PRAYER SECTION · 33 – RECITING THE ADHAN FROM AN ELEVATED PLACE
519 – It is narrated from a woman of Banū Najjār that she said: The highest house around the mosque of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) was my house. Bilāl would recite the adhan (call to prayer) upon it. At the time of dawn, he would come, ascend to its top, sit, and observe the dawn. When he saw that the dawn had broken, he would stretch himself, then say: “O Allah, to You is all praise. I seek help from You against Quraysh so that they may uphold Your religion.” Then he would recite the adhan. By Allah, I never saw a day when he did not say these words.
EXPLANATION
This narration shows that it is sunnah (prophetic practice) to recite the adhan from an elevated place. Although the construction of minarets in their current form came later and was considered an innovation (bidʿa), building a minaret for the purpose of reciting the adhan from a high place is in accordance with the original aim of the sunnah. (Menhel, vol. 4, p. 181)