Adhan literally means announcement, and in the Shariah (Islamic law) it means the announcement made in specific words to call prayer in Islam.

Have you ever wondered how it started?

History of Adhan

Performing the Adhan is a form of Fardu Kifayah (religious obligation for the community) of a group.

For Muezzin (the individuals who perform the Adhan), he would earn the reward or merit for the good deeds performed from Allah.

In the annals of Islam, Adhan was performed from the first year of Hijrah in the seventh century AD.

According to the Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim, quoting Ibnu Umar al-Khattab, there was no Adhan in the early stages of the Muslims' migration from Mecca to Medina.

In Mecca, the number of Muslims was small. They could make jama'ah without any call. When Rasulullah (peace be upon him, PBUH) arrived in Medina, the number of Muslims started to increase.

Rasulullah (PBUH) built Masjid an-Nabawi to offer Solat in jama'ah (together). By the second year of Hijrah, the number of Muslims had increased.

This had led the Prophet to gather all of his companions to discuss ways on how to alert Muslims for them to proceed to the mosque to perform their prayers.

Some Sahaba suggested the Muslims to blow a horn to announce the time for the solat like what Jews did to call for their prayer. Others said, the Muslims might ring bells as the Christians do in their churches. A few proposed that the Muslims, like the fire-worshippers, kindle a fire to call people to pray. Rasulullah (PBUH) was not satisfied with any of these ideas. He waited to hear a better idea or to receive guidance from Allah.

Umar later suggested for the signal to be loudly called out as a phrase 'it is time for the prayers'.

This had been accepted by the Prophet and he amended the phrase to 'assolatu jami'ah' which means to form a congregation for the prayers.

Those who heard this call came to join the Solat. Muslims felt the need to find a way to inform people to come to the Solat.

One day, a Sahabi, 'Abdullah ibn Zaid, came to Rasulullah (PBUH) and said, "O Messenger of Allah! I had a beautiful dream last night."

"What was the dream you saw?" Rasulullah (PBUH) asked Zaid.

Zaid answered, "I have seen that a man wearing green garments taught me the words of the Adhan and advised me to call people to prayer with these words." He then recited the words for the Adhan.

Rasulullah (PBUH) recognized that the dream of 'Abdullah was true. He asked 'Abdullah to teach the words

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