Azan or Azaan or Adhan is a call which is raised five times a day from the minaret of a mosque to call Muslims to join the congregational prayers (Salah). Azan is quite familiar everywhere as there would hardly be any city, town, village, or community even in an area of mixed population, which does not echo with this call.
It is a fact that the sound of Azan echoes constantly around the globe as there is not a single moment which goes by and thousands of Muazzins (the person giving the Azan) around the world are not proclaiming the Oneness of Allah and the Prophethood of Muhammad on the planet.
Azan – It’s Words and Meaning
الله اكبر الله اكبر
Allah is the Greatest Allah is the Greatest;
الله اكبرالله اكبر
Allah is the greatest Allah is the Greatest.
اشهد ان لا اله الا الله
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah;
اشهد ان لا اله الا الله
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.
اشهد ان محمدا رسول الله
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah;
اشهد ان محمدا رسول الله
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah.
حي على الصلاة
Come to prayers;
حي على الصلاة
Come to prayers.
حي على الفلاح
Come to prosperity;
حي على الفلاح
Come to prosperity.
الله اكبر
Allah is the Greatest;
الله اكبر
Allah is the Greatest.
لا اله الا الله
There is no god but Allah.
Azan- Importance in Islam
The call which is thus given for Salah (prayer) announces not only the objective and value of Salah but it also proclaims the objective of Islam and value of Tawheed (Oneness of Allah) with clarity, completeness, brevity and beauty. In this way Azan enunciates the tenets of the Islamic faith clearly and effectively.
Azan is the only religious call of its kind which is free from accompaniment of any musical instrument and external adornment and which contains so fully the gist of the message of Islam.
Azan is a proclamation of the magnificence and grandeur of Allah asserting in clear and unwavering words that He is surely the greatest.
There is also an attestation in it to the Oneness of Allah and to the Prophethood of Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him).
Moreover Azan is an invitation to prayers announcing that prayers ensure success in this world and in the hereafter, since success in the true sense of the term can neither be achieved in this world as well as in hereafter by any other means.
With these proclamations Azan manifests a nobility which appeals to the heart and mind simultaneously and draws the attention of the Muslims as well as non-Muslims.
The call to Azan has such an impact that it makes a lazy person become active and a forgetful person becomes alert since the time has come for them to offer prayers to their Lord.