The Call to Prayer (al-Adhān): A British Muslim Family's Guide (UK 2026)

The adhān — the call that shapes Muslim daily life

Five times a day, in every Muslim community on earth, the same words have been recited for over fourteen centuries: Allāhu akbar... ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh... ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh... The adhān — the call to prayer — is one of the most distinctive features of Muslim civic life and one of the most beautifully simple acts of public worship in any religious tradition.

This guide is the British Muslim parent\'s reference to the adhān: its origin, its words, the Sunnah responses, the position of the muezzin, and the practical realities of the call to prayer in modern Britain.

The origin of the adhān

The adhān was not part of the original Madinan practice when the Prophet ﷺ first arrived in 1 AH. The Muslim community discussed how to call people to prayer — some suggested a horn (like the Jewish shofar), others a bell (like Christian church bells), others a fire signal. The Companion ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd (RA) then had a remarkable dream in which a man taught him the words of the adhān. He told the Prophet ﷺ, who confirmed: "This is a true dream, by the will of Allah."

The Prophet ﷺ instructed Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ (RA) — the African freed slave with the most resonant voice in the Companion community — to learn the words and recite them from a high place at each prayer time. Bilāl became the first muezzin of Islam. The dream of ʿAbd Allah ibn Zayd became the adhān that would summon Muslims to ṣalāh five times a day from that point until the Day of Judgement.

The words of the adhān

Phrase	Repetition	Meaning
Allāhu akbar	4 times	Allah is the greatest
Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh	2 times	I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah
Ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūl Allāh	2 times	I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
Ḥayya ʿalā al-ṣalāh	2 times	Come to the prayer
Ḥayya ʿalā al-falāḥ	2 times	Come to success
Allāhu akbar	2 times	Allah is the greatest
Lā ilāha illā Allāh	1 time	There is no deity except Allah

For the Fajr (dawn) prayer specifically, an additional phrase is added after "Ḥayya ʿalā al-falāḥ":

aṣ-ṣalātu khayrun mina al-nawm — "Prayer is better than sleep" (recited twice)

The Sunnah responses

When you hear the adhān, the Sunnah is to repeat each phrase silently after the muezzin — except for the two ḥayyaʿalā phrases, where you instead say:

lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh — "There is no power and no strength except in Allah."

After the adhān is complete, recite the Sunnah du\'ā:

"O Allah, Lord of this complete call and of the prayer about to be established, grant Muhammad al-wasīlah and al-faḍīlah, and raise him to a praiseworthy station that You have promised him" (Bukhari 614).

The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever recites this du\'ā after the adhān will receive his intercession on the Day of Judgement.

The iqāmah — the second call

The iqāmah is recited just before the obligatory prayer begins, by the muezzin or another worshipper. It uses similar words to the adhān but each phrase is recited only once instead of twice, and an additional phrase — qad qāmat al-ṣalāh ("the prayer has been established") — is recited twice. The iqāmah signals that the prayer is about to begin and worshippers should align in rows.

The muezzin — who recites the adhān

Classical Islamic teaching honours the muezzin highly. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The muezzins will have the longest necks of all people on the Day of Judgement" (Muslim 387) — a metaphor in classical Arabic for the highest dignity. Bilāl ibn Rabāḥ (RA), the first muezzin, was so beloved by the Prophet ﷺ that he was instructed to call the adhān at the conquest of Makkah from the roof of the Kaʿbah itself — an act of profound symbolic significance, with the African freed slave proclaiming the divine unity from the most sacred building in Islam.

For most British masājid today, the muezzin is the imam himself or a designated regular Companion of the masjid. The role does not require any specific qualification beyond a clear voice, accurate Arabic pronunciation, and devotion.

The adhān in modern Britain

The adhān is recited inside UK masājid five times a day. External (loudspeaker) adhān is permitted in some UK areas with appropriate council permissions and is increasingly common — particularly in areas of high Muslim concentration like Tower Hamlets, Birmingham, Bradford and Blackburn. In some London boroughs, external adhān has been permitted since the 1980s.

For British Muslims who do not live within hearing distance of a masjid (the majority of UK Muslims), prayer-time apps like Muslim Pro, IslamicFinder and the Athan app provide audio adhān at the correct UK times — adjusted for season and location. Smart speakers (Alexa, Google) can also play the adhān at prayer times.

What the adhān means for British Muslim families

1. The adhān reorients the day. Hearing the call to prayer five times a day — even from a phone app — is a powerful interruption of secular time. It anchors the day in worship.
2. It is a tool of remembrance for children. British Muslim children growing up with the adhān playing in the home five times a day internalise the rhythm of Muslim life from infancy.
3. It carries community memory. Every Muslim in every era hears the same words. Your grandfather in Pakistan, your great-grandmother in Yemen, your great-great-grandfather in Bosnia — all heard "Ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh" in exactly the same form. The adhān binds you to the global ummah across time.

Frequently asked questions

Where to go next

For more on prayer and worship, see our guides on Salah and Its Significance, The Favour of Congregational Prayer, and The Sunan of Prayer. To learn the adhān with proper tajweed under an Al-Azhar-graduate teacher, book a free trial lesson.