—the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would repeat the very words of the mu’adhdhin whenever the caller paused.
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The jurists state: if a person does not answer the mu’adhdhin until the adhān is finished, it is still recommended that he make up the responses—as long as only a short interval has elapsed. If the gap is lengthy, the Sunnah opportunity has passed.
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The majority of scholars hold that answering the mu’adhdhin is a recommended Sunnah, not an obligation. Their proof is Muslim’s report (382): the Prophet ﷺ heard a caller; when the caller proclaimed the takbīr he said, “in accordance with the primordial nature,” and when the caller uttered the shahādah he said, “you have been delivered from the Fire.” Had the response been obligatory, he would have repeated the caller’s exact words. A group of the Ḥanafīs and the Ẓāhirīs deem it obligatory, while another faction within the Ḥanafīs regard it as recommended, in line with the majority view—which is the stronger of the two, and Allah knows best.
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With respect to replying to the iqāmah in the same manner, Abū Dāwūd (528) relates from one of the Companions that when Bilāl began the iqāmah and, on reaching “qad qāmat al-ṣalāh,” the Prophet ﷺ responded, “May Allah establish it and make it endure.” For the remaining phrases he answered as in ʿUmar’s ḥadīth on the adhān. However, this report is weak.
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Following the mu’adhdhin is never reprehensible in any circumstance or at any time, except in situations where the Sacred Law forbids verbal remembrance.