Prayer Section · 30 – Call to Prayer and Adhan
From Abdullah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him; the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, considered various things to call people to prayer. He did not implement any of them. In a dream, Abdullah ibn Zayd was shown the adhan (call to prayer). He came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and reported what he had seen. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said: “Tell Bilal about what you saw.” So he told Bilal, and Bilal recited the adhan. Abdullah says: "I saw it in a dream, and I wanted to recite it." The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “You also perform the iqama (recitation of the call to prayer).”
[Annotation:] His commanding Bilal to recite it and telling Abdullah ibn Zayd, “You also perform the iqama,” indicates that performing the iqama is not obligatory for the one who recites the adhan. According to this situation, the first person to recite the adhan was Bilal, and the first person to perform the iqama was Abdullah ibn Zayd. In the subsequent hadith numbered 514, it is reported that Suda’i recited the adhan and he was ordered to perform the iqama. According to this situation, it seems better for whoever recites the adhan to also perform the iqama.
It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with him):
My grandfather, Abdullah ibn Zayd, would transmit this report. And my grandfather performed the standing [for prayer].
Ziyad ibn al-Harith al-Sudai relates:
That when the time for the Fajr prayer entered with the first call to the adhan, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, commanded me. I then pronounced the adhan. Should I recite the iqama? Every time I said, “O Messenger of Allah,” he would look towards the dawn and say, "No."
When the dawn broke, he dismounted (from his camel), performed ablution, and turned to me, reaching his companions (meaning he completed his ablution). When Bilal wished to recite the iqama, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him, “The one who pronounced the adhan is your brother from the tribe of Sudai.” He then stated, "He who pronounces the adhan performs the iqama." I then recited the iqama. [336]
**Explanation:**
It is preferable that he who recites the adhan also perform the iqama. According to Imam Malik and Abu Hanifa, leniency is broad; anyone other than the one who pronounces the adhan can recite the iqama. As-Shafi’i said that he prefers that whoever recited the adhan should perform the iqama. Ziyad being called “brother of the tribe of Sudai” is because he belongs to the tribe of Sudai. The members of a tribe are considered brothers to one another. Sudai is a tribe in Yemen.