The Adhan (Call to Prayer)

The vocal call summoning Muslims to Salah (the Five Daily Prayers), legislated in the early Madinan period — uniquely, through the dream of a Companion.

How it was legislated

The Prophet ﷺ consulted the Companions on how to call people to prayer. A bell (like the Christians) and a horn (shofar, like the Jews) were both rejected. That night Abdullah ibn Zayd — and, it emerged, Umar — saw the same dream: a man teaching the words of the adhan as we know them. The Prophet ﷺ confirmed, “This is a true dream,” and had Bilal — “for you have the loudest voice” — call it out as Abdullah ibn Zayd prompted him (so Abdullah technically gave the first adhan).

Point of principle (schema §5)

This is the only element of the shariah rooted in a Companion’s dream — and even then, the true source of the ruling was the Prophet’s ﷺ confirmation, not the dream itself. “We do not base our shariah on dreams” — had he not said “it is true,” it would carry no legal weight.

Cross-references

Salah (the Five Daily Prayers) · Bilal ibn Rabah (ra) · Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) · Masjid al-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque) · Muhammad ﷺ · Madinah (Yathrib)

Sources

• S006 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 031. Reports of the dream of Abdullah ibn Zayd (Sunan Abi Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad).