{"collection":"Islam","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/hadith/had09.htm","path":"isl/hadith/had09.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/isl/hadith/had09.htm","text":"The adh\u0101n (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 iq\u0101mah (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 adh\u0101n and the iq\u0101mah were introduced after the flight to Mad\u012bnah. But the adh\u0101n is not only an announcement to the people to gather together for prayer; it is as well a declaration of the principles of Isl\u0101m, 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 Isl\u0101m is and what it stands for. In the shah\u0101dah there is a declaration of the basic principles of Isl\u0101m that there is no god but All\u0101h--God is only One--and that Muhammad is the Messenger of All\u0101h. In the takb\u012br there is the declaration that All\u0101h is the greatest of all and that, therefore a Muslim bows before none but Allah--All\u0101hu Akbar the watchword of Isl\u0101m is repeated no less than six times in the adh\u0101n. In hayya 'ala-l-sal\u0101 (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-fal\u0101h (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.\nThe adh\u0101n 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 Isl\u0101m 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\nand blessings of All\u0101h be on him, are the fundamental principles Isl\u0101m, and that any one can attain to complete self-development through the realization of the divine in him, which is brought about by prayer.\nMuslims must give up all business on hearing the call for prayer (v. 1). How adh\u0101n was started is stated in hh. 1, 2, while h. 3 gives the words of the adh\u0101n and h. 4 the words of the iq\u0101mah. Hh. 5-8 relate to the mode of delivery of the adh\u0101n, while hh. 9, 10 show that the adh\u0101n 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 adh\u0101n 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 adh\u0101n should be repeated when it is being delivered, and a prayer must be offered after it has been delivered (hh. 14-16). The adh\u0101n 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 iq\u0101mah.\n1 It is reported about Ibn 'Umar that he used to say,\nThe Muslims when they came to Mad\u012bnah 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\nyou not appoint a man who should sound a call for the prayer.1 The Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said, \"O Bil\u0101l! get up and give a call for prayer.\"\n(B. 10:1.)\n2 Anas said,\nWhen 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\n1. It appears from other had\u012bth 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 had\u012bth 'Abd All\u0101h ibn Zaid was shown in a vision how to give a call for prayer. So when the Messenger of All\u0101h came the next day, he informed him: O Messenger of All\u0101h! I was half asleep and half awake when there came to me one who showed me how to deliver the adh\u0101n. The narrator of the Had\u012bth added, 'Umar had been shown it twenty days previously but concealed it, then he informed the Holy Prophet (AD. 2:27). Bukh\u0101r\u012b 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 All\u0101h and 'Umar as some reports show--which gave the sanction to the adh\u0101n.\nring a bell. Then Bil\u0101l was commanded to callout the adh\u0101n, repeating the words, and to say the iq\u0101mah, uttering the words only once.\n(B. 10:2.)\n3 Ab\u016b Mabdh\u016brah said,\nI said, O Messenger of All\u0101h! Teach me the way of delivering the adh\u0101n. He said, So he touched his forehead (and) said:\n\"Thou shouldst say:\n'All\u0101h is the Greatest, All\u0101h is the Greatest, All\u0101h is the Greatest, All\u0101h is the Greatest.'\nThou shouldst raise thy voice with it; then thou shouldst say,\n'I bear witness that there is no God but All\u0101h, I bear witness that there is no God but All\u0101h, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of All\u0101h, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of All\u0101h.'\nThou shouldst lower\nthy voice with it; then thou shouldst raise thy voice with the bearing of witness,\n'I bear witness that there is no God but All\u0101h, I bear witness that there is no God but All\u0101h, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of All\u0101h, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of All\u0101h. Come to prayer, Come to prayer; Come to success, Come to success'.\nThen if it is the morning prayer, thou shouldst say, 'Prayer is better than sleep' 'Prayer is better than sleep';\n(Then thou shouldst say),\n'All\u0101h is the Greatest, All\u0101h is the Greatest, there is no God but All\u0101h.'\"2\n(AD-Msh. 4:4.)\n2. The repetition of the shah\u0101dah a second time as stated in this had\u012bth is known as tarj\u012b' (lit. returning to a thing again and again). As the previous had\u012bth and the one that follows show, the general practice in the Holy Prophet's time was that the adh\u0101n consisted of fifteen sentences, All\u0101hu-Akbar four times, ashhadu an l\u0101 il\u0101ha illa-ll\u0101h twice, ashhadu anna Muhammadan Ras\u016blu-ll\u0101h twice (both sentences beginning with ashhadu are known as the shah\u0101dah) hayya 'ala-l-sal\u0101 (pronounced 'ala-s-sal\u0101) twice (turning the face to the right), hayya 'ala-l-fal\u0101h twice (turning the face to the left), All\u0101hu Akbar twice and l\u0101 il\u0101ha illa-ll\u0101h once. The tarji' or repeating the two shah\u0101dah sentences twice again in a still louder voice seems to have been resorted to only occasionally. In the adh\u0101n for the morning prayer the sentence al-sal\u0101tu (pronounced as-sal\u0101t) khair-un mina-l-naum (pronounced mina-n-naum) was added after hayya 'ala-l-fal\u0101h, and repeated twice.\n4 Ibn 'Umar said,\nIn the time of the Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, (sentences of) the adh\u0101n used to be repeated twice, and (those of) the iq\u0101mah (were uttered) only once, with this exception that he used to say, Prayer is ready, Prayer is ready.3\n5 Sa'd reported that\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, commanded\n3. As compared with the adh\u0101n, the sentences were uttered only once in the iq\u0101mah, according to this Had\u012bth. the significance being that sentences that were uttered twice in the adh\u0101n were uttered once in the iq\u0101mah. The iq\u0101mah thus consists of All\u0101hu Akbar being uttered twice--in the adh\u0101n it is uttered four times--each of the shah\u0101dah sentences once, hayya 'ala-l-sal\u0101 and hayy'ala-l-fal\u0101h each once (without turning to right or left), qad q\u0101mati-l-sal\u0101 twice, All\u0101hu Akbar and l\u0101 il\u0101ha illa-ll\u0101h once.\nBut the iq\u0101mah may also consist of all the sentences of the adh\u0101n with the addition in its proper place of qad q\u0101mati-l-sal\u0101 uttered twice. Between the delivery of the adh\u0101n and the iq\u0101mah there is another difference. The sentences of the adh\u0101n are delivered leisurely and in as loud a voice as possible, while the delivery of the iq\u0101mah is marked by quickness.\nBil\u0101l to put his two forefingers into his ears (when delivering the adh\u0101n); this, he said, would help in the raising of thy voice.\n(IM-Msh. 4:4.)\n6 It is related about Bil\u0101l that he put his two forefingers into his ears (when delivering the adh\u0101n), while Ibn 'Umar did not put his fore-fingers into his ears;4 and Ibr\u0101h\u012bm said, There is no harm in delivering the adh\u0101n without performing ablution; and 'At\u0101' said, Ablution is necessary and it is the (Prophet's) practice.\n(B. 10:19.)\n7 Ab\u016b Juhaifah said,\nThat he saw Bil\u0101l delivering the adh\u0101n. (He said), So I followed him when he turned his face to one side and to the other in the adh\u0101n.\n4. Fore-fingers are not put into ears in the iq\u0101mah.\n8 M\u016bs\u0101 said,\nI saw Bil\u0101l (when) he went forth to the Abtah and delivered the adh\u0101n, so when he reached hayya 'ala-l-sal\u0101, hayya 'ala-fal\u0101h, he turned his neck to the right side and to the left and did not turn round.5\n(AD. 12:34.)\n9 A woman of the Ban\u012b Najj\u0101r said,\nMy house was the highest house in the environs of the mosque and Bil\u0101l used to deliver the morning adh\u0101n on it.6\n(AD. 2:31)\n10 'Abd All\u0101h reported ... that\nAbu Sa'\u012bd Khudr\u012b said to him, I see thee living\n5. With hayya 'ala-l-sal\u0101, the mu'adhdhin turns his face to the right side and with hayya 'ala-l-fal\u0101h to the left.\n6. A high place, the top of a house or a minaret, would carry the voice farthest.\namong goats and in the desert, so when thou are among thy goats or in thy desert and deliverest the adh\u0101n for prayer, raise thy voice with the adh\u0101n, 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\n(B. 10:5.)\n11 Ab\u016b Hurairah said, The Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n\"The Im\u0101m is a surety and the deliverer of the adh\u0101n is one in whom confidence is placed;8 O All\u0101h! direct aright the leaders of prayer and grant protection to the deliverers of the adh\u0101n.\"\n(AD. 2:32)\n7. The voice in delivering the adh\u0101n should be raised as high as possible.\n8. The had\u012bth speaks of the im\u0101m as dz\u0101min, being as it were a surety that prayers are observed in the right manner; and it speaks of the mu'adhdhin (one p. 98 who delivers the adh\u0101n) 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.\n12 Uthm\u0101n ibn Abi-l-'\u0100s said,\nO Messenger of All\u0101h! Make me the im\u0101m of a people. He said:\n\"Thou art their im\u0101m and do thou follow the weakest of them9 and appoint a mu'adhdhin who does not take any remuneration for his adh\u0101n.\"10\n(AD. 2:39.)\n13 Abu Hurairah said,\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, commanded us (saying):\n\"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.\"\n(Ah-Msh. 4:23.)\n9. The im\u0101m should have regard for the weakest and make his prayer so light that the weakest man may not feel it a burden.\n10. Isl\u0101m thus requires that a duty which relates to the prayers should be performed out of love.\n14 Ab\u016b Sa'\u012bd Khudr\u012b reported that\n\"When you hear the adh\u0101n, say what the mu'dhdhin says.\"\n(B. 10:7)\n15 Yahy\u0101 said,\nSome of our brethren related to me that when he (Mu'\u0101wiyah) heard the words, Come to prayer, he said, There is no strength nor power but in All\u0101h, and he said, Thus did we hear your Prophet, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, say.11\n(B. 10:7.)\n16 J\u0101bir reported that The Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n11. Hayya 'ala-l-sal\u0101 being an order, the proper response to it is that given in this had\u012bth, When the adh\u0101n is being delivered, the hearer should repeat its sentences and when it is finished, be should offer the prayer mentioned in the next had\u012bth.\n\"Whoever says when he hears the adh\u0101n,\n'O All\u0101h! 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,'\nMy intercession will be due to him on the day of Resurrection.\"\n(B. 10:8.)\n17 'Abd All\u0101h reported on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, (who) said:\n\"Let not the adh\u0101n of Bil\u0101l prevent one of you from taking his breakfast,12 for he delivers the adh\u0101n while it is night, so that he may send back the one of you who is saying his\n12. \"Breakfast\" here means the meal taken before dawn when a man intends to fast. The had\u012bth thus allows the calling out of the adh\u0101n before the time of prayer. By prayer in the concluding portion is meant the tahajjud prayer.\nprayer or awaken the one who is sleeping.\"\n(B. 10:13.)\n18 Abd All\u0101h reported that The Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n\"Between every two adh\u0101ns, there is a prayer for him who likes.\"12 (He said this) thrice.\n(B. 10:14.)\n19 Ziy\u0101d said that\nHe delivered the adh\u0101n, and Bil\u0101l desired to call out the iq\u0101mah but the Prophet, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n\"O brother of Sud\u0101'! The one who calls out the adh\u0101n shall call out the iq\u0101mah.\",14\n(Ah. IV, 169.)\n13. By the two adh\u0101ns are meant the adh\u0101n and the iq\u0101mah. 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 had\u012bth says that there should be an interval such that a man taking his food may finish it, say, about a quarter of an hour.\n14. There may be exceptions to this general rule. Sud\u0101' is the name of a tribe in Yaman and Ziy\u0101d was a member of this tribe.","title":"A Manual of Hadith: Chapter VI: Adh\u0101n and Iq\u0101mah","type":"page"}