Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri told my father, ''I see you liking sheep and the wilderness. So whenever you are with your sheep or in the wilderness and you want to pronounce Adhan for the prayer raise your voice in doing so, for whoever hears the Adhan, whether a human being, a jinn or any other creature, will be a witness for you on the Day of Resurrection.'' Abu Said added, ''I heard it (this narration) from Allah's Apostle.''

Allah's Apostle said, ''The (call for prayer) Adhan of Bilal should not stop anyone of you from taking his Suhur for he pronounces the Adhan in order that whoever among you is praying the night prayer, may return (to eat his Suhur) and whoever among you is sleeping, may get up, for it is not yet dawn (when it is like this).'' (Yahya, the sub-narrator stretched his two index fingers side ways).

I heard Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan (repeating the statements of the Adhan) while he was sitting on the pulpit. When the Muadh-dhin pronounced the Adhan saying, ''Allahu-Akbar, Allahu Akbar'', Muawiya said: ''Allah Akbar, Allahu Akbar.'' And when the Muadh-dhin said, ''Ash-hadu an la ilaha illal-lah (I testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah)'', Muawiya said, ''And (so do) I''. When he said, ''Ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah'' (I testify that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle), Muawiya said, ''And (so do) I''. When the Adhan was finished, Muawiya said, ''O people, when the Muadh-dhin pronounced the Adhan I heard Allah's Apostle on this very pulpit saying what you have just heard me saying''.

I heard As-Saib bin Yazid, saying, ''In the life-time of Allah's Apostle, and Abu Bakr and Umar, the Adhan for the Jumua prayer used to be pronounced after the Imam had taken his seat on the pulpit. But when the people increased in number during the caliphate of Uthman, he introduced a third Adhan (on Friday for the Jumua prayer) and it was pronounced at Az-Zaura' and that new state of affairs remained so in the succeeding years.

When the Muslims arrived at Medina, they used to assemble for the prayer, and used to guess the time for it. During those days, the practice of Adhan for the prayers had not been introduced yet. Once they discussed this problem regarding the call for prayer. Some people suggested the use of a bell like the Christians, others proposed a trumpet like the horn used by the Jews, but Umar was the first to suggest that a man should call (the people) for the prayer; so Allah's Apostle ordered Bilal to get up and pronounce the Adhan for prayers.

Anas bin Malik said, ''Whenever the Prophet went out with us to fight (in Allah's cause) against any nation, he never allowed us to attack till morning and he would wait and see: if he heard Adhan he would postpone the attack and if he did not hear Adhan he would attack them.'' Anas added, ''We reached Khaibar at night and in the morning when he did not hear the Adhan for the prayer, he (the Prophet ) rode and I rode behind Abi Talha and my foot was touching that of the Prophet. The inhabitants of Khaibar came out with their baskets and spades and when they saw the Prophet they shouted Muhammad! By Allah, Muhammad and his army.' When Allah's Apostle saw them, he said, ''Allahu-Akbar! Allahu-Akbar! Khaibar is ruined. Whenever we approach a (hostile) nation (to fight), then evil will be the morning of those who have been warned.''

We were with the Prophet on a journey and the Mu'adhdhin (call maker for the prayer) wanted to pronounce the Adhan (call) for the Zuhr prayer. The Prophet said, Let it become cooler.'' He again (after a while) wanted to pronounce the Adhan but the Prophet said to him, ''Let it become cooler till we see the shadows of hillocks.'' The Prophet added, ''The severity of heat is from the raging of the Hell-fire, and in very hot weather pray (Zuhr) when it becomes cooler.''

Allah's Apostle said, ''When the Adhan for the prayer is pronounced, then Satan takes to his heels passing wind so that he may not hear the Adhan and when the Muadh-dhin finishes, he comes back; and when the Iqama is pronounced he again takes to his heels and when it is finished, he again comes back and continues reminding the praying person of things that he used not to remember when not in prayer till he forgets how much he has prayed.'' Abu Salama bin Abdur-Rahman said, ''If anyone of you has such a thing (forgetting the number of Rakat he has prayed) he should perform two prostrations of Sahu (i.e. forgetfulness) while sitting.'' Abu Salama narrates this from Abu Huraira.

The Prophet said, ''The Adhan pronounced by Bilal should not stop you from taking Suhur, for he pronounces the Adhan at night, so that the one offering the late night prayer (Tahajjud) from among you might hurry up and the sleeping from among you might wake up. It does not mean that dawn or morning has started.'' Then he (the Prophet) pointed with his fingers and raised them up (towards the sky) and then lowered them (towards the earth) like this (Ibn Mas'ud imitated the gesture of the Prophet). Az-Zuhri gestured with his two index fingers which he put on each other and then stretched them to the right and left. These gestures illustrate the way real dawn appears. It spreads left and right horizontally. The dawn that appears in the high sky and lowers down is not the real dawn) .

Allah's Apostle said, ''Whenever you hear the Adhan, say what the Mu'adhdhin is saying.

The Prophet used to offer two light Rakat between the Adhan and the Iqama of the Fajr prayer.

Allah's Apostle said thrice, ''There is a prayer between the two Adhans (Adhan and Iqama),'' and added, ''For the one who wants to pray.''

I asked Aisha ''What did the Prophet use to do at home?'' She said, ''He used to work for his family, and when he heard the Adhan (call for the prayer), he would go out.''

that he had heard Muawiya repeating the words of Adhan up to ''Wa ash-hadu Anna Muhammadan Rasulul-lah (and I testify that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle.)''

Ata' said, ''Jabir bin Abdullah said, The Prophet went out on the Day of Id-ul-Fitr and offered the prayer before delivering the Khutba, Ata told me that during the early days of IbnAz-Zubair, Ibn Abbas had sent a message to him telling him that the Adhan for the Id Prayer was never pronounced (in the life time of Allah's Apostle) and the Khutba used to be delivered after the prayer. Ata told me that Ibn Abbas and Jabir bin Abdullah, had said, �- where was no Adhan for the prayer of 7d-ul-Fitr and Id-ul-Aqha.'' At a' said, ''I heard Jabir bin Abdullah saying, The Prophet stood up and started with the prayer, and after it he delivered the Khutba. When the Prophet of Allah (p.b.u.h) finished (the Khutba), he went to the women and preached to them, while he was leaning on Bilal's hand. Bilal was spreading his garment and the ladies were putting alms in it.' '' I said to Ata, ''Do you think it incumbent upon an Imam to go to the women and preach to them after finishing the prayer and Khutba?'' Ata' said, ''No doubt it is incumbent on Imams to do so, and why should they not do so?''