a second time when true dawn breaks, so that the people know the time has begun and that both the prayer and the fast are now due.

It is recommended for anyone who hears the mu’adhdhin to answer him by repeating each phrase. When he reaches hayya ʿala al-ṣalāh and hayya ʿala al-falāḥ, one responds, lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh (there is no power nor might except through Allah). After the mu’adhdhin finishes, he then says: Allāhumma Rabba hādhihi al-daʿwati al-tāmmah wa-al-ṣalāti al-qāʾimah, āt Muḥammadan al-wasīlata wa-al-faḍīlah, wabʿath-hu maqāman maḥmūdan alladhī waʿadt-ah (O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and the prayer that is about to be established, grant Muhammad the means and the virtue, and raise him to the praised station You have promised him).

It is unlawful to leave the mosque after the adhān without a valid excuse or the intention to return. Likewise, if a person is seated when the mu’adhdhin begins, he should remain seated until the call is complete, so as not to resemble Satan in turning away.

When the believer hears the adhān, he ought to head for the mosque and set aside all worldly occupations. Allah the Exalted says: “In houses which Allah has allowed to be raised and wherein His name is mentioned, there glorify Him morning and evening men whom neither trade nor sale distract from the remembrance of Allah, from establishing the prayer and giving the zakāh; they fear a Day when hearts and eyes will be overturned.”

The iqāma consists of eleven sentences and should be delivered rapidly, for it is meant merely to inform those already present; there is no need to draw it out. It is recommended that the one who gave the adhān also give the iqāma, and he should not commence it without the imam’s permission, for its timing rests on the imam’s judgment and it is not to be pronounced except at his signal.