Fourth corroboration: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd relates—in the account of the dream in which he saw the angel—that he said, “During the night before dawn drowsiness overtook me, and while I was between sleep and wakefulness I saw a man wearing two green garments. He stood on the roof of the mosque, put his index fingers in his ears, and gave the call…”—and the report continues at length.

Abū Shaykh recorded it in his Kitāb al-Adhān through the chain of transmission: Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd, as cited in al-Talkhīṣ and Nasb al-Rāyah. They add: “Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād has been spoken against.” As for ʿAbd al-Raḥmān’s narration from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Zayd, it has already been mentioned that some scholars declared, “There is a break in the chain.”

Al-Tirmidhī, after quoting the first hadith, remarked: “This is the practice upheld by the scholars: they deem it recommended that the muʾadhdhin insert his two fingers into his ears when giving the adhān. Some scholars state that he should do so in the iqāmah as well; this is the view of al-Awzāʿī.”

Al-Fatḥ records: “The scholars mention two benefits in this practice: first, it may cause the voice to carry farther; second, it serves as a sign so that whoever sees the muʾadhdhin from a distance, or someone who is hard of hearing, knows that he is calling the adhān.”

Note: No specific finger has been explicitly identified. Al-Nawawī maintained that it is the forefinger (al-musabbihah), and the unqualified use of the word ‘finger’ is figurative, intending only the tip of the finger.