بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Few moments in the Muslim day are as densely packed with authenticated Sunnah as the few minutes surrounding the athan (call to prayer). At least five distinct narrations govern this window — what to say while the mu'adhdhin is still calling, what to say once he finishes, and what to do in the interval before the prayer itself begins.
Responding to the Athan Itself
Arabic: لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله
Transliteration: Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata 'illā billāh
Translation: "There is no might and no power except by Allah." (Said specifically when the mu'adhdhin reaches "Hayya 'alas-salah" / "Hayya 'alal-falah.")
Reference: Hisn al-Muslim 22; Sahih al-Bukhari 1/152; Sahih Muslim 1/288.
The general rule, established in the same hadith, is to repeat everything the mu'adhdhin says word for word — except at the two calls to prayer and success ("Hayya 'alas-salah," "Hayya 'alal-falah"), where the response changes to this phrase instead of a literal repetition. Scholars explain this exception on the grounds that "Hayya 'ala…" is a direct call to action (come to prayer), which cannot logically be answered by repeating the same call back; instead, the listener acknowledges their own powerlessness to act except by Allah's ﷻ enabling.
Three Narrations for After the Athan
1. The Testimony and Contentment
Arabic: وَأَنا أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلهَ إِلاّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لا شَريكَ لَه، وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسولُه، رَضيتُ بِاللهِ رَبَّاً، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ رَسولاً وَبِالإِسْلامِ ديناً
Transliteration: Wa 'anā 'ash-hadu 'an lā 'ilāha 'illallāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu wa 'anna Muḥammadan 'abduhu wa rasūluhu, raḍītu billāhi rabban, wa bi Muḥammadin rasūlan wa bil-'islāmi dīnan
Translation: "I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone, Who has no partner, and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, with Muhammad as my Messenger and with Islam as my religion."
Reference: Hisn al-Muslim 23; Sahih Muslim 1/290; Ibn Khuzaymah 1/220.
The hadith attached to this narration carries an explicit promise: that a person's sins are forgiven upon saying it after the athan — one of the few daily-life adhkar with such a direct and specific outcome named in an authentic text from Sahih Muslim.
2. Sending Blessings on the Prophet ﷺ
Reference: Hisn al-Muslim 24; Sahih Muslim 1/288.
The hadith instructs that after responding to the mu'adhdhin, one should send salawat (blessings) upon the Prophet ﷺ before proceeding to the fuller dua that follows — reciting durood in whichever authentically transmitted form one knows, most commonly As-Salatul-Ibrahimiyyah recited within the tashahhud of prayer.
3. The Dua for Intercession (Al-Wasilah)
Arabic: اللّهُمَّ رَبَّ هَذِهِ الدَّعْوَةِ التَّامَّةِ وَالصَّلاةِ القَائِمَةِ آتِ مُحَمَّداً الوَسيلةَ وَالفَضيلةَ وَابْعَثْهُ مَقاماً مَحْموداً الَّذي وَعَدْتَهُ
Transliteration: Allāhumma rabba hādhihid-da'watit-tāmmah waṣ-ṣalātil-qā'imah, 'āti Muḥammadanil-wasīlata walfaḍīlata, wab'ath-hu maqāmam-maḥmūdanil-ladhī wa'adtahu
Translation: "O Allah, Lord of this perfect call and established prayer. Grant Muhammad the intercession and favour, and raise him to the honoured station You have promised him."
Reference: Hisn al-Muslim 25; Sahih al-Bukhari 1/152; Al-Bayhaqi 1/410.
Recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, this dua carries perhaps the most significant reported reward of the group: that the Prophet's ﷺ intercession (shafa'ah) becomes rightfully due (ḥallat) for whoever recites it. This is one of very few narrations in the corpus of daily adhkar where a specific hadith links a fixed formula directly to intercession on the Day of Judgment.
Between the Athan and the Iqamah: The Golden Window
Reference: Hisn al-Muslim 26; narrated in Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Sunan Abu Dawud, and Musnad Ahmad; graded authentic by Al-Albani, Irwa'ul-Ghalil 1/262.
The hadith states plainly that dua made between the athan and the iqamah is not rejected. Unlike the fixed formulas above, this is not a specific wording but an instruction: this short interval — often just a few minutes — is described as a time when supplication carries elevated likelihood of acceptance, making it a window worth using deliberately for personal requests rather than letting it pass in silence or small talk.
Reflection: Five narrations, each with a distinct and specific promise, are concentrated into a span of only a few minutes — a strong indication of how significant the moments surrounding the call to prayer are considered in the Sunnah.
References cited: Hisn al-Muslim 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; Sahih al-Bukhari 1/152; Sahih Muslim 1/288, 1/290; Ibn Khuzaymah 1/220; Al-Bayhaqi 1/410; Jami' at-Tirmidhi; Sunan Abu Dawud; Musnad Ahmad; Al-Albani, Irwa'ul-Ghalil.
Written by Fahmina Jawed (Aafiya).
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