Source: Fatāwā Arkān-e-Islām
❖ Question
What is the Shari‘ah status of giving Adhan and Iqamah for a person who prays alone? Is it obligatory upon him to give Adhan and Iqamah or not?
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
For a person who performs the prayer alone, giving the Adhan and Iqamah is Sunnah, not obligatory.
The basic reason is that a person praying alone is without a congregation — meaning there are no other individuals present for whom the Adhan would normally be called.
However, since Adhan is:
✿ A means of the remembrance of Allah ﷻ,
✿ A part of religious instruction,
✿ And a proclamation calling towards prayer and success,
Therefore, giving the Adhan is a recommended (mustahabb) act, and likewise, the Iqamah is also Sunnah.
❖ Evidence for the Recommendation of Adhan
The recommendation (istihbāb) of Adhan is supported by the following ḥadīth, narrated from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir رضي الله عنه, who said:
«يَعْجَبُ رَبُّکُْ مِنْ رَاعِی غَنَمٍ علی رَأْسِ الشَظِيَّةٍ للجَبَلٍ يُؤَذِّنُ لِلصَّلَاةِ: فَيَقُولُ اللّٰهُ:َّ انْظُرُوا إِلَی عَبْدِی هَذَا يُؤَذِّنُ وَيُقِيمُ للصَّلَاةَ يَخَافُ مِنِّی قَدْ غَفَرْتُ لِعَبْدِی وَأَدْخَلْتُهُ الْجَنَّةَ»
(Musnad Aḥmad: 4/145, 157; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb aṣ-Ṣalāh, Bāb al-Adhān fī as-Safar, ḥadīth: 1203 — wording from Abū Dāwūd)
Translation:
“Your Lord, Glorious and Exalted, is pleased with a shepherd of sheep who stands upon a high peak of a mountain and calls the Adhan for prayer and offers the prayer. Allah, Glorious and Exalted, says: ‘Look at My servant — he gives the Adhan and says the Iqamah for prayer, fearing Me. I have forgiven My servant and admitted him into Paradise.’”
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
