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Is the desirability of placing the index fingers in the ears and turning right and left during the Hay'alatayn (the two "Hayya 'ala" phrases) still applicable after the advent of loudspeakers, or is it an act of worship?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Turning right and left during the two "hay'alatayn" (Hayya 'ala al-Salah and Hayya 'ala al-Falah) in the Adhan is a Sunnah, for the purpose of projecting the voice, based on the hadith of Abu Juhaifah that Bilal "would follow his mouth here and there," meaning he would say "Hayya 'ala al-Salah, Hayya 'ala al-Falah" to the right and to the left. A group of scholars is of the opinion that if one calls the Adhan through a loudspeaker, one should not turn; because the sound is projected from the loudspeakers in the minaret, and if one were to turn, the sound would weaken.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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