Hadith #43

Arabic Text

English Translation

Yaʿqūb narrated to us, he said: My father informed us, from Ibn Isḥāq. He said: Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Zuhrī mentioned, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from ʿAbdullāh ibn Zayd ibn ʿAbd Rabbihi, who said: When the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ resolved to use a bell (nāqūs) to gather people for prayer — though he disliked it because it resembled the Christians — a visitor came to me at night while I was sleeping: a man wearing two green garments with a bell in his hand. I said to him: 'O servant of Allāh, will you sell the bell?' He said: 'What will you do with it?' I said: 'We will use it to call to prayer.' He said: 'Shall I guide you to something better than that?' I said: 'Yes.' He said: 'You say: Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Ashhadu an lā ilāha illAllāh, Ashhadu an lā ilāha illAllāh. Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūlullāh, Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūlullāh. Ḥayya ʿalā al-ṣalāh, Ḥayya ʿalā al-ṣalāh. Ḥayya ʿalā al-falāḥ, Ḥayya ʿalā al-falāḥ. Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illAllāh.' Then he stepped back a short distance and said: 'Then when you establish the prayer, you say: Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Ashhadu an lā ilāha illAllāh. Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūlullāh. Ḥayya ʿalā al-ṣalāh. Ḥayya ʿalā al-falāḥ. Qad qāmat al-ṣalāh, Qad qāmat al-ṣalāh. Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illAllāh.' When morning came, I went to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and told him what I had seen. He said: 'This is indeed a true vision, if Allāh wills.' Then he ordered the adhān to be called. Bilāl, the freed slave of Abū Bakr, used to call it and summon the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ to prayer. One morning, he came to call him for Fajr and was told: 'The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ is sleeping.' So Bilāl cried out at the top of his voice: 'Prayer is better than sleep!' (al-Ṣalātu khayrun min al-nawm). Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib said: This phrase was then added to the Fajr adhān.