Repeating the two testimonies of faith aloud after reciting them quietly in the adhān is the practice preferred by Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī. However, Mālik holds that “Allah is greatest” should be said twice, whereas al-Shāfiʿī holds that it should be said four times. Abū Hanīfah prefers omitting this repetition of the testimonies. Ahmad regards both forms as Sunnah, but prefers omitting the repetition, because that was Bilāl’s adhān.

Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad prefer saying the phrases of the iqāmah once. Nevertheless, Ahmad also holds that saying them twice is Sunnah. The three—Abū Hanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad—prefer repeating the phrase “The prayer is commencing,” unlike Mālik. And Allah knows best.

Shaykh al-Islām said:

As for the adhān, which is a hallmark of Islam, jurists versed in hadith—such as Ahmad—have adopted all the forms established in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Ahmad approved of Bilāl’s adhān and iqāmah, as well as Abū Mahdhūrah’s adhān and iqāmah. It is established in Sahīh Muslim and elsewhere that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, taught Abū Mahdhūrah to repeat the testimonies of faith aloud after reciting them quietly in the adhān, and to say the phrases of the iqāmah twice. It is also established in the two Sahīhs:

“Bilāl was instructed to say the phrases of the adhān twice and those of the iqāmah once.”

The Sunan collections report that he did not repeat the testimonies of faith aloud after reciting them quietly. Ahmad therefore preferred Bilāl’s adhān, because it was the form regularly used in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, before