Derived from: Fatāwā Amnapūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Ẓahīr Amnapūrī
❖ Question:
When was the Adhān (call to prayer) legislated in Islam?
✅ Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ʾAmma baʿd!
✿ Time and Place of Legislation:
◈ Adhān was legislated in Madinah, and there is no difference of opinion among the scholars regarding this.
✿ Scholarly View:
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr (رحمه الله) (d. 774 AH) states:
“The legislation of Adhān took place in Madinah, without any difference of opinion. According to Imām Nawawī and many historians, it was legislated in the first year after Hijrah. However, based on the context of certain narrations, it appears to me that it was legislated in the second year, and Allah knows best. I believe it occurred after the change of Qiblah towards the Kaʿbah.
As for the narration that mentions the Adhān was legislated on the night of Miʿrāj, it is weak and unauthentic, as several Hadith experts have stated.”
(Kitāb al-Aḥkām al-Kabīr, 1/89)
✅ Summary:
◈ Adhān was legislated in Madinah after the Hijrah.
◈ Majority opinion places it in the first year, though some indications suggest it may have been in the second year after the change of Qiblah.
◈ The claim that it was legislated on the night of Miʿrāj is based on a weak narration and not reliable.
هٰذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
