Have you ever visited a Muslim country before? If you did, you must have heard this call to prayer five times a day.
After prayers were made obligatory upon Muslims, it was obvious that a sign was needed to inform people that it was time to pray. Although many ideas were suggested for this, they were not accepted by the Messenger of Allah. At that time, however, Abdullah ibn Zaid ibn Sa'labah, one of the companions, was taught the adhan in a dream. Abdullah came to the Prophet the next day and informed him of the situation. Muhammad (peace be upon him) then ordered Bilal to recite the adhan. Meanwhile, the companion Umar came to the Messenger of Allah and reported that he had had the same dream, but Abdullah ibn Zaid had acted earlier. Bilal climbed on top of a high house belonging to a woman from the sons of Najjar, and read the morning prayer adhan for the first time. After the conquest of Mecca, the adhan was recited by Bilal from the Kaaba. Bilal reciting the adhan as an Ethiophian slave, looking down on everyone from the Kaaba, which has always been a sacred temple for Arabs and Muslims, was a challenge to the social order of the era.
The words and the meaning of the adhan are as follows:
Allahu akbar (x4)
Allah is the Greatest
Ashadu an la ilaha illa Allah (x2)
I bear witness that There is no god except Allah
Ashadu anna Muḥammadan rasulu Allah (x2)
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
Hayya ala s-salah (x2)
Come to prayer
Hayya ala l-falah (x2)
Come to salvation
As-salatu khayrun mina n-nawm (x2) (only for the Morning prayer)
Prayer is better than sleeping
Allahu akbar (x2)
Allah is the greatest
La ilaha illa Allah
There is no god except Allah
Let’s listen to it!
