ALMISKEENAH

 

 

ADHAN. 

Piercing.

Riveting.

Piercing all the senses through to the core of the heart. Riveting the soul to focus all attention on The One!

ALLAHU AKBAR! resonates across the Enlightened City. Lighting hearts to the hope of another prayer to be offered, adding to their account, Insha’Allah. A prayer multiplied by 1,000 according to one narration, and 50,000 according to another when offered in Masjid Nabawi AsShareef. ALLAH AKBAR!

206 amplifiers with 3500 speakers boom the sound of the Mu’adhdhin, ricocheting from minaret to minaret. Echoing the passionate lilt from Masjid Nabawi are the thousands of other local Masaajid rendering their call to the sounds waves. All of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah seems to be vibrating with this ultimate invitation, the perfection of Da’wah, five times daily. The veneration increases with each phrase. First we hear the pinnacle of our Tauheed, ALLAHU AKBAR, etching deeper and deeper as it is repeated four times, the Greatness of Allah.

Allahu Akbar
Allah is Great

We then reaffirm out belief and Yaqeen in Allah as we hear twice,

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah
I bear witness that there is no god except Allah.

Followed by our witness to Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam being His Messenger, said twice,

Ashadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah
I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Hayya ‘ala-s-Salah
Hurry to prayer. Hurry to prayer. (Rise up for prayer)

Hayya ‘ala-l-Falah
Hurry to success. Hurry to success. (Rise up for Salvation)
Allahu Akbar
Allah is Great
La ilaha illa Allah
There is no god except Allah.

For the pre-dawn (fajr) prayer, the following phrase is inserted after "hurry to success"

As-salatu Khayrun Minan-nawm
Prayer is better than sleep, repeated twice.

SubhanAllah, from morning till night, a constant reminder, an ongoing affirmation, an opportunity for repetitive renewal of Iman, a perpetual celebration, a continual prompter, a permanent shake! May we all take heed. Only through prayer is the way to success. Success in both worlds.

For a moment contemplate how this call to success has reverberated across this blessed valley for more than fourteen centuries! SubhanAllah! Every dust particle and air molecule, every living creature, every human and jinn, witnessing, invited, seduced by the magnificence of this Daw’ah. SubhanAllah! And then stretch our imagination even more and try to conjure how it was with Sayyiduna Bilal
RadhiAllahu anhu, the first Mu’adhdhin appointed by the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. His voice so sweet and yet so powerful it could reach the boundaries of Madinah at the time of Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.

Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu used to stand on the stump of a palm trunk to deliver Adhan. The approximate position of this corresponds today to the entrance area for the men just inside Bab Baqi. (Diagonally opposite towards the Baqi direction from our Beloved Messenger of Allah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.) For Salatul Juma’ah Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu would stand just in front of the Mimbar to recite Adhan, the position of the raised marble MUKABBARYA, where the Adhan is called from now.

Sayyiduna Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu has been so elevated in the Eyes of Allah Ta’ala. Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam heard his footsteps, or his presence in Jannah. When Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam asked Bilal, "What did you do to get to Jannah before me? I have never entered Jannah without hearing the rustling of your garments in front of me." He replied, "Messenger of Allah, I have never called the Adhan without praying two rak’ahs, and no impurity has ever happened to me without my performing ablution on the spot and thinking that I owed Allah two rak’ahs." Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, "It is because of them."

In the initial days of Islam in Madinah Muslims gathered for Salah at the appointed times without being summoned. Later the Prophet, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, thought about using a trumpet like the Jews used to summon to prayer. He disliked that idea and ordered a clapper made of two pieces of wood to be beaten at Salah times. Then Abdullah ibn Zayd, RadhiAllahu anhu, an Ansari, came to him and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I had a dream last night: A man wearing two green garments came to me holding a bell, so I offered to buy it. When he asked me what I wanted it for, I told him that it was to summon people to Salah, whereupon he offered to show me a better way. It was to say four times: ‘Allahu Akbar’, then to say twice: Ash-hadu allaa ilaaha ilia Allah, then twice: ash-hadu anna Muhammadar rasoolullah, then twice: hayya ‘alas-salah, then twice: hayya ‘alal-falah, then "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar laa ilaaha ilia Allah ." "It is a true vision insha Allah," said the Prophet, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, adding, "Go and teach it to Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu for he has a more beautiful and far reaching voice." For the first time Madinah resonated with the Adhan as Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu was saying it. It was only fitting that the one who uttered the word of Tauheed under the harshest of torture should utter it during the Adhan. When Umar RadhiAllahu anhu heard the Adhan he rushed to the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and said; "By the One Who has sent you with the Truth I had the same dream about it!" "Revelation has already preceded you," replied the Prophet, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam.

The blissful days with the Prophet, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam soon came to an end. Everyone in Madinah wept over the death of the dearest man ever on Earth. Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu was asked to make Adhan before the burial of the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. He started the call: "Allahu Akbar…", but when he came to the name of the Prophet, SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, he was sobbing so heavily, he could not continue. He said: "By Allah I will not say the Adhan anymore." He asked the Khalifah, Abu Bakr RadhiAllahu anhu, to allow him to go to ash-Sham for Jihad, where he spent the rest of his life. He made Adhan only twice since then. The first was when Umar RadhiAllahu anhu came to ash-Sham.

Once he beheld the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam in his dream saying to him: "O, Bilal! How is it that you never visit me?" No sooner did he get up than he set out for Madinah. On reaching there, Hasan and Husain RadhiAllahu anhuma (The Prophet’s SallAllahu alaihi wasallam grandsons) requested him to call out the Adhan. He could not refuse them, for they were very dear to him. This was the second time of calling Adhan since the departure of Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. But as soon as he began the people of Madinah cried openly with anguish at the memory of the Prophet’s SallAllahu alaihi wasallam time. Even the women came out of their houses weeping. Bilal RadhiAllahu anhu left Madinah again after a few days and died in Damascus in 20 A.H. As mentioned in the last post, he will be resurrected at the feet of Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. And Allah knows best.

Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam did not make Adhan at all throughout his life, except at the time of birth of his grandsons, when Adhan is said in the right ear and Iqama in the left. Adhan is complete Daw’ah and Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam the perfect Da’e, so strange that he never made Adhan. He SallAllahu alaihi wasallam was Imam but never Mu’adhdhin.

The Ulema say the reason is to be found in one verse of Qur’an Majeed.

A messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering distresses him: he is deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and mercy towards the believers. (9:128)

If Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam has made Adhan he would have been calling people to "come to Salat". And even if only one person did not respond they would have been destined for Jahannam Audhu biLlah, because they would have rejected the command of Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, THE MERCY TO ALL MANKIND. Such MERCY prevented him SallAllahu alaihi wasallam from ever calling Adhan and thus potentially harming any one of his Ummah

Subhanallah Subhanallah Subhanallah. How magnificently sublime is Allah Ta’ala’s Hikmah!!!!!!!!!!!

Some virtues related to Adhan based on Ahadith: Du’a made between the Adhan and the Iqamah is not rejected.

Allah’s Messenger SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said: He who calls Adhan for twelve years is assured of Paradise and sixty merits are recorded for him every day for every Adhan and thirty merits for every Iqamah.

Narrated Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu: Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, "When the Adhan is pronounced Shaytan takes to his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight in order not to hear the Adhan. When the Adhan is completed he comes back and again takes to his heels when the Iqama is pronounced and after its completion he returns again till he whispers into the heart of the person to divert his attention from his prayer and makes him remember things which he does not recall to his mind before the prayer and that causes him to forget how much he has prayed." 

Narrated ‘Abdul Rahman RadhiAllahu anhu: Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri RadhiAllahu anhu told my father, "I see you liking sheep and the wilderness. So whenever you are with your sheep or in the wilderness and you want to pronounce Adhan for the prayer raise your voice in doing so, for whoever hears the Adhan, whether a human being, a jinn or any other creature, will be a witness for you on the Day of Resurrection." Abu Said RadhiAllahu anhu added, "I heard this narration from Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam."

 

This photo was taken in a remote desert area approximately 25 km north west of Madinah at Maghrib time. The "masjid" consisted of low "walls" with the sky as the upper walls and ceiling, SubhanAllah. You will see the Mu’adhdhin standing inside this masjid having adjusted the "sound system" for Adhan!! Think of the thawab!

Abu Said Al-Khudri RadhiAllahu anhu also said that he heard Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam say, "Whenever you hear the Adhan, say what the Mu’adhdhin is saying."

Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah RadhiAllahu anhu: Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, "Whoever after listening to the Adhan says, ‘Allahumma Rabba hadhihi-d-da’ watit-tammati was-salatil qa’imati, ati Muhammadan al-wasilata wal-fadilata, wab’ athhu maqaman mahmudan-il-ladhi wa’ adtahu (O Allah! Lord of this perfect call (of not ascribing partners to You) and of the regular prayer which is going to be established! Kindly give Muhammad the right of intercession and superiority and send him (on the Day of Judgment) to the best and the highest place in Paradise which You promised him)’, then intercession for me will be permitted for him on the Day of Resurrection"). 

Narrated Abu Hurairah RadhiAllahu anhu: Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, "If the people knew the reward for pronouncing the Adhan and for standing in the first row in congregational prayers and found no other way to get that except by drawing lots they would draw lots, and if they knew the reward of the Zuhr prayer (in the early moments of its stated time) they would race for it (go early) and if they knew the reward of ‘Isha’ and Fajr prayers in congregation, they would come to offer them even if they had to crawl." 

I know of several people who have embraced Islam upon hearing Adhan.  This is one account.

Such is the power of this passionate call, vibrating in the heart, whether Muslim or not, as all hearts ultimately belong to Allah Ta’ala, and are responding to His Fitrah.

An invitation repeated in rolling waves across the world day in and day out until the final Trumpet blast, Insha’Allah.  

For those of the Ummah not in an Islamic country there are some options available for bringing Adhan into your daily routine. Audio downloads, special alarm clocks set to your local time, training all male family members, including young boys, to be the Mu’adhdhin, and thereby accruing all the rewards for this effort. And finally making Du’a for Islam to spread far and wide, gaining acceptance from the ones preventing Adahn to be called openly and publicly. As well as asking Allah Ta’ala to change the hearts of all authorities, where ever they may be, to allow our melodic call to Prayer and hence success be made wherever the Ummah is. Ameen.  

 

All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. Ameen.