Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: M. J. Kister, “Adam: A Study of Some 

Legends in Tafsir and Hadith Literature.” Israel Oriental 

Studies (1993): 113–174; Gordon Darnell Newby, The 

Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earli-

est Biography of Muhammad (Columbia: University of 

South Carolina Press, 1989).

adat

  See 

customary

 

law

.

adhan

 

(Arabic; also 

azan)

Adhan, the Islamic call to 

prayer

, is recited in 

Arabic before each of the five daily prayers from 

K  12  

Adam and Eve

---

a 

mosqUe

. According to traditional accounts, it 

was first performed by b

ilal

, one of Muhammad’s 

companions, after the h

iJra

 to Medina in 622 

c

.

e

.

The man who performs the call to prayer is called 

a muadhdhin (

mUezzin

), and he should stand fac-

ing the 

qibla

 (toward m

ecca

) when he does so. 

Muslims are expected to perform their prayers 

when they hear the adhan. Although the call to 

prayer may sound melodic, many Muslims object 

to it being called musical because of its religious 

meaning.

For Sunni Muslims, the following phrases are 

chanted (with minor variations in the number of 

repetitions):

1.  Allahu akbar (repeated four times) “God 

is great”;

2.  Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah (repeated 

twice) “I witness that there is no god but 

God”;

3.  Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah

(repeated twice) “I witness that Muham-

mad is the prophet of God”;

4.  Hayya ala s-salah (repeated twice) “Come 

to prayer”;

5.  Hayya ala l-falah (repeated twice) “Come 

to safety and prosperity”;

6.  Allahu akbar (repeated twice) “God is 

great”;

7.  La ilaha illa Allah “There is no god but 

God.”

The adhan for the morning prayer adds the follow-

ing after part 5: as-salatu khayrun min an-nawm

(repeated twice) “Prayer is better than sleep.”

For t

Welve

-i

mam

 s

hiism

, the call to prayer can 

differ slightly with the addition of ashhadu anna 

Aliyan waliyu Allah (“I witness that a

li

 is the 

friend of God”) after part 3, and hayya ala khayr 

al-amal (“Come to the best of actions,” repeated 

twice) after part 5.

Traditionally, the muezzin chanted the adhan

from the mosque 

minaret

, but today he can do 

it from the mosque floor using loudspeakers. It 

is not unusual in Muslim cities to hear the adhan

coming noisily from several mosques in the same 

neighborhood, each chanted in a different style. In 

cities where Muslims are a minority, it may have 

to be performed quietly or inside the mosque. The 

call to prayer is also performed on radio and tele-

vision in Muslim countries, and it can sometimes 

be heard on radio stations in the United States. 

The adhan may also be chanted softly into the ear 

of a newborn child, welcoming her or him into 

the wider Muslim community.

See also 

mUsic

; 

shahada

; s

Unnism

.