibn Qudāma, Muqniʿ, Adhān, masʾala wa yustaḥabb li-man samiʿa al-muʾadhdhin)

Regarding the iqāma’s singular phrase “the prayer begins henceforth”, those present are recommended to follow the Prophet’s practice as in the hadith transmitted by Abū Umāma, Allah be well-pleased with him: “Bilāl began the iqāma, and when he pronounced these words qadqāmatil-ṣalāt, the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said, ‘May Allah establish it; and may He make it endure’ (aqāma-hā-Llāhu wa adāma-hā)” (Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, Mā yaqūluidhāsamiʿa al-adhān).

Regarding what to say after the adhān has been called, as transmitted by Jābir b. ʿAbdullāh (d. 78/697), Allah be well-pleased with him,the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said:

Whoever pronounces this supplication when he hears the call to prayercan expect my intercession on the Day of Resurrection: “O Allah, our Lord! Lord of this perfect call and of this imminent prayer. Give Muḥammad intercession and surpassinglyhigh rank (al-martabat al-zāʾida, as interpreted by Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (773-852/1371-1449); see al-Suyūṭī,Sharḥ Sunan al-Nasāʾī, al-Duʿāʾʿindal-adhān) [some versions add: and the praiseworthyrank] and raise him to the blessed position that You promised Him. Verily, You never breakYour promise” (AllāhummaRabbahādhihi-l-daʿwati-l-tāmmati wa-ṣ-ṣalāti-l-qāʾimatiātiMuḥammadan al-wasīlata wal-faḍīlata [wa-l-darajata al-rafīʿata] wa-bʿathhuma qāman maḥmūdan alladhī waʿadtahu. Innaka lā tukhliful-mīʿād). (Bukhārī, Adhān,al-duʿāʾʿindal-nidāʾ; Ibn Qudāma, Muqniʿ, Adhān)

Merits and Commentary

The five daily prayers constitute one of the most fundamental acts of worship in Islam. The Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said: “What stands between a person and idolatry and disbelief is not neglecting the prayer” (Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ, Bayāniṭlāq ism al-kufr ʿalā man taraka al-ṣalāt). The call to the prayer itself takes on something of the former’s momentousness, as Hadith and commentaries indicate.

In a hadith transmitted by Ibn ʿAbbās (3bh-68/619-688), Allah be well-pleased with him, the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, said, “He who performs the call to prayer for seven years, making his efforts in anticipation of Allah’s reward in the Hereafter, exemption from Hellfire will be decreed for him” (Tirmidhī, Sunan, Ṣalāt, mājāʾa fī faḍl al-adhān).

Jābir, Allah be well-pleased with him, said, “I heard the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, say, ‘Verily, the Devil runs away when he hears the call to prayer, and does not stop until he reaches the place called al-Rawḥāʾ (a place 36 miles from Madīna: Yāqūt, Buldān, al-Rawḥāʾ)’” (Muslim, Faḍl al-adhān wa harab al-shayṭānʿindasamāʿih).

Prophetic traditions also praise those who call to prayer: “The muezzins will have the longest necks on the Day of Resurrection” (Muslim, Faḍl al-adhān wa harab al-shayṭānʿindasamāʿihi). Abū Bakr b. Abī Dāwūd reported from his father that this hadith means that muezzins’ necks will not shrivel for thirst on the Day of Resurrection (Bayhaqī, Sunan, Targhīb fī-l-adhān).

Kaʿb reported the hadith, “For the one who performs the adhān, seventy good deeds will be recorded; but if he performs iqāma[instead], it is even better” (Ibn Abī Shayba, Muṣannaf, al-Ṣalāt, fī faḍl al-adhān wa thawābih).

Abū Hurayra, Allah be well-pleased with him, said, “Allah’s Messenger, upon him blessings and peace, said: the imam is a guarantor (ḍāmin) and the muezzin is one entrusted (muʾtaman). O Allah, our Lord, guide the imams and forgive the muezzins” (Abū Dāwūd, Sunan, Mā yajib ʿalā l-muʾadhdhin min taʿāhud al-waqt).

Ibn ʿUmar said, “Allah’s Messenger, upon Him blessings and peace, said,‘Paradise is decreed for the one who performs adhān for twelve years; and every day, sixty good deeds will be recorded for him for his calling to prayer, and for every iqāma thirty good deeds’” (Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, sub Q 5:58; Ibn Mājah, Sunan, Adhān wal-sunna fīhi, man adhdhanathintayʿashratasana).

The jurist and hadith scholar al-QāḍīʿIyāḍ (471-544/ca.1078-1149) comments on the components of the call to prayer:

One should know that the adhān is a formula that sums up in full (kalāmjāmiʿ) the creed of faith. It comprises components known by intellect and by transmission. The introductory section is affirmation of the Essence and of all the attributes of perfection that are of His nature, and His being free of attributes that constitute their contraries, expressed by the words Allah is the greatest. This expression, despite its concision, refers to all we mentioned. Then it expresses the unity and oneness [of Allah] and denies the partnership that is impossible with regard to Him, be He exalted. This is the pillar of faith and of monotheism, placed above all other religious duties. Then it announces the affirmation of the prophethood and the testimony to the message of our Prophet, upon him blessings and peace; this is an outstanding principle following the confession of [Allah’s] oneness; its place is right after the confession of monotheism. These premises belong to the obligatory category. By these principles the articles of creed known by reason are completed, concerning what is binding, impossible, or permitted with respect to Him, be He exalted. Then it calls to other acts of worship; it calls to the prayer, which is placed after the corroboration of prophethood, since we know of the obligatory nature [of the prayer] from the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, not by rational means. Then, it calls [us] to salvation and deliverance, meaningtriumph and abiding in perpetual bliss; this contains indications of the Hereafter, Resurrection, and Reward…It ends by the repetition of His name at the moment one begins performing the prayer in his heart and with his tongue. By the adhān, the believer enters his prayer with firm proof of and clarityin his faith. He feels the significance of his act, the exaltedness of Him Whom he is worshiping, and the abundant reward He gives. (Nawawī, Majmūʿ, Bāb al-adhān; see also hisSharḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-ṣalāt, bābistḥbāb al-qawl mithl qawl al-muʾadhdhin li-man samiʿah)

Ibn Ḥajar elucidates merits of the adhān:

Despite being only a few words, the call to prayer comprises many aspects of creed. It begins with confirming the superlative greatness [of Allah] (al-akbariyya), which includes the existence and perfection of Allah. This is followed by [the declaration of His] Oneness and by rejecting [the possibility of a] partner, followed by the affirmation of the prophethood of Muḥammad, upon him blessings and peace. Then, after the two testimonies, it calls to obedience which is specified in the message [of Islam], since this [obedience] can be known only from the Prophet. Then it invites to the salvation that lies in abiding forever and this points to the place of return (al-maʿād, namely Paradise). (Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥ al-bārī, Adhān, badʾ al-adhān)

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