Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that in the blessed era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when the time for prayer would arrive, a man would walk along the road calling out, "Prayer, prayer, prayer." This became burdensome for the people, so they said, "O Messenger of Allah, if we start ringing a bell (it would be better)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "That is the practice of the Christians." They said, "If we start blowing a horn (that would also be fine)." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "That is the practice of the Jews." It is said that Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) was commanded to say the words of the adhan twice and the words of the takbir once.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) has ordered that some of the words of the Iqamah be said once; he did not order that all the Takbirs be said once. And the words mentioned in the narration of Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) are from such a narration whose words are general but whose meaning is specific. Because the Adhan is said once, not twice. Because the Mu’adhdhin says «‏‏‏‏لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله» ‏‏‏‏ only once at the end, likewise the one who says the Takbir says «‏‏‏‏اللهُ أَكْبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏ twice at the beginning of the Iqamah, and likewise «‏‏‏‏قد قامت الصلاة» ‏‏‏‏ is said twice, and «‏‏‏‏اللهُ أَكْبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏ is also said twice.

Hazrat Muhammad bin Ishaq (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) arrived in Madinah, people would gather around him at the times of prayer without any call to prayer. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) intended to have a horn made similar to the horn of the Jews, by which they call for their prayers. Then he disliked this. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered a bell to be made, so it was carved out so that it could be rung to call the Muslims to prayer. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and his noble companions were engaged in this consultation when Abdullah bin Zaid bin Abd Rabbih, the brother of Harith bin Khazraj, was shown the Adhan (call to prayer) in a dream. So he came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), last night I saw a man in a dream. A man passed by me, he was wearing two green garments and was carrying a bell in his hand. So I said, 'O servant of Allah, will you sell this bell?' He said, 'What will you do with it?' I said, 'We will call people to prayer with it.' He said, 'Shall I not tell you something better than this?' I said, 'What is it?' He said, 'You should say: «‏‏‏‏اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏ "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest" «‏‏‏‏أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ» ‏‏‏‏ "I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah" «‏‏‏‏أَشْهَدُ أَنْ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰه، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰه» ‏‏‏‏ "I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah" «‏‏‏‏حَيَّ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ، حَيَّ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ» ‏‏‏‏ "Come to prayer, come to prayer" «‏‏‏‏حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ، حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ» ‏‏‏‏ "Come to success, come to success" «‏‏‏‏اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏ "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest" «‏‏‏‏لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ» ‏‏‏‏ "There is no true deity except Allah."' Then he moved back a little and then said the same as he had said before. And he said those words singly except for "Qad qamatis salah", which he said (twice): « قَد قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ، قَد قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ» ‏‏‏‏ "The prayer has been established, the prayer has been established" «‏‏‏‏اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ» ‏‏‏‏ "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest, there is no true deity except Allah." When I informed the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) of this, he said, "If Allah wills, this dream is true." Stand with Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) and teach him these words, for he has a louder voice than you." Then when Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the Adhan with these words, Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) heard it while he was in his house. He came out dragging his cloak towards the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said, "O Prophet of Allah, by the One who sent you with the truth, I have also seen the same (dream) as he has seen." So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "All praise is due to Allah, and this (testimony) has made the matter stronger and clearer."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered for a bell to be made, it was made so that it could be rung to gather people for prayer. Then, the complete hadith was narrated similar to the hadith of Salamah bin Fadl.

Muhammad bin Yahya states that among the narrations of the story of the Adhan from Abdullah bin Zaid, there is no narration more authentic than this one because Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Zaid heard it from his respected father (Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zaid). And Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila did not hear this narration from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zaid.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Zaid bin Abd Rabbah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: "This dream is true, Insha’Allah." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered for the call to prayer (Adhan), so Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), the freed slave of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), used to call the Adhan with these words.

Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that in the blessed era of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the adhan was pronounced twice and the iqamah once, except that the (mu’adhdhin) would say « قَد قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ، قَد قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ» ‏‏‏‏ twice. So when we heard these words, we would perform ablution and set out. Muhammad says that Shu’bah said, I have not heard any hadith from Abu Ja’far except this hadith. From the chain of Imam Abu Bakr Bandaar, a narration is reported from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) similar to the above.

Contrary to the statement of that person who is devoid of scholarly insight and is deprived of distinguishing between such a narration whose words are general but its intent is specific, and one whose words are general and its intent is also general, therefore, due to his ignorance, he thought that the statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and saying the Iqamah single means that the entire Iqamah is to be said singly, not just some of its words, but from beginning to end it is single. The person referred to is Al-Hasan bin Al-Fadl.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say the adhan in double phrases and the iqamah in single phrases, except for « قَد قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ» ‏‏‏‏ (which he would say twice). Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Ibn Mathna’s narration from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) is related to this same chapter.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) was commanded to say the words of the adhan twice and the words of the takbir once, except in the iqamah, that is, «‏‏‏‏قَد قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ» ‏‏‏‏.