Chapter: The Virtue of the Adhan

1033 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “If people knew the reward contained in the call to prayer and in the first row, and found no way to obtain them except by drawing lots, they would draw lots for them. If they knew the merit of arriving early for the prayer, they would race one another to do so. And if they knew the reward for the ‘isha’ and fajr prayers, they would come to them even if they had to crawl.” Agreed upon.

Al-istihaam means drawing lots, and at-tahjeer means setting out early for the prayer.

[Explanation]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—says in his book Riyad al-Salihin: “Chapter on the Adhan,” meaning its virtue and the reports concerning it. The adhan is the public announcement of the prayer: either announcing the entrance of its time when the prayer is to be performed immediately, or announcing that the prayer is about to be performed when it is one that may be delayed. In other words, a person calls out so people know the time has begun—for maghrib, fajr, ‘asr, and dhuhr, unless the latter two are postponed until the heat subsides—and likewise for ‘isha’ if it is delayed; in that case the adhan itself is also delayed. Otherwise, the adhan is given as soon as the time enters, in accordance with the Prophet’s statement ﷺ: “When the time for the prayer arrives, let one of you give the adhan for you.” The legislated adhan is the one made for the five daily prayers, and it was prescribed in the second year after the Hijrah, after the Prophet ﷺ had migrated to