Adhan (Call to Prayer)
The Islamic call to prayer, recited by a muezzin.
Adhan (Arabic: أذان) is the Islamic call to prayer, which announces that the time for an obligatory prayer has arrived. The adhan is recited by a muezzin and can be heard from the mosque's minaret. The word "adhan" comes from the Arabic root meaning "to listen" or "to be informed".
The adhan was introduced in the second year after the hijra (migration to Medina). According to tradition, one of the Prophet's companions, Bilal ibn Rabah, had a dream about the call to prayer, and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) approved this form. Bilal became the first muezzin in Islam.
The adhan consists of the following phrases: "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the Greatest), "Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah" (I bear witness that there is no god except Allah), "Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah" (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), "Hayya 'alas-salah" (Come to prayer), "Hayya 'alal-falah" (Come to success), and concludes with "Allahu Akbar" and "La ilaha illallah".
It is sunnah to repeat the words after the muezzin and to say a specific du'a (supplication) after the adhan.
Related terms
Amr bil-Ma'ruf wa Nahy 'an al-Munkar
Enjoining good and forbidding evil — an Islamic duty connected with prayer.
Najasah (Ritual Impurity)
Impure substances that must be removed before prayer according to Islamic law.
Qasr (Shortened Prayer)
The permission to shorten the four-rak'ah prayers to two rak'ah during travel.
Du'a al-Faraj (The Supplication of Deliverance)
A short, powerful supplication for Imam al-Mahdi's appearance and deliverance from suffering.
Salat al-Jama'ah (Congregational Prayer)
The congregational prayer, where Muslims pray together in rows behind an imam.
Mafatih al-Jinan (Keys to Paradise)
The most widely used Shia prayer book, compiled by Shaykh Abbas al-Qummi.