and, for such occasions, the caller simply announces al-ṣalātu jāmiʿah (“Prayer is assembling”). According to the New Opinion it is recommended even for a lone worshipper, who should raise his voice with it—though not in a mosque where a congregation has already prayed. For a make-up prayer he gives the iqāmah but, under the New Opinion, omits the adhān.

I say: the Old Opinion is stronger, and Allah knows best.

If several prayers have been missed, the adhān is given only for the first of them. For a women’s congregation the iqāmah is recommended, not the adhān, according to the prevalent view. In the adhān every formula is repeated twice, whereas in the iqāmah each is said once—except for the words qad qāmati ’ṣ-ṣalāh, which are repeated. It is sunnah to render the call smoothly and with measured tones, to perform the tarjiʿ (uttering the two testimonies softly and then aloud), and in the dawn prayer to add the tathwīb (“Prayer is better than sleep”). One should call while standing and facing the qiblah.

Correct order and uninterrupted succession are conditions, though one opinion holds that a lengthy pause or conversation in between does not harm it. The caller must be a discerning Muslim male. It is disliked for someone in minor ritual impurity to call, and even more so for one in major impurity; the dislike is stronger for the iqāmah. It is recommended that the caller be loud-voiced, melodious, and upright in character. On the sounder view, leading the prayer is more meritorious than giving the adhān.

I add: the sounder position is that the adhān is more meritorious than leading the prayer, and Allah knows best.

The entry of the prayer time is a prerequisite for the adhān, except for the dawn prayer, whose adhān may be made from midnight onward. It is sunnah for a mosque to have two callers: one gives the adhān before daybreak and the other after it. Whoever hears the call should repeat its words, except during the formulas ḥayya ʿalā ’ṣ-ṣalāh and ḥayya ʿalā ’l-falāḥ, during which he says, “lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh” (“There is no power and no strength except through Allah”).

I add: during the tathwīb he should instead say, “You have spoken the truth and done well,” and Allah knows best.

After the adhān everyone should invoke blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then say: “O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and of the prayer that is about to be established, grant Muhammad the Means and Virtue and raise him to the Praised Station You have promised him.”