Blog #1 History of Azhan

• Azhan was not legislated in the Makkan period of the prophethood. It was legislated in the first year after the Hijrah.

• When the community of the believers started to grow in Madeenah, the companions raised the concern regarding how they can gather everyone for the prayers. Some suggested the use of the bell (Naaqoos) Others mentioned the horn (Booq) and some others said that the fire (Naar) should be lit to signal the time of congregational prayers. It was known that the Christians used the bell, the Jews used the Shofar or the ram’s horn and the Majoos used the fire, so the prophet was hesitant to entertain these ideas in order to avoid resemblance to the disbelievers.

• And the people had almost decided to use the bell, but the night prior to that, one of the companions by the name of Abdullah Ibn Zayd saw a dream. He saw a man wearing green garments and holding a bell. So Abdullah said to him, could you sell the bell to me? So the man said, and what will you do with it? Abdullah answered by saying, we will use it to notify the people about the prayers. Upon that the man said, should I not lead you to something that is better than that? Then, the man taught him the words of the Azhan.

• The next morning, Abdullah went to the prophet and mentioned the dream. The prophet was rejoiced and said, it is no doubt a true dream. Go and teach these words to Bilal because he has a stronger and more melodious voice. So he went to Bilal and taught him the words, upon which Bilal began to call the Azhan loudly.

• Hearing that, Umar came out of his house, hurrying toward the prophet while dragging his garment. Upon seeing the prophet, he said, I swear by the One Who sent you with the truth, I heard the same words in my dream. The prophet said, all praise is for Allah. When the Jews of Madeenah heard the Azhan, they came to the prophet and said, O Muhammad, what have you invented? We have never heard of anything like this before. They mocked him and the Azhan, so Allah revealed:

وَإِذَا نَادَيْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ٱتَّخَذُوهَا هُزُوًا وَلَعِبًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْقِلُونَ