The Early History of the Adhan

 

The Early History of the Adhan

Before the call to prayer was prescribed, the companions gathered to discuss the time markers for prayer. There are those who propose bells like the Christians, there are also those who suggest using the horns like the Jews. This information is as contained in the hadith narrated by Muslim:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ كَانَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ حِينَ قَدِمُوا الْمَدِينَةَ يَجْتَمِعُونَ فَيَتَحَيَّنُونَ الصَّلَوَاتِ وَلَيْسَ يُنَادِى بِهَا أَحَدٌ فَتَكَلَّمُوا يَوْمًا فِى ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمُ اتَّخِذُوا نَاقُوسًا مِثْلَ نَاقُوسِ النَّصَارَى وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ قَرْنًا مِثْلَ قَرْنِ الْيَهُودِ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ أَوَلاَ تَبْعَثُونَ رَجُلاً يُنَادِى بِالصَّلاَةِ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ  صلى الله عليه وسلم : يَا بِلاَلُ قُمْ فَنَادِ بِالصَّلاَةِ

It means:

“One time when the Muslims arrived in Medina, they gathered while waiting for the prayer time. But none of them can tell that prayer time has entered. So that one day they consulted to discuss the issue. Some of the Companions suggested using a bell as used by Christians and some with horns as used by the Jews in their religious ceremonies, But Umar bin Khattab 's friend said " It would be nice for you to make someone in charge of calling people people praying ", then Rasulullah SAW agreed with Umar's proposal and said " O Bilal, stand up and call people to establish prayer!"

Meanwhile, in the narration of Abu Daud there is an additional narration as follows:

عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ عَمِّهِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ زَيْدٍ قَالَ أَرَادَ النَّبِىُّ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- فِى الأَذَانِ أَشْيَاءَ لَمْ يَصْنَعْ مِنْهَا شَيْئًا قَالَ فَأُرِىَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ زَيْدٍ الأَذَانَ فِى الْمَنَامِ فَأَتَى النَّبِىَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَخْبَرَهُ فَقَالَ  أَلْقِهِ عَلَى بِلاَلٍ

Abdullah bin Zaid said: " The Prophet SAW wanted to find a way to announce the time of prayer (adhan), but he has not yet found it ". Abdullah bin Zaid had a dream about the words of the call to prayer in his sleep. Then he came to the Prophet SAW to tell him about it, then the Prophet SAW said " Teach those words to Bilal !".

In another narration it is also explained that when Abdullah bin Zaid narrated his dream about the pronunciation of the call to prayer to the Messenger of Allah, his friend Umar bin Khattab also admitted the same thing that he had also dreamed a dream similar to Abdullah bin Zaid. After that, the Prophet SAW exclaimed while praising Allah SWT as a form of his joy with the news. Since then, the call to prayer has been used as a reminder of the time of prayer until the Prophet SAW passed away. The person who was first asked to call the call to prayer was Bilal bin Rabbah.