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Muslimcreed.com – Said a friend named Abdullah bin Zaid, Prophet Muhammad SAW had a desire to find a way to tell prayer times, but he had not found that way. In the early days of Medina, Muslims gathered in a mosque to wait for the prayer time.
However, when the time for prayer arrived, no one told him. They will just pray immediately, without any sign that the prayer time has arrived. It’s as if everyone knows.
As time went by and Islam had begun to develop, many of the Prophet’s companions lived far from the mosque. Some of them even have a busy schedule that makes them unable to wait for prayer time at the mosque.
Therefore, some companions suggested to the Prophet Muhammad SAW to make a prayer sign. So that those who live far from the mosque or who have a busy life can pray properly.
The Companions of the Prophet had various suggestions regarding the sign of the entry of the prayer time. Some have suggested that they use bells like Christians. But there are also those who suggest using the trumpet like the Jews.
On the other hand, there were also those who suggested setting off fireworks in high places. So that Muslims who live far from the mosque can see the sign.
All of these proposals were ultimately rejected. When the condition of the Muslims was deadlocked and did not find a solution at that time, quoted from Sirah Nabawi (Ibn Hisham, 2018), there was a friend named Abdullah bin Zaid who went to the Prophet SAW. He told about himself who had just dreamed of seeing the call to prayer the night before. In the dream, he was visited by someone wearing a green robe and carrying a bell.
Initially, Abdullah bin Zaid intended to buy a bell that was brought by someone in a green robe. Where he wanted to use the bell to call people to prayer. However, the person actually suggested to Abdullah bin Zaid to say a series of sentences that were used as a sign that the prayer time had arrived.
Rasulullah SAW then asked Abdullah to teach Bilal bin Rabah how to recite the sentence. When Bilal bin Rabah sounded the call to prayer, Umar bin Khattab who was at his house heard the call to prayer. He also rushed to the Prophet Muhammad SAW and told that he also had a dream about the same thing with Abdullah bin Zaid. Namely the call to prayer as a marker of the entry of prayer times.
In a history, the Prophet Muhammad is said to have received a revelation regarding the call to prayer. Therefore, he confirmed what Abdullah bin Zaid said. Since then, the call to prayer has officially become a marker of prayer times. As for the more authentic opinion, the call to prayer was first prescribed in Madina in the first year of Hijriyah.
Bilal bin Rabah was the first muezzin in Islam. There are four reasons why Bilal bin Rabah was chosen by the Prophet Muhammad as muezzin. The first is because he has a good and loud voice, can live up to the call to prayer, has high discipline, and is brave.
Since then, Bilal has continued to call to prayer. When the Prophet Muhammad died, he was no longer willing to be a muezzin. The reason is that his tears will surely fall when he comes to the sentence ‘Asyhadu anna Muhammadar Rasulullah’.
So that makes him unable to continue the next sentence. However, when Caliph Umar bin Khattab arrived in Jerusalem, Bilal was asked to call the call to prayer again. Finally, he agreed to the request.
Meanwhile, according to Sheikh Abdullah As-Syarqawi, the Prophet Muhammad SAW once sounded the call to prayer. That is when he was on a journey. When it came to the second creed, the Prophet Muhammad proclaimed ‘Ashhadu anna Muhammadar Rasulullah’. While another narration states that the Prophet Muhammad said ‘Ashhadu anni Rasulullah’.
