The adhān (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 iqāmah (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 adhān and the iqāmah were introduced after the flight to Madīnah. But the adhān is not only an announcement to the people to gather together for prayer; it is as well a declaration of the principles of Islām, 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 Islām is and what it stands for. In the shahādah there is a declaration of the basic principles of Islām that there is no god but Allāh--God is only One--and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh. In the takbīr there is the declaration that Allāh is the greatest of all and that, therefore a Muslim bows before none but Allah--Allāhu Akbar the watchword of Islām is repeated no less than six times in the adhān. In hayya 'ala-l-salā (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-falāh (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 adhān 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 Islām 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
(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 hadīth 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 hadīth 'Abd Allāh ibn Zaid was shown in a vision how to give a call for prayer. So when the Messenger of Allāh came the next day, he informed him: O Messenger of Allāh! I was half asleep and half awake when there came to me one who showed me how to deliver the adhān. The narrator of the Hadīth added, 'Umar had been shown it twenty days previously but concealed it, then he informed the Holy Prophet (AD. 2:27). Bukhārī 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 Allāh and 'Umar as some reports show--which gave the sanction to the adhān.
3 Abū Mabdhūrah said,
I said, O Messenger of Allāh! Teach me the way of delivering the adhān. He said, So he touched his forehead (and) said:
"Thou shouldst say:
'Allāh is the Greatest, Allāh is the Greatest, Allāh is the Greatest, Allāh is the Greatest.'
Thou shouldst raise thy voice with it; then thou shouldst say,
'I bear witness that there is no God but Allāh, I bear witness that there is no God but Allāh, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh.'
Thou shouldst lower
(AD-Msh. 4:4.)
2. The repetition of the shahādah a second time as stated in this hadīth is known as tarjī' (lit. returning to a thing again and again). As the previous hadīth and the one that follows show, the general practice in the Holy Prophet's time was that the adhān consisted of fifteen sentences, Allāhu-Akbar four times, ashhadu an lā ilāha illa-llāh twice, ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasūlu-llāh twice (both sentences beginning with ashhadu are known as the shahādah) hayya 'ala-l-salā (pronounced 'ala-s-salā) twice (turning the face to the right), hayya 'ala-l-falāh twice (turning the face to the left), Allāhu Akbar twice and lā ilāha illa-llāh once. The tarji' or repeating the two shahādah sentences twice again in a still louder voice seems to have been resorted to only occasionally. In the adhān for the morning prayer the sentence al-salātu (pronounced as-salāt) khair-un mina-l-naum (pronounced mina-n-naum) was added after hayya 'ala-l-falāh, and repeated twice.
(AD-Msh. 4:4.)
5 Sa'd reported that
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, commanded
3. As compared with the adhān, the sentences were uttered only once in the iqāmah, according to this Hadīth. the significance being that sentences that were uttered twice in the adhān were uttered once in the iqāmah. The iqāmah thus consists of Allāhu Akbar being uttered twice--in the adhān it is uttered four times--each of the shahādah sentences once, hayya 'ala-l-salā and hayy'ala-l-falāh each once (without turning to right or left), qad qāmati-l-salā twice, Allāhu Akbar and lā ilāha illa-llāh once.
But the iqāmah may also consist of all the sentences of the adhān with the addition in its proper place of qad qāmati-l-salā uttered twice. Between the delivery of the adhān and the iqāmah there is another difference. The sentences of the adhān are delivered leisurely and in as loud a voice as possible, while the delivery of the iqāmah is marked by quickness.
6 It is related about Bilāl that he put his two forefingers into his ears (when delivering the adhān), while Ibn 'Umar did not put his fore-fingers into his ears;4 and Ibrāhīm said, There is no harm in delivering the adhān without performing ablution; and 'Atā' said, Ablution is necessary and it is the (Prophet's) practice.
(B. 10:19.)
7 Abū Juhaifah said,
That he saw Bilāl delivering the adhān. (He said), So I followed him when he turned his face to one side and to the other in the adhān.
(B. 10:19.)
4. Fore-fingers are not put into ears in the iqāmah.
(AD. 12:34.)
9 A woman of the Banī Najjār said,
My house was the highest house in the environs of the mosque and Bilāl used to deliver the morning adhān on it.6
(AD. 2:31)
10 'Abd Allāh reported ... that
Abu Sa'īd Khudrī said to him, I see thee living
5. With hayya 'ala-l-salā, the mu'adhdhin turns his face to the right side and with hayya 'ala-l-falāh to the left.
6. A high place, the top of a house or a minaret, would carry the voice farthest.
(B. 10:5.)
11 Abū Hurairah said, The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"The Imām is a surety and the deliverer of the adhān is one in whom confidence is placed;8 O Allāh! direct aright the leaders of prayer and grant protection to the deliverers of the adhān."
(AD. 2:32)
7. The voice in delivering the adhān should be raised as high as possible.
8. The hadīth speaks of the imām as dzāmin, being as it were a surety that prayers are observed in the right manner; and it speaks of the mu'adhdhin (one
(AD. 2:39.)
13 Abu Hurairah said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh 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 imām should have regard for the weakest and make his prayer so light that the weakest man may not feel it a burden.
10. Islām thus requires that a duty which relates to the prayers should be performed out of love.
"When you hear the adhān, say what the mu'dhdhin says."
(B. 10:7)
15 Yahyā said,
Some of our brethren related to me that when he (Mu'āwiyah) heard the words, Come to prayer, he said, There is no strength nor power but in Allāh, and he said, Thus did we hear your Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say.11
(B. 10:7.)
16 Jābir reported that The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
11. Hayya 'ala-l-salā being an order, the proper response to it is that given in this hadīth, When the adhān is being delivered, the hearer should repeat its sentences and when it is finished, be should offer the prayer mentioned in the next hadīth.
