The Commencement of Adhan
With regard to the commencement of the Azan [call to prayer] there is a narration in which Muhammad bin Abdillah bin Zaid stated on the authority of his father, “We went to the Holy Prophet (sa) in the morning and narrated a dream to him”. This was mentioned in relation to Hazrat Abdullah (ra). But as there is mention of Hazrat Umar (ra) here as well, I will narrate it briefly again, or mention it in light of other narrations.
“The Holy Prophet (sa) stated, ‘Indeed this is a true dream. Go with Bilal, as he has a more powerful voice, and teach him what you have been taught. He should go and call [the Adhan].’” He (Hazrat Abdullah bin Zaid) narrates:
“When Hazrat Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra) heard the voice of Hazrat Bilalra calling for the prayer, he went to the Holy Prophet (sa) in a manner whereby his cloak was dragging behind him and said, ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah! I swear by Him Who has sent you with the truth! I also saw [in a dream] exactly as he has just recited.’” The narrator states that the Holy Prophet (sa) said, “All praise belongs to Allah! The matter is now confirmed.”
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Kitab al-Salah, Bab ma Ja‘a fi Bad al-Azan, Hadith 189)
Whilst mentioning this incident, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states:
“In the time of the Holy Prophet (sa), there was a companion by the name Hazrat Abdullah (ra) bin Zaid. Allah the Almighty taught him the words of the prayer through a vision and accepting this vision to be true, the Holy Prophet (sa) established the practice of calling the Azan for the Muslims. Later on, the revelation of the Quran affirmed this fact.
“Hazrat Umar (ra) states, ‘Allah the Almighty also taught me the Adhan, but I remained silent on the matter for 20 days, thinking that perhaps someone had already mentioned it to the Holy Prophet (sa),’ because he thought that someone had already said something regarding this and thought it was not necessary to mention it again. The following hadith of the Holy Prophet (sa) refers to this very matter:
اَلْمُؤْمِنُ يَرٰي اَوْ يُرٰي لَهٗ
meaning ‘A believer is taught something directly and at times they are taught through means of another.’”
(Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 9, pp. 624-625)