Question:
Assalamualaikum ustaz. Is it true that if a person lies down when the adhan is being called his body will be heavy when he passed away? Hope for an explanation from you. Thank you ustaz.
Answer:
Waalaikumussalam wrt.wbt.
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his wives, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
The adhan is one of the eminences of Islam and should not be neglected. It is called out every time for the obligatory prayer. The words in the adhan are words calling Muslims towards tauhid. Summoning them to prayer and to the success of this world and the hereafter.
Coming back to the question asked, there is a hadith that commands us to get up when the adhan is called. The hadith states:
إذا سَمِعْتُمُ النِّداءَ فَقُومُوا فإِنَّها عَزْمَةٌ مِنَ الله
“If you hear the adhan then get up. It is the right and obligation from Allah.”
This hadith is recorded by Abu Nua’im al-Asbahani in Hilyah Al-Awliya’ Wa Tabaqat Al-Asfiya’ (2/174) and Al-Dailami in Al-Firdaus Bi Ma’thur Al-Khitab (2/266). Abu Nua’im said:
“Muhammad Bin Muammar narrated to us. He said: Ahmad Bin Ya’kub told us. He said: Al-Walid Bin Salamah narrated from Yunus Bin Yazid from Ibnu Syihab Al-Zuhri from Sa’id Bin Musyyab from Uthman Bin Affan…”
The following are the details of the narrators who narrated this hadith:
- Muhammad Bin Muammar Bin Muhammad Bin Abdullah Al-Sami. He narrated the hadith from Yahya Bin Hafs Al-Kufi and Muhammad Bin Makhlad. Al-Khatib once mentioned about him, but al-Khatib did not critique or praise him. He passed away in 350H. (Refer Akhbar Asbahan, 2/284 ; Tarikh Baghdad, 3/304)
- Ahmad Bin Ya’qub a narrator from Turmuz. Al-Hafiz al-Iraqi cited the opinion of al-Daraqutni who stated that he is a weak narrator. (Refer Zayl ‘ala Mizan Al-‘Itidal pg 79)
- Al-Walid Bin Salamah narrated the hadith from Umar Bin Qays and others. Ibnu Abi Hatim said the hadiths he narrated are missing. Furthermore, Ibnu Abi Hatim and Al-Hafz Ibnu Hajar Al-Asqalani state that he is a liar. (Refer Al-Jarh Wa Al-Ta’dil, 9/6 ; Lisan Al-Mizan, 6/222)
- Yunus Bin Yazid Bin Abi Al-Najjad Al-Aili. He is a trustworthy (thiqah) but the narrations he took are usually from al-Zuhri and mostly he made some mistakes. If he took narrations from a person other than al-Zuhri, then his mistakes are more. He passed away in 100H. (Refer Tahzib Al-Tahzib, 11/450).
In short, we are inclined to state that this hadith is fake for in the sanad (chain of narrators), there is al-Walid bin Salamah. He is considered as a liar by most scholars of ‘ilal and Jarh wa al-Ta’dil.
Moreover, hadiths which state that whoever lies down when the adhan is called, then his body would be heavy after he died are all fakes. This has been stated by Sheikh Ali Al-Halabi when he was asked regarding hadiths which restrict lying down when one is listening to the adhan.
Although it is not an offense to listen to the adhan while lying down, we are encouraged to answer the call of the adhan. This is in accordance with a hadith from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, where the Prophet PBUH said:
إِذَا سَمِعْتُمُ النِّدَاءَ فَقُولُوا مِثْلَ ما يَقُولُ الْمُؤَذِّنُ
"When you hear the adhan, repeat what the muadhdhin says."
Sahih al-Bukhari (611)
More than that, when one hears the adhan, then he should hasten in preparing himself to go to the mosque to perform the congregational prayer. There are numerous benefits from it. One of them is stated by the Prophet PBUH in a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah RA. The Prophet PBUH said:
مَنْ تَطَهَّرَ فِى بَيْتِهِ ثُمَّ مَشَى إِلَى بَيْتٍ مِنْ بُيُوتِ اللَّهِ لِيَقْضِىَ فَرِيضَةً مِنْ فَرَائِضِ اللَّهِ كَانَتْ خَطْوَتَاهُ إِحْدَاهُمَا تَحُطُّ خَطِيئَةً وَالأُخْرَى تَرْفَعُ دَرَجَةً
He who purified himself in his house, and then he walked to one of the houses of Allah for the sake of performing a Fard (obligatory act) out of the Fara'id (obligatory acts) of Allah, both his steps (would be significant) as one of them would obliterate his sin and the second one would raise his status.
Sahih Muslim (1553)
May Allah SWT bless us with guidance to practise Islam in every aspect of our lives.
Wallahua’lam.