then waited. When Bilal rose again to give the adhan, he said, “Wait until it becomes cooler,” until they could see the shadows of the small hills—indeed, until a hill’s shadow equalled its height. (1) That is, it was close to the time of the afternoon prayer. Then he instructed him to give the adhan. This indicates that the adhan should be given when one intends to perform the prayer. Accordingly, if a group is travelling or on an outing and wishes to pray the night prayer, but prefers to delay it until its more virtuous time, at the end of its time, they should give the adhan when they intend to perform the prayer, rather than when the time for the night prayer begins.

As for the rational basis: the adhan is an announcement that the time for prayer has begun, and an announcement of something’s occurrence can only be made after it has occurred. Therefore, if someone gives the adhan before its time out of ignorance, we say to him: when the time begins, repeat the adhan. This sometimes happens when a person is misled by his clock. He will be rewarded for his adhan given before its time with the reward of unrestricted remembrance of Allah.

Except for the dawn prayer after the middle of the night …

His statement, “Except for the dawn prayer after the middle of the night”: the author makes an exception to the condition that the time must have begun in the case of the dawn adhan, saying, “Except for the dawn prayer after the middle of the night.” Thus, the adhan is valid even if it is not given within its time. Accordingly, if the muezzins were to give the adhan for dawn five minutes after midnight and did not give it when dawn broke, this would suffice according to the author’s view, because the Messenger said: “Bilal gives the adhan at night, so eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktum gives the adhan, for he does not give the adhan until dawn has broken.” (2) Thus, he said, “Bilal gives the adhan at night,” approving this. However, this hadith cannot be used as evidence for the following reasons: