he considers it preferable to perform the prayer early without qualification—even Isha, according to one of his two positions, and even in hot weather when the people are gathered together. Yet the authentic hadith of Abū Dharr states that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—instructed them to delay the prayer until the weather grew cooler, although they were gathered together.

[Chapter on the Call to Prayer]

Chapter

As for the call to prayer, which is a distinguishing symbol of Islam, the hadith jurists—such as Ahmad—adopted all the forms established in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Thus, Ahmad approved Bilāl’s form of the call to prayer and the iqāma (call announcing the prayer’s commencement), as well as Abū Mahdhūra’s form of both. It is established in Sahih Muslim and elsewhere that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—“taught Abū Mahdhūra to repeat the two testimonies in the call to prayer.” Sahih Muslim also reports that the formulas of the iqāma are repeated, while the two Sahih collections establish that “Bilāl was instructed to pronounce the formulas of the call to prayer in pairs and those of the iqāma singly.” The Sunan collections report that “he did not repeat the two testimonies.”

Ahmad therefore preferred Bilāl’s form of the call to prayer because it was the form consistently used in the presence of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—both before and after Abū Mahdhūra gave his call, and it continued to be used until the Prophet’s death. Nevertheless, Ahmad approved Abū Mahdhūra’s form and did not regard it as objectionable. This was a consistent principle of his regarding every form in which acts of worship are performed, whether in their words or their actions: he approved everything authentically established from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and, once aware that it was established, regarded none of it as objectionable. He would either prefer one form or regard all of them as equal. Thus, he permitted recitation according to every established reading, even though he preferred