154 – Malik ibn al-Huwayrith (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet ﷺ said to us, “When the time for prayer comes in, let one of you give the call to prayer (adhān)…,” the rest of the narration. It was recorded by the Seven (1).
Vocabulary of the ḥadīth
• ḥaḍarat al-ṣalāh: its time has begun.
• fal-yuʾadhdhin: the lām is the lām of command, so the verb that follows is in the jussive mood.
Points derived from the ḥadīth
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The adhān is obligatory; it is one of the duties the Muslim community must uphold. It is a manifest symbol of the religion, and those who abandon it may be fought. Al-Bukhārī narrates from Anas: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ advanced against a people, he would not attack until morning. He would listen; if he heard the adhān he would refrain from them, but if he did not hear it he would attack them.” Thus, the adhān is the emblem of Islam.
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The adhān is a communal obligation (farḍ kifāyah). If some perform it in a manner that suffices, the responsibility is lifted from the rest; if no one does so, they are all sinful. This is the rule governing all communal obligations.
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The unrestricted wording of the ḥadīth—“let one of you give the adhān”—is qualified by other texts that lay out the qualities required in a mu’adhdhin, among them:
(a) His ﷺ statement to ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd: “Pass it on to Bilāl, for his voice carries further than yours.” [Abu Dāwūd 499].