Al-Bukhārī and al-Dāramī likewise transmit—through Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, who said, “Sufyān narrated to us”—the wording: “He saw Bilāl giving the adhān, and I began following his mouth, first to this side and then to that, as he called.”

Al-Nasāʾī reports the same account through Isḥāq al-Azraq, from Sufyān.

Al-Nawawī said:

“According to our school (the Shāfiʿīs) it is recommended, during the two ḥayʿalah phrases (ḥayya ʿala al-ṣalāh / ḥayya ʿala al-falāḥ), to turn the face right and left without rotating the body or turning one’s back to the qiblah, whether the caller is on the ground or on a minaret. This is also the view of al-Nakhaʿī, al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, and Abū Thawr, and it is one of the reported positions of Aḥmad. Ibn Sīrīn considered such turning disliked. Mālik said: he should neither rotate nor turn unless he wishes the people to hear. Abū Ḥanīfah, Isḥāq, and another narration from Aḥmad say that he turns the face but does not rotate, except when atop a minaret, in which case he may rotate.

Those who hold that he should rotate cite the ḥadīth of al-Ḥajjāj ibn Arṭaʾah, from ʿAwf ibn Abī Juḥayfah, from his father: “I saw the Prophet ﷺ at al-Abṭaḥ; Bilāl came out and gave the adhān, and he spun around while calling.” It was recorded by Ibn Mājah and al-Bayhaqī.

Our colleagues adduce instead the sound ḥadīth mentioned earlier, which states that he did not rotate. As for al-Ḥajjāj’s report, it may be answered in three ways: first, it is weak, for al-Ḥajjāj is weak and a mudallis; a weak narrator is not a proof, and a mudallis who relates with ‘from’ is not accepted even if otherwise trustworthy and precise. Second, it conflicts with the transmission of the reliable narrators from ʿAwn ibn Abī Juḥayfah on the authority of his father, so it must be set aside. Third, the term ‘rotated’ may be interpreted as referring merely to turning the face, thus reconciling the narrations.”