and he is the one who repeats ḥayya ʿala al-falāḥ (“Come to success”) five times a day, or even more, something the imam never attains. No tree, stone, or clod of earth hears the muʾadhin’s voice without testifying for him on the Day of Resurrection. For that reason the adhan holds a higher rank in the Law than leading the prayer.

Someone may ask, “If that is so, why did neither the Messenger of Allah ﷺ nor the Rightly Guided Caliphs give the adhan themselves?” The scholars answer that the Prophet ﷺ and the Caliphs were occupied with the public welfare; they were the community’s governors and imams, responsible for managing the affairs of the ummah. Moreover, calling the adhan in their time was not like calling it today. Now all a person needs to do is glance at a clock to know whether the time has begun. In the Prophet’s era they would watch the sun, measure the shadows to be sure it had passed the meridian, monitor it until it had set, observe the twilight, and keep vigil for the break of dawn—an arduous task indeed.

Thus the Prophet ﷺ and the Caliphs left the adhan to others, not because it is less virtuous than leading the prayer, but because their responsibilities prevented them from performing it. The Prophet ﷺ clarified its superiority when he said, “If people knew the reward contained in the call to prayer and had no way to perform it except by drawing lots, they would certainly draw lots.” Subḥān Allāh! This means that if people truly grasped the merit and reward of the adhan, they would compete by casting lots to see who would give it, whereas today, regrettably, they push it away: one says, “You give the call,” and the other replies, “No—you give it.”