the one with the stronger voice is preferred, then the one superior in religious commitment and sound judgment, then whoever is favored by the neighbors, and, if the matter is still unresolved, lots are drawn.

The adhān consists of fifteen sentences. He should chant them in measured tones, loudly, while ritually pure, facing the qiblah, with his forefingers in his ears. He should not turn his whole body; rather, during the ḥayya ʿalā phrases he merely turns his head to the right and left, and after each of those phrases in the dawn adhān he says twice: al-ṣalātu khayrun mina’l-nawm (“Prayer is better than sleep”).

The iqāmah is eleven sentences, recited more quickly, and, if feasible, the same person who gave the adhān should give the iqāmah in the very spot where he stood1.

Neither call is valid unless its phrases are pronounced in the prescribed order without undue pause, and it must be given by a morally upright person, even if he uses melody or slips in grammar; it is, however, acceptable from any child who can distinguish right from wrong.

A long interruption—or even a short one occasioned by something unlawful—invalidates both calls. They do not count if given before their time, except that the Fajr adhān may be made any time after midnight.

It is recommended for the caller to sit briefly after the Maghrib adhān2. Anyone who is combining prayers or making up missed prayers gives one adhān for the first prayer and an iqāmah for every subsequent obligatory prayer. It is sunnah for whoever hears the call to echo it silently, to say the ḥawqala (lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh) during the ḥayya ʿalā phrases3, and, once the call is complete, to say:

“O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and of the established prayer, grant Muhammad the Wasilah and the Virtue, and raise him to the Praised Station You have promised him.”