151 – Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that “Bilāl gave the adhān before dawn, whereupon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to go back and proclaim, ‘Alā, indeed the servant has slept!’ ” It was narrated by Abū Dāwūd, who graded it weak (1).

Hadith grading:
This report is weak and exists in two versions:

1. The version cited by the author, which attributes the premature adhān to Bilāl, the muezzin of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It was transmitted by Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, and Ibn al-Madīnī, all of whom deemed it weak.
2. The alternative version, in which the one who called ahead of time was Masrūḥ, the muezzin of ʿUmar. Abū Dāwūd considered this rendering stronger, and it is the correct view.

Vocabulary notes:
– alā: a particle used to open a statement and alert the hearer to what follows, which is its function here.
– “Inna al-ʿabda nām” (indeed the servant has slept): meaning that he missed the correct time due to drowsiness; the aim is to inform the people of the mistake. Bilāl (may Allah be pleased with him) had originally been a client of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, who emancipated him, and ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb used to say, “Abū Bakr is our master, and he freed our master,” referring to Bilāl.

Lessons derived from the hadith:

1. The adhān for the dawn prayer is only valid after true dawn has broken; if the muezzin errs and calls before that, he must return and alert the people to his mistake;