Adhan This article is about the Islamic call to prayer

The adhān (also Athaan: IPA: [ʔæˈðæːn], Azan) (أَذَان) is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin. The root of the word is ʼḏn "to permit", and another derivative of this word is uḏun, meaning "ear."

Adhan is called out by the muezzin in the mosque, sometimes from a minaret, five times a day summoning Muslims for mandatory (fard) prayers (salah). There is a second call known as iqama (set up) that summons Muslims to line up for the beginning of the prayers. The main purpose behind the loud pronouncement of adhan five times a day in every mosque is to make available to everyone an easily intelligible summary of Islamic belief. It is intended to bring to the mind of every believer and non-believer the substance of Islamic beliefs, or its spiritual ideology. Loudspeakers are sometimes installed on minarets for the purpose.

The adhan sums up the teachings of Islam. In the Qur'an and the sunnah there are four fundamentals on which the entire superstructure of Islam rests: (a) Belief in the oneness of Allah and in the fact that there is no Power greater than Him; (b) he alone is the Creator and the Master of the universe and no one other can claim share in His Godhood of sovereignty; (c) Muhammad is the final dispenser of the Will of Allah and it is his words and deeds that His will find expression; (c) it is not the material utility that determines the value of things or acts in Islam but their spiritual significance - thus salvation in Islam lies in the purification of the soul which can be achieved only by willing and conscious obedience to the Commands of Allah, and prayer is the most important of that obedience; (d) the highest aim of the life of a Muslim is to live a life of a eternal bliss.

Sunni

Recital	Arabic	Transliteration	Translation
4x	الله أكبر	Allahu Akbar	God is the greatest*
2x	أشهد أن لا اله إلا الله	Ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah	I bear witness that there is no deity except God
2x	أشهد أن محمدا رسول الله	Ash-hadu anna Muħammadan rasulullah	I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God
2x	حي على الصلاة	Hayya 'alal-salah	Make haste towards worship
2x	حي على الفلاح	Hayya 'ala 'l-falah	come to the true success
2x	الصلاة خير من النوم	Al-salatu khayru min an-nawm	Prayer is better than sleep **
2x	الله أكبر	Allāhu akbar	God is the greatest
1x	لا إله إلا الله	La ilaha illallah	There is no deity except God

* Followers of the Maliki madh'hab say this line twice instead of four times.

** The line "Prayer is better than sleep" is used only for the first prayers of the day at dawn (fajr Prayer; Salat al-fajr).

Sunni view

Sunnis state that the adhan was not written or said by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, but by one of his Sahabah (his companions), a freed Habeshan slave by the name of Bilal ibn Ribah. However, Muhammad did choose adhan as the Islamic call to prayer in place of the bells used in Christianity and horns used by Jews, after one of his prominent sahabah, Umar, saw it in a vision.

During the Friday prayer (Salat Al Jumu'ah), there are two adhans; the first is to call the people to the mosque, the second is said before the Imam begins the khutbah (sermon). Just before the prayers start, someone amongst the praying people recites the iqama as in all prayers. The basis for this is that at the time of the Caliph Umar he ordered 2 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.

Dua during adhan

While listening to the the adhan, Muslims repeat the same words silently, except when the muezzin says ḥayya 'alas-salāh or ḥayya 'alal-falāḥ they silently say lā hawla wa lā quwata illā billāh (there is no strength or power except from God).

Dua following adhan

The following dua (supplication) is optionally read by Muslims after the adhan is recited:

Arabic	Transliteration	Translation
اللهم رب هذه الدعوة التامة والصلاة القائمة	Allahumma rabba hadhi-hid da'wa-tit-tamma wa-salatil qae-ma	O God, Owner of this perfect call and Owner of this prayer to be performed
آت محمداً الوسيلة و الفضيلة	Ati muhammadanil wasilata wal fadeela	Bestow upon Muhammad al waseelah (a station in ParadiseJannah}) and al fadeelah (a rank above the rest of creation) {
وابعثه مقاماً محموداً الذي وعدته	Wab ath-hu maqamam-mahmuda-nil alladhi wa aadtha	And raise him to the rank you have promised him

Bilal ibn Ribah (Muezzin)

Bilal ibn Ribah>>>>>>>

Freed Slave, Muezzin Early Islamic Era
Full name	Bilal ibn Rabah
Birth	c.580 CE
Death	c.640 CE
School/tradition	Islam
Influenced by[show] Muhammad
Influenced[show] Muslims

Bilal ibn Rabah^[1] (Arabic: بلال بن رباح‎) or Bilal al-Habeshi was a Habeshan^[2] born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.

The Islamic Prophet Muhammad chose Bilal as his muezzin, effectively making him the first official muezzin of the Islamic faith.^[3] He was among the slaves freed by Abu Bakr (see Muhammad and slavery) and was known for his beautiful voice with which he called people to their prayers. His name can also be spelled as, "Bilal ibn Riyah" or "ibn Rabah" and he is sometimes known as "Bilal al-Habashi" or "Bilal the Ethiopian". He died sometime between 638 to 642, dying when he was just over sixty years old.

Bilal Ibn Rabah, was an emancipated slave of key importance in Islam. He is said to have been one of the most trusted and loyal Sahaba (companions of Muhammad) and was one of Ali's earliest and most loyal followers. His respected stature during the birth of Islam is often cited by Muslims as evidence of the importance of pluralism and racial equality in the foundations of the religion.

Living with Muhammad (pbuh)

According to Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Zaid went to Muhammad with his story and Muhammad, approving, told him to ask an Ethiopian named Bilal, who had a marvelous voice, to call the Muslims to prayer (the Adhan). As Ibn Ishaq told the story (in Albert Guillaume's translation):

When the Apostle was told of this he said that it was a true vision if God so willed it, and that he should go to Bilal and communicate it to him so that he might call to prayer thus, for he had a more penetrating voice. When Bilal acted as muezzin, Umar I, who later became the second caliph, heard him in his house and came to the Apostle... saying that he had seen precisely the same vision. The Apostle said 'God be praised for that!'

Though slightly different versions of the story exist, all agree that Islam's first muezzin was Bilal.

One version states that one of the slaves of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, a terrible foe of Islam and Muhammad, was named Bilal. Bilal learned about Muhammad and his teachings and became Muslim, but kept his belief in secret. However, his master Ummaya came to know that he had opted to be a Muslim. So he started punishing him. He ordered his slaves to make him lay on the hot sand and put heavy stones on his body so that he could not move. After such punishments, news of this slave reached some of Muhammad's companions who told Muhammad of the slave. Muhammad then sent Abu Baker to buy Bilal's freedom from Umayyah (Bilal's slave master). Muhammad later learned of Bilal's unique way of praying and unique voice with which he spoke from the soul and as a result of this Bilal became the first muezzin.

Later on, some people suggested that this honor should be given to someone else, because Bilal could not pronounce the Arabic letter 'sheen' properly and instead used the letter 'seen' (the two sounds had merged in "s" in classical Ge'ez). Muhammad said, "The 'seen' of Bilal is 'sheen' in the hearing of God," meaning that God does not see the physical manifestation; he appreciates the purity of heart. Bilal felt deep love for Muhammad, and he is quoted as reciting some lines of poetry in his own language, in praise of Muhammad. One verse translated:

"When noble traits are described in our country, thou art pointed out as a model among us."

Migration

In 622, the year of the Hijra, Bilal migrated to Medina and over the next decade accompanied Muhammad on all his military expeditions, and according to Islamic tradition, serving as the Muhammad's mace-bearer and steward, and as a muezzin revered by Muslims for his majestically sonorous renditions of the adhan. Bilal also carried Muhammad's spear, which was used from 624 onward to point the direction of prayer.

He fought in the Battle of Badr, in the aftermath of which he killed his former master, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, in spite of the protestation of Umayyah's capturer and long-time friend Abdur Rahman bin Awf. Bilal was also present in all of the major events and battles, including the battles of Uhud and Battle of the Trench.

Bilal's finest hour came in January 630, on an occasion regarded as one of the most hallowed moments in Islamic history. After the Muslim forces had captured Mecca, Muhammad's muezzin ascended to the top of the Kaaba to call the believers to prayer, - the first time the call to prayer was heard within Islam's holiest city, however this was never proven and many dispute the fact that it would be against the faith to actually have climbed the Kaaba, no matter how big the conquest.

After Muhammad(pbuh)

There are contradictory reports about what happened to Bilal after the death of Muhammad in 632. What seems clear is that at some point Bilal accompanied the Muslim armies to Syria.

After the death of Muhammed, Usama ibn Zayd continued a military expedition to Syria, as commanded by Muhammad. However, it is very uncertain if that is the army Bilal accompanied.

Sunni view

Other Sunni authors say after Muhammad's death, he called the faithful to prayer only twice more in his life - once in Syria and a second time, in Medina, when he was specifically asked to do so by Muhammad's grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali.

Death

Bilal died there between 638 and 642, though the exact date of death and place of burial are disputed.

The Sunni scholar Imam al-Suyuti in his Tarikh al-khulafa writes:

He (Bilal) died in Damascus in 17 or 18 AH, but some say 20 AH, or even 21 AH when he was just over sixty years old. Some said he died in Madinah, but that is wrong. That is how it is in al-Isabah and other works such as the Tahdhib of an-Nawawi.^[4]

Shi'a state that Bilal was one of Ali's devouted followers after the death of the Muhammad, and that he died in Damascus around 20 AH, and was buried within Bab Saghir cemetery.

Legacy

If there is some disagreement concerning the hard facts of Bilal's life and death, his importance on a number of levels is incontestable. Muezzin guilds, especially those in Turkey and Africa, have traditionally venerated the original practitioner of their noble profession, and African Muslims as a whole feel a special closeness and kinship to him; he was an Ethiopian, after all, who had been exceptionally close to Muhammad, and is a model of steadfastness and devotion to the faith. The story of Bilal, in fact, remains the classic and most frequently cited demonstration that in Muhammad's eyes, the measure of a man was neither nationality nor social status nor race, but piety.

Bilal was devoted to the Ahl al-Bayt and used to publicly show his support for them.

The Shi'a Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq is recorded as having said, "May God bless Bilal! He loved us, the family of Muhammad, and was one of the most pious servants of God."