--- title: "What Is the Adhan (Call to Prayer)? | Islam Is Mercy" description: "The adhan is the Muslim call to prayer, proclaimed five times a day. It announces that prayer time has come and invites everyone to God." lang: en url: https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/adhan/ --- 1. [Home](https://islamismercy.com/en/) 2. [Glossary](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/) 3. What Is the Adhan (Call to Prayer)? # What Is the Adhan (Call to Prayer)? Written by **Islam Is Mercy Editorial Team**· 1 min readAwaiting scholar review ## The short answer The adhan is the Muslim call to prayer, recited aloud five times a day to announce that the time for prayer has begun. Its words proclaim God's greatness, bear witness to His oneness and to Muhammad ﷺ as His Messenger, and invite people to prayer and success. ## On this page 1. Meaning 2. How Muslims use it 3. Example **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 [Sahih al-Bukhari 604](https://sunnah.com/bukhari/10#:~:text=to%20guess%20the%20time%20for)Grade: Sahih (in Sahih al-Bukhari) 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?](https://islamismercy.com/en/become-muslim/how-to-pray/) ## Key takeaways - The adhan is the call to prayer, given five times a day. - It proclaims God's greatness and invites people to prayer and success. - Bilal, a freed African slave, was the first to call the adhan. ## Share this article [WhatsApp](https://wa.me/?text=What%20Is%20the%20Adhan%20(Call%20to%20Prayer)%3F%20https%3A%2F%2Fislamismercy.com%2Fen%2Fglossary%2Fadhan%2F)[Telegram](https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fislamismercy.com%2Fen%2Fglossary%2Fadhan%2F&text=What%20Is%20the%20Adhan%20(Call%20to%20Prayer)%3F)[X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=What%20Is%20the%20Adhan%20(Call%20to%20Prayer)%3F&url=https%3A%2F%2Fislamismercy.com%2Fen%2Fglossary%2Fadhan%2F)[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fislamismercy.com%2Fen%2Fglossary%2Fadhan%2F) ## Sources - [Sahih al-Bukhari 604](https://sunnah.com/bukhari/10#:~:text=to%20guess%20the%20time%20for) ## Talk to a Muslim Have a question that isn't answered here? Ask a real person — no pressure, no judgement. [Ask your question](https://islamismercy.com/en/talk/) ## Keep reading [Becoming Muslim ### How to Pray: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners A simple, step-by-step guide to the Muslim prayer (salah) for beginners — from ablution to the final greeting — sticking to what Muslims agree on. Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/become-muslim/how-to-pray/)[Glossary ### Salah — The Muslim Prayer Salah is the ritual prayer Muslims perform five times a day, facing Makkah. It is the second of the Five Pillars of Islam. Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/glossary/salah/)[What Muslims Agree On ### The Five Daily Prayers: Meaning, Times and Purpose Why Muslims pray five times a day, when each prayer falls, and what this daily rhythm of worship means to the people who keep it. Read article](https://islamismercy.com/en/core/five-daily-prayers/)