It is the first call summoningMuslims to enter the mosque for obligatory (fard) prayers (salawat); a second call, known as theiqama, summons those already in the mosque to assemble for prayer. Muslims are encouraged to stop their activities and respond to the adhan by performing prescribed prayers, demonstrating reverence for the call to prayer and commitment to their faith.[3]
The five prayer times are known in Arabic asfajr (فجر),dhuhr (ظهر),asr (عصر),maghrib (مغرب), andisha (عشاء). InTurkey, they are calledsabah, öğle, ikindi, akşam, andyatsı; the five calls to prayer are sung in differentmakams, corresponding to the time of day.[4] Onfridays, thedhuhr (ظهر) is called theJummah prayer (جمعة) orfriday prayer. It is considered the most important prayer ofIslam. InTurkey,Jummah is calledcuma namazı.
Adhān,Arabic for "announcement", from the rootadhina, meaning: "to listen, to hear, be informed about", is variously transliterated in different cultures.[1][2]
Islamic miniature depictingJibril providing instructions on how to perform the call to prayer to Muhammad (golden flame) as well asBilal ibn Rabah the first muezzin calling the Muslims to prayer from atop the Kaaba.
The muezzin (Arabic:مُؤَذِّنmuʾaḏḏin) is the person who recites the adhan[6][7]: 470 from themosque. Typically in modern times, this is done using a microphone:[8] a recitation that is consequently broadcast to the speakers usually mounted on the higher part of the mosque's minarets, thus calling those nearby to prayer. However, in many mosques, the message can also be recorded. This is due to the fact that the "call to prayer" has to be done loudly and at least five times a day. This is usually done by replaying previously recorded "call to prayer" without the presence of a muezzin.
This way, the mosque operator has the ability to edit or mix the message and adjust the volume of the message while also not having to hire a full-time muezzin or in case of the absence of a muezzin. This is why in many Muslim countries, the sound of the prayer call can be exactly identical between one mosque and another, as well as between oneSalah hour and another, as is the case for theLondon Central Mosque. In the event of areligious holidays likeEid al-FitrandEid al-Adha, for example inIndonesia, where theKalimah (speech) has to be recited out loud all day long,mosque operators use this recording method to create a looping recital of theKalimah.[citation needed] Where no adhan can be heard, then it is recommended that practitioners recite it before they begin their prayers.[9]
The muezzin is chosen for his ability in reciting the adhan clearly, melodically, and loudly enough for all people to hear. This is one of the important duties in the mosque, as his companions and community rely on him in his call for Muslims to come to pray in congregation.[10] The Imam leads the prayer five times a day. The first muezzin in Islam wasBilal ibn Rabah, a freed slave ofAbyssinian heritage.[11][12] According to Mawsuʿah al-Fiqhiyah, the muezzin should have an elegant voice aswell, and should be wise about the times of prayer andIslam.
Repeating the two testimonies of faith isrecommended according to the Shafi'i school. The first time should be said in low voice to oneself, and the second should be called out; this was the practice of the people ofMecca.[13] The Maliki school uses the same adhan, exceptallāhu akbaru should only be said twice in the beginning; this was the practice of the people ofMedina. Both positions also use anarration inSahih Muslim as evidence.[14]
On rare situations where there is a serious danger to people going outside to congregate in mosques like heavy weather, or pandemics such as duringCOVID-19, the muezzin may say "ṣallū fī buyūtikum" (ْصَلُّوا فِي بُيُوتِكُم, pray in your homes) or "ṣallū fī riḥālikum" (ْصَلُّوا فِي رِحَالِكُم, pray in your dwellings) after "ḥayya ʿala ṣ-ṣalāh" and "ḥayya ʿala l-falāḥ".[15]
Shia sources state Muhammad, according to God's command, ordered the adhan as a means of calling Muslims to prayer. Shia Islam teaches that no one else contributed, or had any authority to contribute, towards the composition of the adhan.[16][17][18]
Shia sources also narrate thatBilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi was, in fact, the first person to recite the adhan publicly out loud in front of the Muslim congregation.
The fundamental phraselā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh is the foundation stone of Islam along with the belief in it. It declares that "there is no god but Allah". This is the confession ofTawhid or the "doctrine of Oneness [of God]".
The phraseMuḥammadun rasūlu -llāh fulfills the requirement that there should be someone to guide in the name of God, which states Muhammad is God's Messenger. This is the acceptance of prophethood orNabuwat of Muhammad.
According to the Shia belief, Muhammad declaredAli ibn Abi Talibas his successor, atGhadir Khumm, which was required for the continuation of his guidance. According to thehadith of the pond of Khumm, Muhammad stated that: "Of whomsoever I am theauthority, Ali is his authority". Hence, it is recommended to recite the phraseʿalīyun walī -llāh ("Ali is His [God's]Authority").
In one of theQiblah ofMa'ad al-Mustansir Billah (1035–1094) of Fatemi era masjid of Qahira (Mosque of Ibn Tulun) engraved his name andkalimat ash-shahādah aslā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu -llāh, ʿalīyun walīyu -llāh (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ عَلِيٌّ وَلِيُّ ٱللَّٰهِ).
Adhan reminds Muslims of these three Islamic teachingTawhid,Nabuwat andImamate before each prayer. These three emphasise devotion to God, Muhammad andImam, which are considered to be so linked together that they can not be viewed separately; one leads to other and finally to God.
The phrase is optional to some Shia as justified above. They feel that Ali'sWalayah ("Divine Authority") is self-evident, a testification and need not be declared. However, the greatness of God is also taken to be self-evident, but Muslims still declareAllāhu ʾakbar to publicize their faith. This is the reason that the most Shia give for the recitation of the phrase regarding Ali.
Sunnis believe that the adhan was not written or said by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, but rather by one of hiscompanions. Abdullah ibn Zayd, a companion of Muhammad, reportedly had a vision in his dream, in which the adhan was revealed to him by God. He related this to his companions; later, this news reached Muhammad, who confirmed it. Because of his stunning voice, Muhammad chose a freedHabeshan slave by the name ofBilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi to make the call for prayers. Muhammad preferred the call over the use ofbells, used byChristians, andhorns, used byJews.[16][17][19]
During theFriday prayer(Salat al-Jum'ah), there is one adhan but some Sunni Muslims increase it to two adhans; the first is to call the people to the mosque, the second is said before the imam begins thekhutbah (sermon). Just before the prayers start, someone amongst the praying people recites theiqama as in all prayers. The basis for this is that at the time of thecaliph Uthman he ordered two adhans to be made, the first of which was to be made in the marketplace to inform the people that the Friday prayer was soon to begin, and the second adhan would be the regular one held in the mosque. Not all Sunnis prefer two adhans as the need for warning the people of the impending time for prayer is no longer essential now that the times for prayers are well known.[citation needed]
While listening to the adhan, it is recommended to repeat the same words silently, except when the adhan reciter (muezzin) says: "أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ" and "أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ" (ʾašhadu ʾan lā ʾilāha ʾillā -llāhu and ʾašhadu ʾanna Muḥammadan rasūlu -llāhi) they silently say:
"And I [also] bear witness that there is no deity but God, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and I suffice by it (the testimonies) against whoever refuses and fights against it (the testimonies), and I designate by it one who agrees and testifies."[20]
Whenever Muhammad's name is mentioned in the adhan oriqama, it is recommended to recitesalawat,[21] a form of thepeace be upon him blessing specifically for Muhammad. This salawat is usually recited as eitherṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhī wa-ʾālihī wa-sallama (صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ),ṣallā -llāhu ʿalayhī wa-ʾālihī (صَلَّى ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ), orʾallāhumma ṣalli ʿalā muḥammadin wa-ʾāli muḥammadin (ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ).
Immediately following the adhan, it is recommended to sit and recite the followingdua (supplication):
"O God! Make my heart to be righteous, and my livelihood to be constant, and my sustenance to be continuous, and Make for me, in the presence of Your Prophet (God bless him and his progeny and grant him peace) a dwelling and a rest."[20]
وَأَنَا أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ رَضِيتُ بِٱللَّٰهِ رَبًّا وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولًا وَبِٱلْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا wa-anā ashhadu an lā ilāha illā llāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu, wa-anna muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa-rasūluhu, raḍītu bi-llāhi rabbān, wa-bi-muḥammadin rasūlān, wa-bi-l-islāmi dīnān "And I testify that there is nothing worthy of worship except God, alone without a partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger. I am pleased with God as lord, with Muhammad as messenger, and with Islam as religion."[30][31]
ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ وَبَارِكْ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ allāhumma ṣalli ʿalā muḥammadin wa-ʿalā āli muḥammadin, kamā ṣallayta ʿalā ibrāhīma wa-ʿalā āli ibrāhīma, innaka ḥamīdun majīdun, wa-bārik ʿalā muḥammadin wa-ʿalā āli muḥammadin, kamā bārakta ʿalā ibrāhīma wa-ʿalā āli ibrāhīma, innaka ḥamīdun majīdun "O God! Send prayers on Muhammad and onMuhammad's family, like you sent prayers onAbraham and on Abraham's family. Indeed, you are praiseworthy and glorious. And send blessings on Muhammad and on Muhammad's family, like you sent blessings on Abraham and on Abraham's family. Indeed, you are praiseworthy and glorious."[23]
اللَّٰهُمَّ رَبَّ هَٰذِهِ ٱلدَّعْوَةِ ٱلتَّامَّةِ وَٱلصَّلاَةِ ٱلْقَائِمَةِ آتِ مُحَمَّدًا ٱلْوَسِيلَةَ وَٱلْفَضِيلَةَ وَٱبْعَثْهُ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا ٱلَّذِي وَعَدْتَهُ إِنَّكَ لَا تُخْلِفُ ٱلْمِيعَادَ allāhumma rabba hādhihi d-daʿwati t-tāmmati wa-ṣ-ṣalāti l-qāʾimahti, āti muhammadan il-wasīlata wa-l-faḍīlahta, wa-bʿathhu maqāman maḥmūdan illadhī waʿadtahu, innaka lā tukhlifu l-mīʿāda "O God, lord of this perfect call and established prayer! Give Muhammad the station and virtuousness, and raise him to the praiseworthy station that you promised him. Indeed, you do not neglect promises."[32][33][34]
4. Any personal supplication made to God between the adhan and iqamah. It was narrated this is a time when supplications are especially answered and not rejected.[35][36][37]
The call to prayer is said after entering the time of prayer. Themuezzin usually stands during the call to prayer.[38] It is common for the muezzin to put his hands to his ears when reciting the adhan. Eachphrase is followed by a longerpause and is repeated one or more times according to fixed rules. During the firststatement each phrase is limited intonal range, lessmelismatic, and shorter.
Uponrepetition the phrase is longer,ornamented with melismas, and may possess a tonal range of over anoctave. The adhan'sform is characterised by contrast and contains twelve melodic passages which move from one to anothertonal center of onemaqam afourth orfifth apart. Various geographic regions in the Middle East traditionally perform the adhan in particular maqamat: Medina,Saudi Arabia uses MaqamBayati while Mecca uses Maqam Hijaz. Thetempo is mostly slow; it may be faster and with fewer melismas for the sunset prayer.
During festivals, it may be performedantiphonally as aduet.[39] Duration can be 1 minutes, but also longer, and then continuing with the shorter iqama.[40]
Generally the adhan is restricted for public broadcast by noise pollution bylaws however most mosques will broadcast it throughout their property. There have been some noise complaints at Gallipoli Mosque[41] andLakemba Mosque[42] inSydney, and a limited number of mosques have received public permission to broadcast the adhan publically for special occasions like at theAlbanian Australian Islamic Society and the Keysborough Turkish Islamic and Cultural Centre[43] inMelbourne.[44]
In 2016, opposition leaderKhaleda Zia alleged the government was preventing the broadcasting of adhans through loudspeakers, with government officials citing security concerns for theprime ministerSheikh Hasina.[45][citation needed]
In 2016,Israel's ministerial committee approved a draft bill that limits the volume of the use of public address systems for calls to prayer, particularly outdoor loudspeakers for the adhan, citing it as a factor of noise pollution, the draft bill was never enacted and has been in limbo ever since.[46][47][48] The bill was submitted byKnesset memberMotti Yogev of thefar rightZionist partyJewish Home andRobert Ilatov of the right wingYisrael Beiteinu.[47] The ban is meant to affect three mosques inAbu Dis village ofEast Jerusalem, disbarring them from broadcasting the morning call (fajr) prayers.[49] The bill was backed byPrime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu who said:
"I cannot count the times — they are simply too numerous — that citizens have turned to me from all parts of Israeli society, from all religions, with complaints about the noise and suffering caused to them by the excessive noise coming to them from the public address systems of houses of prayer."[48]
TheIsrael Democracy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, expressed concerns that it specifically stifles the rights of Muslims, and restricts their freedom of religion.[48][49]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait, some cities changed their adhan from the usualhayya 'ala as-salah, meaning "come to prayer", toas-salatu fi buyutikum meaning "pray in your homes" orala sallu fi rihalikum meaning "pray where you are".[50]
Other Muslim countries (notably Saudi Arabia, theUAE, Malaysia, and Indonesia) also made this change because Muslims are prohibited to pray in mosques during the pandemic as preventive measures to stop the chain of the outbreak. The basis for the authority to change a phrase in the adhan was justified by Muhammad's instructions while calling for adhan during adverse conditions.[51]
TheFittja Mosque inBotkyrka, south ofStockholm, was in 2013 the first mosque to be granted permission for a weekly public call toFriday prayer, on condition that the sound volume does not exceed 60 dB.[52] InKarlskrona (province ofBlekinge, southern Sweden) the Islamic association built aminaret in 2017 and has had weekly prayer calls since then.[53][54] The temporary mosque inVäxjö filed for a similar permission in February 2018,[55] which sparked a nationwide debate about the practice.[56][57][58] A yearlong permission was granted by theSwedish Police Authority in May the same year.[59][60]
The usage of loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan was banned in 2009 withLaw No. 489 of 26 March 2009 on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Unions.[61]
As an extension of thereforms brought about by the establishment of theRepublic of Turkey in 1923, theTurkish government at the time, encouraged byMustafa Kemal Atatürk, introducedsecularism to Turkey. The program involved implementing aTurkish adhan program as part of its goals, as opposed to the conventionalArabic call to prayer.[62] Following the conclusion of said debates, on the 1 February 1932, the adhan was chanted in Turkish and the practice was continued for a period of 18 years. There was some resistance against the adhan in the Turkish language and protests surged. In order to suppress these protests, in 1941, a new law was issued, under which people who chanted the adhan in Arabic could be imprisoned for up to three months and be fined up to 300 Turkish lira.
In 2005, former Uzbek presidentIslam Karimov banned the Muslim call to prayer from being broadcast in the country; the ban was lifted in November 2017 by his successor,Shavkat Mirziyoyev.[64]
In other countries, there is no written law forbidding the distribution of the call to prayer in mosques and prayer halls.[citation needed]
In someMuslim-majority countries, television stations usually broadcasts the adhan at prayer times, in a similar fashion to radio stations. InIndonesia andMalaysia, it is usual for all television stations to broadcast the adhan at Fajr and Magrib prayers, with the exception of non-Muslim religious stations. Islamic religious stations often broadcast the adhan at all five prayer times. Since the 1970s the adhan has been broadcast from mosques in the U.S., such as the American Moslem Society, which was established inDearborn, Michigan.[65]
The adhan are commonly broadcast with a visual cinematic sequence depicting mosques and worshippers attending to the prayer. Some television stations in both Malaysia and Indonesia often utilize a more artistic or cultural approach to the cinematic involving multiple actors and religious-related plotlines.[66]
InIran, the adhan is regularly broadcast on national television and radio, particularly for the Fajr prayer. The rendition byRahim Moazenzadeh Ardabili, recorded in the 1950s, is one of the most well-known versions in the country and has been used in state broadcasts for decades. It remains widely recognized for its distinctivemelody and delivery.[67][68] His brother,Salim Moazenzadeh Ardabili, was also a recognizedmuezzin in Iran and regularly called the adhan after Rahim's death.[69][70]
The sole wish of my soul, oh glorious God, from You is that, No heathen would ever, on the bosom of my temple, lay hand! These adhans, whose testimonies are the ground of religion, Should resound far and wide over my eternal homeland.
^abcDessing, Nathal M. (2001).Rituals of Birth, Circumcision, Marriage, and Death Among Muslims in the Netherlands. Peeters Publishers. p. 25.ISBN978-9-042-91059-1.
^Ibn Qudamah.Al-Muqni'. Vol. 1. p. 42.It is desirable for whoever hears the caller to say what he says, except 'come to prayer' and 'come to success', where he says 'there is no ability and no power except by God, the Most High, Most Great.'
^Ibn al-Muflih, Ibrahim.Al-Mubdi' Sharh al-Muqni'.With regard to 'the Most High, Most Great', I investigated the matter and found it in al-Musnad [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] from the narration of Abu Rafi', that when the Prophet heard the caller, he would say the same thing, until he says, 'come to prayer, come to success,' where he would say, 'there is no ability and no power except with God, the Most High, Most Great.' (This addition was also narrated by Abd al-Razzaq in al-Musannaf and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir.)
^Al-Nawawi.Al-Majmu'. Vol. 3. p. 119.Our view is that repeating is recommended and not obligatory, and most of the scholars said this. And al-Tahawi narrated a difference of opinion from some of the predecessors who said it is obligatory, and al-Qadi Iyad narrated it too.
^Ibn Qudamah.Al-Mughni. Vol. 2. p. 89.And if he does not say what he says and opens prayer, there is no harm. Ahmad stipulated this.
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