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Special thanks to Dr. Mahfuz bin Mar'i bin Mubarak bin Mahfuz
The etiquette of the Adhan and Iqamah [Calls to Prayer]
Closed for Prayer
A voice that drives away satan
When the Beloved, peace and blessings be upon him, wanted a means of calling people to the Prayer, he consulted his companions.
One of them told him about a dream he had seen in which someone was making the Adhan (call to Prayer).
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, consented to this method.
The Adhan holds tremendous significance in our Religion and is an emblem of Islam in its lands.
Allah, Exalted is He, praised the Mu'adhdhins (callers to Prayer). He said: {And who is better in speech than one who calls to Allah and acts rightly?}
The Prophet said: The mu'adhdhins will be the people with the longest necks on the Day of Rising.
Suffice it to say that the mu'adhdhin has great status as the one who voices the call from Allah the Exalted to His slaves to His Presence and to His Door, Sublime is He!
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, emphasized the importance of hastening in obedience to the call to Prayer.
He said: If people knew the merits of the call to prayer and (of praying in) the first row (of congregation), and could find no way of attaining (a place in the first row) than to draw lots for it, they would certainly draw lots for it.
One should strive to gain the benefits of the Adhan.
The Chosen one told us that when one calls the Adhan, no jinn or man or anything within range hears the voice of the mu'adhdhin without testifying for him on the Day of Rising.
Therefore, if one was at home and didn't hear the Adhan, he should call the Adhan in his home.
If one is in the desert, he should call the Adhan there, so as to attain the great merit which Allah the Exalted bestowed on the mu'adhdhins.
Etiquettes of the Mu`adhdhin
The most important etiquette for a mu'adhdhin is to have great awe and reverence for Allah, (he must) be good, and be trustworthy.
The one calling Adhan should face the qibla (direction of Prayer) and purify himself for the Adhan.
While calling the Adhan, it is a Sunnah to raise one's voice loudly and to be in an elevated place.
Today, loudspeakers dispense with the need for that.
It is also a Sunnah to place one's fingers in one's ears while calling the Adhan.
One should call the Adhan in the well-known format, saying: "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar (Allah is Supreme! Allah is Supreme!).. until the end.
It is a Sunnah to turn one's face right and left while saying, "Hayya 'alas-Salah, Hayya 'alal-Falah (Come to Prayer! Come to success!)"
It is also a Sunnah after initially proclaiming the Supremeness of Allah to repeat to oneself the testimony that there is no god except Allah twice, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah twice. Thereafter, he proclaims it in a loud voice having said it four times in total.
For the Fajr prayer, it is a Sunnah to say, "as-Salatu khayrun minan-nawm, as-Salatu khayrun minan-nawm" (Prayer is better than sleep, Prayer is better than sleep!)
These are important Sunnahs that are within the Adhan.
It is a Sunnah for the mu'adhdhin to be the one who calls the Iqamah (the second call to Prayer immediately before its start).
The Adhan is recited while stretching one's voice while the Iqamah is recited rapidly.
With regard to women, a woman may recite the Iqamah in the presence of women only, but it is not a Sunnah.
If you hear the call, respond!
Lady 'Aisha says: When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was at home, he would joke with us and be cheerful...
But when the time for Prayer entered and he heard the Adhan, it was as though he didn't know us and we didn't know him.
Meaning, he would drop everything he was occupied with and prepare for the Prayer.
So when we hear the mu'adhdhin, we should likewise turn our attention to the Prayer and drop anything we are doing, whether it is a conversation, work at the office, or even the recitation of the Qur`an.
We should stop everything because this is the Call from Allah, Exalted is He, upon the tongue of this representative; the mu'adhdhin.
It is a Sunnah for us to repeat each statement the mu'adhdhin makes during his call.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, told us that the one who repeats the call to prayer after the mu'addhin, with sincerity, will enter Paradise.
In another narration he said: My intercession for him is mandatory.
In addition to repeating after the mu'adhdhin, it is a Sunnah to say after he recites the testimonies of faith, "And I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, with Islam as my Religion and with Muhammad as my Prophet."
Also, at the saying, 'Come to Prayer! Come to success!' we should say, "There is no change or power except by Allah, the Sublime, the Incomparably Great."
Upon hearing "Prayer is better than sleep" during the Fajr Adhan, we should say, "Sadaqta wa bararta wa bil haqqi nataqta (You have confirmed the truth and you did well - and you have spoken a fact.)"
After the Adhan, it is a Sunnah to invoke blessings upon the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.
We should then supplicate with the prayer that he told us to pray: O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and established prayer, give Muhammad "al-wasila" and superiority and raise him up to the praiseworthy station which You promised him. Indeed You never break Your promise.
Thereafter, we may pray for what we wish, for verily one who supplicates with this prayer will be ennobled by Allah and given glad-tidings that the intercession of the Messenger of Allah is mandatory for him.
So asking for the wasilah for the Messenger is a means for one to attain his intercession on the Day of Judgment.
A time wherein a supplication is not rejected
The Beloved informed us that supplication between the adhan and the iqamah is not rejected. So this is one of the most important times for a believer to seize to turn to Allah the Exalted.
Hearing the Adhan spreads comfort and repels tribulation
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told us that when satan hears the Adhan, he retreats, farting.
He flees from the Adhan because it burns him.
So the Adhan is a blessing from among Allah's blessings upon us.
When one hears the Adhan resonating throughout Muslim lands from its minarets, one feels tranquility and ease.
The Adhan repels a lot of misfortune.
The Adhan is connected to the emblems of Islam -- the greatest of which is the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
How great it would be if upon hearing the Adhan we tried to bring to mind how our Beloved was when he heard the Adhan -- and how he would approach Allah the Exalted - such that our approach to the Prayer is like that of the Messenger of Allah.
That way, we will realize excellence in following the best of creation, peace and blessings be upon him, in the best of works.
And we will be at the peak of the meaning of Allah's saying: {Say, if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you.}
