What Is the Adhan (Call to Prayer)?

Adhan (Arabic: أذان; also spelled azan) is pronounced a-THAAN (the dh sounds like th in “this”).

Meaning

The word means announcement. The adhan is the call that tells Muslims the time for one of the five daily prayers has arrived. The person who calls it is a mu’adhdhin (muezzin). In the first months in Madinah, the Muslims discussed how to gather people for prayer:

Narrated Ibn `Umar: When the Muslims arrived at Medina, they used to assemble for the prayer, and used to guess the time for it. During those days, the practice of Adhan for the prayers had not been introduced yet. Once they discussed this problem regarding the call for prayer. Some people suggested the use of a bell like the Christians, others proposed a trumpet like the horn used by the Jews, but `Umar was the first to suggest that a man should call (the people) for the prayer; so Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ordered Bilal to get up and pronounce the Adhan for prayers

The man chosen, Bilal, was a freed African slave known for his beautiful voice — a lasting sign that in Islam honour comes from faith, not race or status.

How Muslims use it

The adhan’s phrases, each repeated, mean: God is the Greatest; I bear witness that there is no god but God; I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God; come to prayer; come to success; God is the Greatest; there is no god but God. Before the dawn prayer, a phrase is added reminding sleepers that prayer is better than sleep.

Muslims stop to listen, quietly repeat the words, and then make their way to pray. Many parents whisper the adhan into the ear of a newborn, so that the first words the child hears are about God. In many cities around the world, the adhan sounds across rooftops; elsewhere it is called inside the mosque or heard through an app.

Example

“When they heard the adhan for the sunset prayer, the family paused their conversation and got ready to pray.”

Learn more in How Do Muslims Pray?