Athan Alarm Clocks
Muslim prayer times are very important to keep precisely; therefore, the modern athan clock is a must-have for any Muslim household. The Islamic prayer times are precisely coded in any athan clock sold here at Muslim American and once you’ve set it appropriately, your salat times will be announced with a clear than throughout the home.
Athan alarm clock options can be found in our Islamic store online, but what makes the use of an athan clock any better than just following a posted set of Islamic prayer times as closely as you can? Firstly, when the prayer time comes in and the family is engaged in some activity, it could be easily overlooked. However, with an athan clearly sounding throughout the house, it will be hard to ignore the prayer times and prayer will, insha’Allah, be more closely adhered to. Putting an athan clock in your home is also a good way to ensure that the athan time is announced with consistency and when the athan is announced clearly and remembered in the hearts and minds of Muslims, it can help to drive away jinn. The athan will be announced by the clock per the muezzin you define in the settings and the call to prayer will echo through the home at the salaat times that you choose.
What is a Muezzin
The muezzin definition is more of a “who” than a “what” since the muezzin is a person who makes the Muslim call to prayer; the Athan. A muezzin can be anyone in the Muslim community; he should have a strong voice and be able to enunciate the athan properly. No special education beyond the proper pronunciation of Arabic is required.
What is the Islamic Call to Prayer? Is it adhan, azan (azaan) or athan?
The Muslim call to prayer is the athan, this is the proper transliterated Arabic but often we see it written as “azan” or “adhan” depending on where the individual is from. We see “azan” frequently from those who migrated from South Asia or who learned about Islam from those individuals. It is common to see many Arabic phrases that came with a “DH” sound to be converted to a “Z” sound due to linguistic differences in the cultures. The DH sound also gets converted to a TH sound by native English speakers or other Germanic languages. This is because the T and D sound are closely related and there is no native “DH” sound in English so it gets changed to TH which is a known sound.
Okay, so it’s the Athan, what is the proper Muslim call to prayer then? Why a call to prayer instead of bells or horns?
The advent of the athan as the Muslim call to prayer is recorded in the following story which is based on many sound hadith collected by Imams Bukhari, Muslim and others:
After settling in Medina, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his Companions (the Sahaba) started considering different methods of announcing the salat times. Muslims suggested many options to Muhammad (PBUH); among them were: Hanging a bell like the Christians, Blowing a horn like the Jews, using a conch shell to call, clanging a cymbal, lighting a signal fire or sending messengers through the community. As they discussed the merits of each, slowly each one was rejected by the Prophet (PBUH) mostly because the guidance indicated that Muslims should call to prayer in a way that was different from others.
After some time of this debate continuing, Abdullah bin Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) came to tell the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) about a dream that he’d had.
In his dream, he saw a man carrying a large conch Shell, so Abdullah stopped the man and asked to buy the conch so that he could use it to call the Muslims for salat time. The man with the conch said that there was a better way and then gave him the words and method of the call to prayer that Muslims used today. In some versions of the story, he also related the method for iqamah (secondary call to prayer).
Muhammad (PBUH) liked this dream and told Abdullah that this was definitely a true vision from Allah. He then declared that since Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) had the best voice from among the companions, that he should make the call. So Abdullah taught the adhan to Bilal and the first call to prayer for Muslims was made.
Umar ibn al Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) heard the call while he was in his home and rushed to tell Muhammad (PBUH) that he had the same dream that Abdullah had related. The Messenger of Allah then praised Allah for such clear guidance.
The Athan used by the majority of Muslims worldwide is:
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. (Allah is Greater (than anything), Allah is Greater.)
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. (Allah is Greater, Allah is Greater.)
Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah. (I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah.)
Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah. (I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah.)
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah. (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah. (I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)
Hayya ‘ala-s-Salah, hayya ‘ala-s-Salah. (Hasten to the Prayer, hasten to the Prayer.)
Hayya ‘ala-l-falah, hayya ‘ala-l-falah. (Hasten to real success, hasten to real success.)
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. (Allah is Greater, Allah is Greater.)
La ilaha illa-llah. (There is none worthy of worship but Allah.)
There are some other groups with changes based on traditions that they keep, however this is the universally accepted call for Islamic prayer times for Sunni Muslims.