its time has actually begun, except for the dawn prayer alone. The call for Fajr may not be given until two-thirds of the night have passed and continues up to daybreak; if it is made earlier than that, it must be repeated.
Some jurists said the limit is one-sixth of the night. It is recommended that among the mu’adhdhins there be one whose adhan for Fajr coincides with, or comes immediately after, the actual break of dawn; if none is available, there is no harm in calling for it a little before dawn, though the preferred course is for another mu’adhdhin to repeat the adhan once morning has arrived. Should anyone give the adhan for any prayer other than Fajr before its scheduled time, he must repeat it when the time enters.
The adhan consists of seventeen statements:
• “Allāhu akbar” (Allah is Most Great) twice;
• “Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh” (I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah) twice;
• “Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh” (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah) twice;
• He then returns, raising his voice, and says
– “Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh” twice,
– “Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh” twice,
– “Ḥayya ‘alaṣ-ṣalāh” (Come to prayer) twice,
– “Ḥayya ‘alal-falāḥ” (Come to success) twice,
– “Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar; lā ilāha illā Allāh.”
For the dawn adhan alone he adds, after the second “Ḥayya ‘alal-falāḥ,” the phrase “Aṣ-ṣalātu khayrun minan-nawm” (Prayer is better than sleep) twice.
The iqamah comprises ten statements:
“Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar; ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh; ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh; ḥayya ‘alaṣ-ṣalāh; ḥayya ‘alal-falāḥ; qad qāmatiṣ-ṣalāh; Allāhu akbar, Allāhu akbar; lā ilāha illā Allāh.”
All the phrases of the iqamah are said once each, except “Allāhu akbar” at its beginning and end, which are said twice. The final words of both the adhan and the iqamah are “lā ilāha illā Allāh.” The iqamah is more emphatically required than the adhan.
The adhan is valid even if the caller is without ritual purity, but no one should pronounce the iqamah unless he is in a state of purity. There is no objection to a traveler giving the adhan while mounted, yet the iqamah must be delivered on the ground; if he pronounces it while mounted and then dismounts for the prayer, the act is disliked, though his prayer remains valid.