“We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the highlands of Yemen when Bilāl rose to give the call to prayer. When he fell silent, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Whoever says exactly what this man has said—with unwavering certainty—will enter Paradise.”

This report has a corroborating chain through Anas, recorded by Abū Yaʿlā. Al-Haythamī notes: “It contains Yazīd al-Raqāshī; Shuʿbah and others judged him weak, while Ibn ʿAdī and, in one narration, Ibn Maʿīn, considered him reliable.”

There is another corroboration from ʿUmar ﵁, found in Muslim and elsewhere, which will be cited shortly.

(It is permissible—indeed recommended—to reply, on occasion, with la ḥawla wa la quwwata illā billāh in place of ḥayya ʿala al-ṣalāh, ḥayya ʿala al-falāḥ.)

There are several ḥadiths on this topic.

First: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ﵁ reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“When the muʾadhdhin says, ‘Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar,’ and one of you answers, ‘Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar’; then he says, ‘Ash-hadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh,’ and you reply, ‘Ash-hadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh’; then he says, ‘Ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh,’ and you reply, ‘Ash-hadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh’; then he says, ‘Ḥayya ʿala al-ṣalāh,’ and you respond, ‘La ḥawla wa la quwwata illā billāh’; then he says, ‘Ḥayya ʿala al-falāḥ,’ and you respond, ‘La ḥawla wa la quwwata illā billāh’; then he says, ‘Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar,’ and you answer, ‘Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar’; then he says, ‘Lā ilāha illā Allāh,’ and you answer, ‘Lā ilāha illā Allāh’—sincerely, from the heart—he will enter Paradise.”

It was recorded by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Ṭaḥāwī through Ismāʿīl ibn—