Five times a day, from mosques all over the world, the adhan calls Muslims to prayer. It is one of the most beautiful sounds in Islam: in a few lines it declares that Allah (﷾) is the greatest, bears witness to the faith, and invites everyone who hears it to prayer and to success.
The one who calls it is the mu’adhdhin. The first was Bilal ibn Rabah, a freed slave chosen by the Prophet (ﷺ) for his strong, carrying voice, after a companion, Abdullah ibn Zayd, was shown the words of the adhan in a dream. Sunan Abi Dawud 499
The words
اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allahu akbar
Allah is the greatest
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah
أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ
Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
حَيَّ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ
Hayya 'ala as-salah
Come to prayer
حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ
Hayya 'ala al-falah
Come to success
At Fajr (the dawn prayer) only
الصَّلَاةُ خَيْرٌ مِنَ النَّوْمِ
As-salatu khayrun min an-nawm
Prayer is better than sleep
اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ
Allahu akbar
Allah is the greatest
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ
La ilaha illa Allah
There is no god but Allah
Where the schools of Islamic law differ
The iqamah
Just before the prayer begins, a second, shorter call is made, the iqamah (the call to stand for prayer). It uses the words of the adhan, more quickly and with most lines said once rather than twice, and adds one line after Hayya ’ala al-falah. (The Hanafi school says its lines twice, like the adhan.)
قَدْ قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ
Qad qamat as-salah
the prayer has begun
Responding to the adhan
When you hear the adhan, repeat each line quietly after the mu’adhdhin. At Hayya ’ala as-salah and Hayya ’ala al-falah, say instead:
لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ
La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah
there is no might and no power except with Allah
When it ends, send blessings on the Prophet (ﷺ) and say the dua after the adhan. The Prophet (ﷺ) promised his intercession to whoever says it.
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ، وَالصَّلَاةِ الْقَائِمَةِ، آتِ مُحَمَّدًا الْوَسِيلَةَ وَالْفَضِيلَةَ، وَابْعَثْهُ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا الَّذِي وَعَدْتَهُ
Allahumma rabba hadhihi-d-da’wati-t-tammah, wa-s-salati-l-qa’imah, ati Muhammadan al-wasilata wa-l-fadilah, wa-b’athhu maqaman mahmudan alladhi wa’adtah
O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and of the prayer about to be established, grant Muhammad al-wasilah (a rank in Paradise) and excellence, and raise him to the praised station You have promised him.
Repeating the adhan: Sahih Muslim 385. Blessings on the Prophet (ﷺ) and the wasilah: Sahih Muslim 384. The dua: Sahih al-Bukhari 614.
Friday
On Friday the midday prayer is replaced by Jumu’ah (the Friday congregational prayer), with a sermon, and the adhan calls everyone to the mosque.
“O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly), hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah, and leave off business (and traffic): That is best for you if ye but knew!”