The Beginning of Adhan
(735) Ibn Umar reported: When the Muslims came to Medina, they gathered and sought to know the time of prayer but no one summoned them. One day they discussed the matter, and some of them said: Use something like the bell of the Christians and some of them said: Use horn like that of the Jews. Umar said, “Why may not a man be appointed who should call (people) to prayer?” The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “O Bilal, get up and summon (the people) to prayer. ****The full account of Adhan, as it was introduced in Islam, is given in so many traditions. The proposals mentioned above were brought before the Holy Prophet, but he did not feel drawn at all towards these customs and practices of calling people to prayer, as he considered them inappropriate for such a sacred purpose. He felt that human voice could better communicate the inspiration and emotion which should be dedicated to the solemnity of the occasion. It is narrated that when this problem was being discussed, one day ‘Abdullah B Zayd came to the Holy Prophet and told him: I saw last night a visitant in a dream who had a clapper in his hand and I asked him to sell that to me. When he questioned what I wanted to do with that, I replied that it was to summon people for prayer, whereupon he said: Should I not show you a better way than this? I replied in the affirmative. Upon this he informed me about the words of Adhan. The Holy Prophet said: Your vision, by the Grace of Allah, is true. Go to Bilal and communicate it to him so that he should call people to prayer accordingly. When Umar heard this in his house, he came there dragging his waist-wrapper on the ground and said: By Him, Who has sent you with truth. I have seen precisely the same vision as has been shown to ‘Abdullah B Zayd. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: God be praised for that (Abu Dawud, “Kitab al-Salat”, Bab Bada al-Adhan)
Iqama is a sort of Adhan which is uttered in a comparatively lower tons than Adhan just at the time of beginning the actual prayer.
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