His statement, “communal,” means that if a sufficient number of people undertake it, the obligation is waived from the rest.

The evidence that it is a communal obligation is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement to Malik ibn al-Huwayrith: “When the time for prayer comes, let one of you give the adhān for you.” (1) This indicates that the adhān of one person is sufficient, and that it is not obligatory upon every individual.

Some scholars said: Whatever is required to be performed by each particular person is an individual obligation; whereas whatever is required to be performed irrespective of who does it is a communal obligation. (2) In the first case, consideration is given to the one performing it; in the second, consideration is given to the deed itself. If it is asked, “Which is more virtuous: an individual obligation or a communal obligation?” the answer is that, according to the stronger view, the individual obligation is more virtuous, because its being required of every person individually indicates its importance and that no person’s worship of Allah Most High is complete without it—unlike a communal obligation.

Upon Men

His statement, “upon men”: this is the plural of “man,” and refers to those who have reached adulthood. Thus, children, women, and those with indeterminate intersex status are excluded. It is not obligatory upon children, because they are not men and are not legally accountable.

As for women, according to the established position of the madhhab, they are not required to give the adhān, whether they are apart from men or together with them. If we do not hold it to be obligatory upon them, then what is the ruling? There are several narrations from Imam Ahmad (3): one narration is that both of them