of the adhān, as is obvious. Its chain of transmission is ḥasan, as clarified in Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 527. By contrast, the report of Bilāl is disconnected between Abū ʿUthmān and Bilāl, which is why I placed it in Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd under no. 167; and even if it were sound, it still offers no support for the contention.

As for the passage he quotes from Imām Aḥmad, it warrants reconsideration, for Aḥmad’s words “in its place” do not refer to the adhān but to the iqāmah: he means that the one giving the iqāmah should pronounce it right where he is, without walking about. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad relates in his Masāʾil 61/220: “I asked my father, ‘May a man walk while giving the iqāmah?’ He replied, ‘What I prefer is that he give the iqāmah where he is…,’” and so forth.

I have uncovered a number of reports that corroborate the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd. Ibn Abī Shaybah (1/224) narrates from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaqīq: “Part of the sunnah is to deliver the adhān from the minaret and the iqāmah inside the mosque, and ʿAbd Allāh used to do so.” The chain is sound.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq (1/506) also reports that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz sent men to the mosque with the instruction, “When the iqāmah for prayer is given, rise for it.” This chain too is sound, and it clearly shows that the iqāmah was pronounced inside the mosque.

His statement, “It is prescribed for the mu’adhdhin to make tathwīb, that is, to say in the Fajr adhān after the two ḥayy-ʿalā calls, ‘Prayer is better than sleep.’ Abū Mahdhūrah said, ‘Messenger of Allah, teach me the sunnah of the adhān.’ He taught him and then said, ‘When it is the Fajr prayer you should say: Prayer is better than sleep, Prayer is better than sleep…,’” is recorded by Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd.

I say: tathwīb is legislated only in the first, pre-dawn adhān for Fajr, which is given roughly a quarter of an hour before the time actually begins, on the strength of the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him): “In the first adhān, after the call ‘Come to success,’ the caller would say, ‘Prayer is better than sleep’ twice.” Al-Bayhaqī reports this in 1/423, and likewise