Islamic Fiqh > Prayer > Adhan and iqama: the call to prayer
The call to prayer: formulas, the muezzin's reward, the hearer's responses, and the difference between adhan and iqama.
Updated on 06 October 2026 at 10:50 PM
Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudama · Hanbali school
The adhan is an announcement of the time of prayer. The origin of the adhan is information, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: "and an announcement from Allah and His Messenger", that is, information; and: "we announced to you in equal measure", that is, we informed you, so that we were equal in knowledge.
And al-Harith ibn Hilliza said (in verse): "Asma announced to us through her resounding voices, and many a settled man wearies of remaining", that is, she informed us.
Bada'i al-Sana'i by al-Kasani · Hanafi school
He is liable to detention for abandoning an obligation; most of our shaykhs said: they are two emphasized sunnahs, based on what Abu Yusuf reported from Abu Hanifa concerning people who prayed zuhr or asr in a town, in congregation, without adhan or iqama: they missed the Sunnah, departed from it and incurred sin.
The two statements do not contradict each other, for the emphasized sunnah and the obligation are equivalent, especially the sunnah that is one of the symbols of Islam: its abandonment is unacceptable, and whoever neglects it has done wrong, for neglecting the mass-transmitted sunnah entails blame; and if it is not one of the symbols of Islam, that is even stronger. Do you not see that Abu Hanifa called it a sunnah, then explained it as an obligation when he said: they missed the Sunnah, departed from it and incurred sin? And sin results only from abandoning an obligation.