- He should face the qiblah.
There are two hadiths on this point:
First: the report of ʿAbdullāh ibn Zayd describing the angel who brought him the wording of the adhān. He said, “While I was between sleep and wakefulness I saw a figure clothed in two green garments. He faced the qiblah and proclaimed: ‘Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar…’” – and so forth.
This narration was cited earlier under the first issue. It is transmitted through al-Masʿūdī, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, from Muʿādh. Although al-Masʿūdī’s memory faltered in his later years, this particular wording is supported by corroborating chains.
Isḥāq said in his Musnad, as quoted in al-Talkhīṣ: “Abū Muʿāwiyah told us, from al-Aʿmash, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, who said: ʿAbdullāh ibn Zayd came and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I saw a man descend from the sky. He stood on the stump of a wall, faced the qiblah…,’” after which he related the remainder of the hadith.
Second: the report of Saʿd al-Qarṭ, the Prophet’s ﷺ muʾadhdhin:
“Bilāl would give the adhān two phrases at a time, recite the two testimonies twice, and while facing the qiblah he would say…” – the rest of the wording follows.
Al-Ṭabarānī recorded this narration, but its chain is weak, as noted earlier under the second category of reports on the adhān. Al-Ḥākim also transmitted it with the wording: “Whenever Bilāl began the takbīr of the adhān he would face the qiblah…” and so on.