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‘Abdullāh ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that a bell be rung to gather the people for prayer, I saw a dream where a man was going around carrying a bell. I said to him: "O slave of Allah, are you selling this bell?" He said: "What will you do with it?" I said: "We will call the people to prayer." He said: "Shall I direct you to what is better than it?" I replied: ‘Yes.’ He said: "Say: 'Allah is the Greatest (four times); I bear witness that there is no god but Allah (twice); I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (twice); come to prayer (twice); come to success (twice); Allah is the Greatest (twice); there is no god but Allah.'" Then he stood close behind me and said: "Then, when the prayer is about to begin, say: 'Allah is the Greatest (twice); I bear witness that there is no god but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; come to prayer; come to success; the prayer is about to commence (twice) [In another narration: “And if it is the Fajr prayer, say: ‘prayer is better than sleep (twice).’”]; Allah is the Greatest (twice); there is no god but Allah.'" When I woke up, I went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of my dream. He said: ‘Indeed, it is a true dream, Allah Willing! Go and teach these words to Bilāl, and let him make the call to prayer with them, as his voice is more melodious than yours.’ So I took Bilāl and taught him those words, and he made the call to prayer therewith. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb heard it while at home, and so he came out dragging his garment and saying: "By the One Who sent you with the truth, O Messenger of Allah, I saw the same dream that he saw!" Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "All praise is due to Allah." Authentic hadith - Narrated by Abu Daoud - Narrated by Ahmad - Ad-Daarimi
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Explanation

This noble Hadīth relates the story of the Adhān, which goes as follows: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) wished to use a bell – like the Christians – to gather the people for prayer with its sound. He refrained from doing this, however, because it is something that belongs to and distinguishes the Christians. Then, one of the Companions, ‘Abdullāh ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) saw in a dream that someone was selling a bell, and he wished to buy it and use it to gather the people for prayer. However, the man said to him: “Shall I direct you to what is better than it?” He then taught him the words of the Adhān. Thereafter, he went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in the morning and related the dream to him, and he stated that this was a true dream and asked ‘Abdullāh to recite those words to Bilāl, who had a more melodious voice, so that he could pronounce the Adhān therewith. When ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) heard the Adhān, he went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him that he had also seen the same dream.

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