Description: History, Virtue, and Method
· Salah for Beginners II
Objectives
· Appreciate that the Adthan covers all the essentials of faith
· Learn the history of the Adthan
· Learn 6 virtues of Adthan
· Learn different ways of making Adthan and iqamah
New Terms
· Adthan, iqamah
Introduction
Linguistically, the term Adthan means oea
proclamation”, and this is what is meant in the verse
of the Quran:
oeAnd a proclamation (adthan) from Allah and His messenger to all
people on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage that Allah is free from
(all) obligations to the polytheists, and so is His messenger.”
(Quran 9:3)
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In religious context, the adthan is that proclamation made, consisting of specific
oewords of remembrance”, the time for an obligatory salah has begun. Throughout the
Muslim world and in some places in the West, the caller to prayer announces five times a
day from every mosque that it is time for prayer, to remember Allah, and to put aside all
the cares of life to prepare for the worship of the Giver of Life. The prayer oeGod is the
Greatest” resonates through all semblances of civilization, through small towns to
metropolises..
The Adthan covers all the essentials of the Islamic faith in a few words:
1. It begins by proclaiming the greatness of Allah.
2. It testifies to Allah’s tawhid and His exclusive right to worship.
3. It denies shirk " the worship of everything besides Allah.
4. The Adthan testifies that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
5. It mentions belief in one of the greatest pillars of Islam: the salah prayer.
6. Invites to the prayer and equates it with prosperity, salvation and success (in the hereafter)
7. It affirms the reward for salah: prosperity for one who singles out Allah in tawhid, follows His
Messenger, establishes the salah and other pillars of Islam.
8. It implies the loss of one who does not respond to the Adthan and does not pray.
History of Adthan
The Adthan was prescribed during the first year after the Prophet migration to Medina.
It was taught in true visions to two companions and made part of Muslim life by the
Prophet, may Allah praise him, himself. Abdullah ibn Zaid, a companion of the Prophet,
reported:
oeWhen the Prophet was to order the use of a bell to call the people to prayer, he disliked it
because it resembled the Christian practice. While I was sleeping, a man came to me carrying a
bell. I said to him, ‘O slave of Allah, will you sell me that bell?’
He said, ‘What would you do with it?’
I replied, ‘I would call the people to prayer with it.’
He responded, ‘Shall I not guide you to something better than that?’
I said, ‘Certainly.’
He said, ‘You should say:
Adthan (part 1 of 2): The Call to Prayer 2 of 6
Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar
Ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah, ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah
Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasool-lal-lah,
ashhadu anna Muhammadar-Rasool-lal-lah
Hayya ‘alas-salah, hayyah ‘alas-salah
Hayya ‘alal-falah, hayya ‘alal-falah
Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. La ilaha illal-lah.’
Then he went a short distance away and said, ‘When you stand for the prayer, say:
Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar
Ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah
Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasool-lal-lah
Hayya ‘alas-salah, hayya ‘alal-falah
Qad qaamatis-salah, qad qaamatis-salah
Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. La ilaha illal-lah.’
When the morning came, I went to the Messenger of Allah to tell him what I had seen. He said,
‘Your dream is true, Allah willing. Go to Bilal, tell him what you have seen, and tell him to make
the call to prayer, for he has the best voice among you.’ I went to Bilal and told him what to do,
and he made the call to prayer. ‘Umar was in his house when he heard it. He came out with his
cloak, saying ‘By the One who has raised you with the truth, I saw similar to what he saw.’ The
Prophet said, ‘All praise is to Allah.’”[1]
The Prophet appointed two companions to call the Adthan in Medina in his mosque:
Bilal, a former African slave whose freedom was bought by Abu Bakr, and Ibn Umm
Maktum for the Adthan of Fajr. He also appointed Abu Mah-zura in Mecca and Sa’ad
al-Qaraz in Quba’.
The Virtues of Adthan
Many ahadeeth of our Prophet Muhammad describe the virtues of the Adthan and the
one who calls it:
(1) oeIf the people knew what was in the Adthan and the first row (of the prayer in virtue),
and that they could not get it save by drawing lots, they would draw lots.”[2]
The meaning of this hadith is that if the people knew the abundant reward in calling the
Adthan, and could not find any way to call the Adthan except by drawing lots, then they
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would do that to attain its virtue.
(2) oeThe callers to prayer will have the longest necks of all people on the Day of
Resurrection.”[3]
This meaning of this hadith is explained to be that they will be masters and leaders, as
the Arabs describe leaders as having long necks, or it means they will have the most good
deeds to their credit.
(3) oeAllah and His angels send blessings upon the front row, and the caller to prayer is
forgiven as far as his voice reaches, and whatever hears him, animate or inanimate,
confirms what he says, and he will have a reward like that of those who pray with him.”[4]
(4) oeYour Lord, the Exalted, is amazed (and pleased) by one who is watching sheep in his
pasture, then goes to the mountain to make the call to prayer and pray. Allah, the
Exalted, says, ‘Look at my slave there who makes the call to prayer and establishes the
prayer out of fear of Me. I have forgiven my slave and have allowed him to enter
Paradise.”‘[5]
(5) oeThe imam is a guarantor, and the caller to prayer is one who is given the trust. O Allah,
guide the imam and forgive the caller to prayer.”[6]
(6) oeWhoever gives the call to prayer for twelve years will be guaranteed Paradise, and for
each day sixty good deeds will be recorded for him by virtue of his Adthan, and thirty
good deeds by virtue of his iqama.”[7]
How is The Adthan Called?
Here are the wordings of the Adthan.
Allahu akbar
Allah is the Greatest
Allahu akbar
Allah is the Greatest
Allahu akbar
Allah is the Greatest
Allahu akbar
Allah is the Greatest
Ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah
I testify there is no true god but Allah
Ashhadu alla ilaha illal-lah
I testify there is no true god but Allah
Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasool-lal-lah
I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
Ashhadu anna Muhammad ar-Rasool-lal-lah
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I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
Hayya ‘alas-salah
Come to prayer
Hayya ‘alas-salah
Come to prayer
Hayya ‘alal-falah
Come to success
Hayya ‘alal-falah
Come to success
Allahu akbar
God is the Greatest
Allahu akbar
God is the Greatest
La ilaha illal-lah[8]
There is no true god but Allah