“Bilāl was instructed to pronounce the adhān in pairs and the iqāmah in single phrases—except for the words ‘The prayer has been established,’ which he was to say twice.”

Muslim likewise transmitted, through Abū Maḥdhūrah, the Hijāzī form of the adhān. Because of the apparent contradiction among the various narrations, Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal and Dāwūd held that the differing descriptions were conveyed by way of option, not as an obligation to follow one exclusive pattern; hence a person may choose whichever of them he wishes.

They also disagreed over the caller’s saying during the dawn prayer, “Prayer is better than sleep”: should it be included or not? The majority maintained that it should be said, whereas others—al-Shāfiʿī among them—held that it should not, arguing that the phrase is not part of the prescribed adhān. The root of their dispute is whether this addition was made during the Prophet’s lifetime, peace and blessings be upon him, or first introduced in the time of ʿUmar.

Second Section of the First Chapter, Second Part: The Legal Ruling of the Adhān

The scholars disagreed over the ruling of the adhān: is it obligatory, or a highly-emphasised Sunnah? If it is obligatory, is it a personal duty (farḍ ʿayn) or a communal duty (farḍ kifāyah)? One report from Mālik states that the adhān is obligatory for the mosques in which congregational prayer is held; another deems it a confirmed Sunnah, and he did not regard it as either obligatory or Sunnah for one praying alone.

Some of the Ẓāhirīs said it is obligatory upon every individual; others said it is obligatory upon any group, whether on a journey or at home; still others restricted the obligation to those travelling. Al-Shāfiʿī and Abū Ḥanīfah agreed that it is Sunnah for both the individual and the congregation, though more strongly emphasised for the latter.

Abū ʿUmar remarked that everyone agrees it is at least a confirmed Sunnah—or even an obligation—for a settled community, in light of the authenticated report: “Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, heard the call to prayer he would refrain from attacking, but if he did not hear it he would attack.”

The reason for their disagreement lies in the tension between the meaning inferred from such reports and the explicit wording of other traditions. It is established that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to Mālik b. al-Ḥuwayrith and his companion: “When the two of you are travelling, call the adhān and pronounce the iqāmah, and let the older of you lead the prayer.” Likewise, continuous practice is narrated from him—peace be upon him—of doing so when praying in congregation.

Thus, whoever understood these reports to indicate an unconditional obligation declared the adhān obligatory upon each individual or upon every group; this is the view Ibn al-Mughallis conveyed from Dāwūd. Whoever understood them simply as an invitation to assemble for the prayer held that it is a Sunnah for the mosques, or an obligation only in places where people gather for congregational prayer.