ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه and the Introduction of the Second Adhān for Jumuʿah – The Statement of Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما
Source: Aḥkām wa Masāʾil, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh, Volume 1, Page 237
❖ Question
Did ʿUthmān al-Ghanī رضي الله عنه introduce the second adhān for Jumuʿah?
And is it true that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما declared this adhān to be an innovation (bidʿah)? Kindly provide references.
❖ Answer
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, wa-ṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, Ammā Baʿd!
◈ Clarification by Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله explained:
«وَرَوَی ابْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ مِنْ طَرِيقِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ: اَلْأَذَانُ الْأَوَّلُ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ بِدْعَةٌ ۔ فَيَحْتَمِلُ أَنْ يَكُونَ قَالَ ذٰلِكَ عَلٰی سَبِيلِ الْإِنْكَارِ، وَيَحْتَمِلُ أَنَّه يُرِيدُ أَنَّه لَمْ يَكُنْ فِيْ زَمَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ، وَكُلُّ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ فِيْ زَمَنِه يُسَمّٰی بِدْعَةً الخ»
(Fatḥ al-Bārī, Vol. 2, p. 394)
Translation:
Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated from Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما that he said: “The first adhān on Friday is a bidʿah.”
This could mean that he said it in a manner of disapproval, or that he merely intended to say that this practice did not exist during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and whatever was not during his time was linguistically called bidʿah.
◈ Reference from
«قَالَ ابْنُ أَبِيْ شَيْبَةَ فِيْ مُصَنَّفِه: حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ الْغَازِ، قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ نَافِعًا مَوْلَى ابْنِ عُمَرَ: اَلْأَذَانُ الْأَوَّلُ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ بِدْعَةٌ؟ فَقَالَ: قَالَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ: بِدْعَةٌ»
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, Vol. 2, p. 145)
Translation:
Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated in his Muṣannaf: Wakiʿ reported from Hishām ibn al-Ghāz, who said:
“I asked Nāfiʿ, the freed slave of Ibn ʿUmar, ‘Is the first adhān on Friday a bidʿah?’ He replied: Ibn ʿUmar said: ‘It is a bidʿah.’”
◈ Commentary of Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله
He mentioned two possible interpretations and then said:
“والاحتمال الاول من احتمالي الحافظ هو الارجح”
Meaning:
Of the two interpretations given, the first one (that Ibn ʿUmar said this as a statement of disapproval) is the stronger opinion.
❖ Conclusion
✔ ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه introduced the second adhān for Jumuʿah.
✔ Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما described it as bidʿah.
✔ Scholars offered two explanations:
- Either he said it in disapproval,
- Or he meant that it did not exist during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and he would call any such later practice bidʿah in the linguistic sense, even if it was adopted for a valid purpose.
✔ According to Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله, the stronger view is that Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما said it in disapproval.
Hādhā mā ʿindī wa-Allāhu Aʿlam bi-ṣ-ṣawāb.
