Abu Mahdhurah — “Teach Me the Method of ADHAN”
Abu Mahdhurah — "Teach Me the Method of ADHAN"
Abu Mahdhurah — "Teach Me the Method of ADHAN"
Abu Mahdhurah came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with a simple, eager request. He did not want wealth or position. He wanted the Prophet ﷺ himself to teach him how the call to prayer is made:
"Messenger of Allah, teach me the method of ADHAN (how to pronounce the call to prayer)."
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
Look at how the teaching began — with gentleness, before a single word:
"He wiped my forehead (with his hand) and asked me to pronounce"
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
Then came the words themselves:
> «اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ»
"Allah is most great. Allah is most great. Allah is most great. Allah is most great, raising your voice while saying them (these words)."
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
Then came the two testimonies — first quietly, then aloud:
"I testify that there is no god but Allah, I testify that there is no god but Allah; I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
He was to say them while "Lowering your voice while saying them (these words)", and "Then you must raise your voice in making the testimony" and repeat them aloud.
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
Then came the call that gathers the people:
> «حَىَّ عَلَى الصَّلاَةِ حَىَّ عَلَى الصَّلاَةِ حَىَّ عَلَى الْفَلاَحِ حَىَّ عَلَى الْفَلاَحِ»
"Come to prayer, come to prayer; come to salvation, come to salvation."
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
And for the morning prayer, extra words of mercy:
> «الصَّلاَةُ خَيْرٌ مِنَ النَّوْمِ»
"If it is the morning prayer, you must pronounce; prayer is better than sleep, prayer is better than sleep, Allah is most great; there is no god but Allah."
Sunan Abi Dawud 500
A second narration describes the same teaching in slightly different words:
"Abu Mahdhura said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught him Adhan like this: Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest"
Sahih Muslim 379
Here the testimonies are said, "and it should be again repeated" — said once more — before the call:
Sahih Muslim 379
"I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to the prayer (twice). Come to success (twice)."
Sahih Muslim 379
And one narrator of this report, Ishaq, added the closing takbir at the end: "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest".
Sahih Muslim 379
Two narrations, one teacher, and one beautiful call.
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🌿 Stop and Think About This Scene
Abu Mahdhurah could have picked up the adhan just by listening to others. Instead, he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to teach him properly. Notice the care in it: a gentle wipe of the forehead before the first word, the voice raised in one place and lowered in another. When we want to learn our religion, do we ask with this same eagerness — and when we teach, do we teach with this same gentleness?
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❤️ The Greatest Lesson
Every word of this adhan came from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, taught by him to a student who asked. In these narrations we watch the Prophet ﷺ placing its words, one by one, on the tongue of Abu Mahdhurah.
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📚 Important Lessons From This Hadith
1. Go to the one who knows. Abu Mahdhurah took his question straight to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: teach me.
2. Teaching begins with gentleness: before the lesson, the Prophet ﷺ wiped his student's forehead.
3. The adhan has a taught manner, not only taught words: takbir with a raised voice, testimonies lowered then raised, then the call to prayer and salvation.
4. The morning prayer carries its own added words: "prayer is better than sleep" — words aimed at the hardest moment of the day.
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🏠 How Can We Apply This Hadith in Our Daily Lives?
Learn the words of the adhan properly, and answer it with attention, knowing its words were taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself. When you teach anyone — a child, a friend, a new Muslim — begin the way he began: with gentleness before instruction. And when Fajr is called and sleep feels heavy, remember the words he added for that moment.
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🌹 The Most Beautiful Message
A man came and asked: "teach me the method of ADHAN" — and the best of teachers taught him with his own hand and his own voice. The door of learning opens for the one who asks.
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📖 Authentic Reference
Sunan Abi Dawud 500 — Chapter: How The Adhan Is Performed — Grade: Sahih (Al-Albani) — Sunan Abi Dawud 500
Sahih Muslim 379 — Chapter: Description Of The Adhan — Grade: Sahih — Sahih Muslim 379