Book of Namaz

THE AZÂN AND THE IQÂMAT
Azân means ‘public announcement.’ It is sunnat-i muakkada
for men to recite the azân for the five daily prayers, for performing
the omitted [qadâ] prayers that are fard, and towards the khatîb at
Friday prayers. It is makrûh for women to recite the azân or the
iqâmat. The azân is performed at a high place in order to announce
the time to others. While saying azân, it is mustahab to raise the
hands and put the pointing fingers in the ears and the thumbs
touching the ear lobes. Saying the iqâmat is more valuable than
(saying) the azân. The azân and the iqâmat must be said towards
the qibla. One must not talk while saying them, nor acknowledge
any speech or greeting.
When to Say the Azân and the Iqâmat?
1- When performing qadâ prayers, individually or in jamâ’at, in
the countryside or in fields, it is sunnat for men to say the azân and
the iqâmat aloud. People, genies, rocks that hear the voice will
bear witness on the Day of Rising. He who performs more than
one qadâ prayer, one after another, should say the azân and the
iqâmat first. Then, before performing each of the following qadâ
prayers, he should say the iqâmat. It is acceptable if he does not
say the azân for the following prayers of qadâ.
2- He who performs the time’s namâz at home, individually or
in jamâ’at, does not have to say the azân or the iqâmat. For, the
azân and the iqâmat said in mosques are deemed as being said in
homes, too. However, it is better for them to say the azân and the
iqâmat. After the time’s namâz is performed in a local mosque, or
in a mosque whose jamâ’at is known, a person who performs it
individually does not say the azân or the iqâmat. In mosques along
roads or in those mosques which have no imâms or muazzins or in
jamâ’ats that are known, various people who come in at various
times make various jamâ’ats for the namâz of the same prayer
time. They say the azân and the iqâmat for each jamâ’at. Also, he
who performs namâz individually in such a mosque says the azân
and the iqâmat as loudly as he himself hears.
3- Musâfirs, when they perform namâz in jamâ’at, as well as
when they each perform namâz individually, say the azân and the
iqâmat. If a person who is performing namâz individually is where
there are others performing namâz, too, it is permissible for him
not to say the azân. A musâfir says the azân and the iqâmat when
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