The call to prayer and the traditions surrounding it.
A call to worship
The adhan announces prayer and calls the community towards worship. Qur’an 5:58 refers to the call to prayer, while 62:9 specifically calls believers to remembrance when the Friday prayer is announced. The Friday passage should not be treated as a transcript of the adhan itself.
Listening and responding
In Sahih Muslim 384, a report from Abdullah ibn Amr instructs the listener to respond to the caller, invoke blessings on the Prophet, and ask Allah to grant him al-Wasilah. This reference identifies the transmitted report rather than supplying an unattributed devotional instruction.
Recognizing differences
The wording and repetitions of the adhan and iqamah are taught through particular legal traditions. Al-Sistani’s published Ja‘fari answer distinguishes a devotional testimony concerning Imam Ali from the formal components of adhan and iqamah. A recording or printed formula should therefore identify the tradition it represents. This introductory page does not present a mixed formula assembled from different schools.
Read the Qur’anic references
Sources and further reading
Sahih Muslim 384 — responding to the caller
Office of al-Sistani — adhan and iqamah questions