It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would attack (the settlements of the enemy) at the time of the morning prayer. Then, if he heard the sound of the adhan, he would refrain (from attacking), and if he did not hear the sound of the adhan, he would attack. So, one day the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) heard a man saying: «‏‏‏‏اللہُ أَکبَرُ، اللہُ أَکبَرُ» ‏‏‏‏ "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "He is upon the natural disposition of Islam." Then the man said: «‏‏‏‏أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ» ‏‏‏‏ "I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "He has been saved from the fire of Hell." Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that when a person desires to proclaim and bear witness to the oneness of Allah in the adhan, and he hopes that by bearing witness to the oneness of Allah in his adhan, Allah will grant him salvation from the fire of Hell, then every believer should hasten to attain this virtue with this desire and hope that Allah will save him from the fire. Whether he is alone in his house, or in the wilderness, or alone in a town or city, he should give the adhan to attain this virtue and reward. I have explained the chapters of adhan during travel in several places besides this one (for example), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) overslept the morning prayer until the sun had risen, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to give the adhan for the morning prayer even though its time had ended. These ahadith are contrary to the statement of those people who claim that after the time of prayer has ended, adhan should not be given for it, but only iqamah should be said without adhan.

When there are two muezzins in the mosque instead of one, and one of them gives the call to prayer before the break of dawn and the other gives the call to prayer after the break of dawn, in this regard, the mentioned narration is concise and unexplained.

Hazrat Salim (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the call to prayer at night, so eat and drink (for keeping the fast) until you hear the call to prayer of Ibn Umm Maktum." Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) has also narrated from his teacher Makhzumi; in this chain, at every place, the narration is from «‏‏‏‏عن» ‏‏‏‏.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "None of you should let Bilal's (may Allah be pleased with him) call to prayer prevent him from his pre-dawn meal, for he gives the call to prayer so that the one who is offering voluntary prayers may return (to rest), and the one who is sleeping may wake up, and (the time of Fajr) does not become like this until (the light) becomes like this." The Imam (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Yusuf bin Musa also narrated this to us.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the call to prayer at night, so you may continue eating and drinking (for the fast) until Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the call to prayer. And the interval between these two calls to prayer was only as long as it took for this one to ascend (to give the call) and that one to descend."

Hazrat Khubaib bin Abdur Rahman narrates from his paternal aunt Sayyida Anisa bint Khubaib (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the adhan, eat and drink, and when Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the adhan, then do not eat or drink." Therefore, if any woman among us had something left from her suhoor, she would say to Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to wait a little so that she could finish her suhoor. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that there is a difference of opinion regarding this narration from Khubaib bin Abdur Rahman. When Imam Shu’bah narrated from his paternal aunt Sayyida Anisa (may Allah be pleased with her), he said that Ibn Maktum or Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with them) would give the adhan at night.

Hazrat Khubaib bin Abdur Rahman narrates from his paternal aunt Sayyida Anisah (may Allah be pleased with her), who was a woman who used to offer (many voluntary) prayers, that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) or Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) give the adhan at night, so eat and drink until Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) or Ibn Maktum give the adhan, and the difference was that when one would descend, the other would sit down." So Sayyida Anisah (may Allah be pleased with her) would hold his garment and say that he should remain seated in this way until I finish my suhoor. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Ahmad bin Maqdam Ajli also narrated to us from Shu’bah in the same way. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in the narration of Sayyida Anisah (may Allah be pleased with her), the narrators have differed in those words, but Darawardi has narrated from his chain from Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) a narration from Mansur bin Zadhan (404) with the same meaning.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the call to prayer at night, so eat and drink until Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the call to prayer. Because Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the call to prayer only after seeing the dawn. A similar narration has been reported by Abu Ishaq from Aswad, from Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her)."

Hazrat Aswad bin Yazid says that I asked Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), "At what time do you perform Witr?" She replied, "I do not perform Witr until they begin to give the Adhan, and they do not give the Adhan until Fajr has appeared." She says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had two Muadhdhins: so-and-so and Amr bin Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him). So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Amr gives the Adhan, continue eating and drinking, because he is a blind man. And when Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the Adhan, then stop your hands (from eating), because Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the Adhan only when morning has come."

Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had three muezzins: Sayyiduna Bilal, Abu Mahdhurah, and Amr bin Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with them). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the adhan, do not be misled by him, for he is a blind man. And when Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the adhan, no one should eat." Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says: As for the narration of Abu Ishaq from Aswad from Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), it requires consideration, because I have not found Abu Ishaq hearing this narration from Aswad. Whereas the narration of Hisham bin Urwah is correct in terms of transmission, and this narration does not contradict the narration of Hazrat Salim from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and the narration of Qasim from Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her). Because it is possible that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had assigned turns for Sayyiduna Bilal and Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with them both) for the night adhan. Therefore, on some nights, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) instructed Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to give the adhan first at night, so when Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) descended after giving the adhan, Sayyiduna Ibn Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him) ascended (to give the adhan) and gave the morning adhan after him. Then, when it was Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Maktum's turn, he gave the adhan at night, and when he descended after giving the adhan, Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) ascended after him and gave the morning adhan. And the blessed statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that Bilal gives the adhan at night, this would be when it was Sayyiduna Bilal's turn to give the adhan at night. And the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that Ibn Umm Maktum gives the adhan at night, this would be when it was Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Maktum's turn to give the adhan at night. In this way, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informed the people at both times that the first of the two adhans is at night, not in the morning. And this adhan does not prohibit the one intending to fast from eating and drinking. And the second adhan prohibits eating and drinking because it is during the day (i.e., after the break of dawn), not at night. As for the narration of Hazrat Aswad from Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the muezzins would not give the adhan until the dawn had broken, it can have one of two meanings. One meaning could be that all the muezzins would not give the adhan until the dawn had broken. It does not mean that none of them would give the adhan before the break of dawn. Do you not see that she said in her narration that when Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) gives the adhan, continue eating and drinking? Therefore, if Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the adhan only after the break of dawn, then after his adhan, eating and drinking would be forbidden for the fasting person. The second meaning could be that Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) meant that (they would not give the adhan) until the first dawn had appeared. So the first muezzin would give the adhan after the appearance of the first dawn, not before it. This is the time when eating and drinking is lawful for the one intending to fast, because the first dawn appears at night, not during the day. Then the next muezzin would give the adhan after the appearance of the second dawn, which is during the day, not at night. So this is the meaning of this narration according to me. And Allah knows best.