The (, ) is the call to prayer, usually recited by a muezzin, traditionally from the minaret of a mosque, shortly before each of the five obligatory daily prayers. The adhan is also the first phrase said in the ear of a newborn baby, and often the first thing recited in a new home.
It is the first call summoning Muslims to enter the mosque for obligatory () prayers (); a second call, known as the , 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.
The five prayer times are known in Arabic as (فجر), (ظهر), (عصر), (مغرب), and (عشاء).
In Turkey, they are called sabah, öğle, ikindi, akşam, and yatsı; the five calls to prayer are sung in different Turkish makam, corresponding to the time of day.
Terminology
,
Arabic for 'announcement', from the root , meaning 'to listen, to hear, be informed about', is variously transliterated in different cultures.
It is commonly written as athan, or adhane (in French language),
Another derivative of the word is (أُذُن), meaning 'ear'.
Announcer
The muezzin ( ) is the person who recites the adhan
from the
mosque. Typically in modern times, this is done using a microphone:
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 one
Salah hour and another, as is the case for the London Central Mosque. In the event of a religious holidays like
Eid al-Fitr, for example in
Indonesia, where the
Kalimah (speech) has to be recited out loud all day long, mosque operators use this recording method to create a looping recital of the
Kalimah.
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.[William Muir, The Life of Mohammad from Original Sources, reprinted by Adamant Media ][Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, p.68. Scarecrow Press. . Quote: "Bilal, ..., was the first mu'azzin."] According to Mawsuʿah al-Fiqhiyah, the muezzin should have an elegant voice too, and should be wise about the times of prayer and Islam.
Words
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(mustahabb) | None | أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ عَلِيًّا وَلِيُّ ٱللَّٰهِ | ashhadu anna ʿaliyyan waliyyu llāh | I testify Ali is the wali of God |
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! colspan="2" | 2x | None | حَيَّ عَلَىٰ خَيْرِ ٱلْعَمَلِ | ḥayya ʿalā khayri l-ʿamal | Come to the best of deeds |
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Repeating the two testimonies of faith is mustahabb 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 of Mecca.
On rare situations where there is a serious danger to people going outside to congregate in mosques like heavy weather, or pandemics like COVID-19, the muezzin may say " ṣallu fī buyūtikum" (pray in your homes) or " ṣallu fī riḥālikum" (pray in your dwellings) after " ḥayya ʿala ṣ-ṣalāh" and " ḥayya ʿala l-falāḥ".
Religious views
Shia
Shia Islam 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.
[Quran : Surah Sajda: Ayah 24-25]
Shia sources also narrate that Bilal 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 phrase lā 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 of Tawhid or the "doctrine of Oneness of".
The phrase Muḥammadun 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 or Nabuwat of Muhammad.
According to the Shia belief, Muhammad declared Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor, at Wadi Rabigh, which was required for the continuation of his guidance. According to the hadith of the pond of Khumm, Muhammad stated that "Of whomsoever I am the mawla, Ali is his authority". Hence, it is recommended to recite the phrase ʿalīyun walī -llāh ("Ali is His God's Wali").
In one of the Qiblah of Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah (1035–1094) of Fatemi era masjid of Qahira (Mosque of Ibn Tulun) engraved his name and shahada as lā 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 teaching Tawhid, Nabuwat and Imamate before each prayer. These three emphasise devotion to God, Muhammad and Imam, 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's Walayah ("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 declare Allāhu ʾakbar to publicize their faith. This is the reason that the most Shia give for the recitation of the phrase regarding Ali.
Sunni
Sunni Islam believe that the adhan was not written or said by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, but rather by one of his
sahabah. 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 freed
Habesha people slave by the name of Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi to make the call for prayers. Muhammad preferred the call over the use of bells, used by
Christians, and
shofar, used by
Jews.
[Sunan al-Tirmidhi (Arabic) Chapter of Fitan, 2:45 (India) and 4:501 Tradition # 2225 (Egypt); Hadith #2149 (numbering of al-'Alamiyyah)]
During the Friday 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 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 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.
Supplication
Shia
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 -llāh and ʾašhadu ʾanna Muḥammadan rasūlu -llāh) they silently say:
Whenever Muhammad's name is mentioned in the adhan or iqama, it is recommended to recite salawat,
Immediately following the adhan, it is recommended to sit and recite the following dua (supplication):
Sunni
While listening to the adhan, it is
mustahabb to silently repeat after the caller, except when they say "come to prayer" (
ḥayya ʿala ṣ-ṣalāh) and "come to success" (
ḥayya ʿala l-falāḥ), to which it is recommended to silently say "
lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-llāh l-ʿaliyyi)., Shafi'is, and
Hanbali school, view this as only recommended; however, others, including the
Hanafi school and
Zahiri school, view it as
fard.
Immediately following the adhan, it is recommended to recite the following dua:
1. Shahada
2. Salawat
3. Praying for Muhammad's tawassul and virtousness
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.
Form
The call to prayer is said after entering the time of prayer. The
muezzin usually stands during the call to prayer.
It is common for the muezzin to put his hands to his ears when reciting the adhan. Each phrase is followed by a longer pause and is repeated one or more times according to fixed rules. During the first statement each phrase is limited in tonal range, less
, and shorter. Upon repetition the phrase is longer, ornamented with melismas, and may possess a tonal range of over an
octave. The adhan's
musical form is characterised by contrast and contains twelve melodic passages which move from one to another tonal center of one
Arabic maqam a
perfect fourth or
perfect fifth apart. Various geographic regions in the Middle East traditionally perform the adhan in particular maqamat:
Medina, Saudi Arabia uses Maqam Bayati while
Mecca uses Maqam Hijaz. The
tempo is mostly slow; it may be faster and with fewer melismas for the sunset prayer. During festivals, it may be performed
as a
duet.
[Touma, Habib Hassan (1996). The Music of the Arabs, p.157-158, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. .] Duration can be 1 minutes, but also longer, and then continuing with the shorter iqama.
Modern legal status
Australia
There are controversies due to community-centric disagreements at mosques in Australia, such as ongoing parking disputes at Al Zahra in Arncliffe,
noise complaints at Gallipoli Mosque
and
Lakemba Mosque in
Sydney, and public filming at Albanian Australian Islamic Society and the Keysborough Turkish Islamic and Cultural Centre
in
Melbourne.
Bangladesh
In 2016, opposition leader
Khaleda Zia alleged the government was preventing the broadcasting of adhans through loudspeakers, with government officials citing security concerns for the prime minister
Sheikh Hasina".
Israel
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.
The bill was submitted by
Knesset members Moti Yogev of the far right
Zionism party Jewish Home and
Robert Ilatov of the right wing
Yisrael Beiteinu.
The ban is meant to affect three mosques in
Abu Dis village of
East Jerusalem, disbarring them from broadcasting the morning call (
fajr) prayers.
The bill was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin 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."
The Israel Democracy Institute, a non-partisan think tank, expressed concerns that it specifically stifles the rights of Muslims, and restricts their freedom of religion.
Kuwait and the UAE
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait, some cities changed their adhan from the usual
hayya 'ala as-salah, meaning "come to prayer", to
as-salatu fi buyutikum meaning "pray in your homes" or
ala sallu fi rihalikum meaning "pray where you are".
[ Kuwait mosques tell believers to pray at home amid coronavirus pandemic alaraby.co.uk]
Other Muslim countries (notably Saudi Arabia, 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.[[3] Bukhari: Volume 1, Book 11, Number 605]
Sweden
The
Fittja Mosque in
Botkyrka, south of
Stockholm, was in 2013 the first mosque to be granted permission for a weekly public call to Friday prayer, on condition that the sound volume does not exceed 60 dB.
In
Karlskrona (province of
Blekinge, southern Sweden) the Islamic association built a
minaret in 2017 and has had weekly prayer calls since then.
The temporary mosque in Växjö filed for a similar permission in February 2018,
which sparked a nationwide debate about the practice.
A yearlong permission was granted by the Swedish Police Authority in May the same year.
Tajikistan
The usage of loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan was banned in 2009 with
Law No. 489 of 26 March 2009 on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Unions.
Turkey
As an extension of the reforms brought about by the establishment of the
Turkey in 1923, the Turkish government at the time, encouraged by Atatürk, introduced secularism to Turkey. The program involved implementing a
Turkish language adhan program as part of its goals, as opposed to the conventional
Arabic language call to prayer.
[ The adhan in Turkey ] 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.
On 17 June 1950, a new government led by Adnan Menderes, restored Arabic as the Sacred language.
Uzbekistan
In 2005, former Uzbek president
Islam 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.
In other countries, there is no written law forbidding the distribution of the call to prayer in mosques and prayer halls.
In popular culture
In television
In some
Muslim world, television stations usually broadcasts the adhan at prayer times, in a similar fashion to radio stations. In Indonesia and Malaysia, 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 in Dearborn, Michigan.
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.
In Iran, the adhan is regularly broadcast on national television and radio, particularly for the Fajr prayer. The rendition by Rahim 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 distinctive melody and delivery.
The 1991-1994 recording of Masjid al-Haram muezzin, Sheikh Ali Ahmed Mulla is best known for its use in various television and radio stations.
Turkish National Anthem
The adhan is referenced in the eighth verse of
İstiklâl Marşı, the Turkish
national anthem:
"The Armed Man"
The adhan appears in composed by
Karl Jenkins.
See also
Notes
External links
