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In what region was the minaret first built for the call to prayer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The first person to introduce the minaret for the mosque for the Adhan (call to prayer) was the Companion Salama ibn Khalaf. The jurists have stipulated the desirability of the muezzin's (caller to prayer) elevated position, citing as evidence what Abu Dawud narrated: that Bilal used to sit on the highest house near the mosque, and a chapter was titled after it, "Chapter: The Adhan from atop the Minaret." Ibn Sa'd narrated that Bilal used to call the Adhan from atop her (a woman's) house because it was the tallest house around the mosque, then he began to call the Adhan from the roof of the mosque after its construction, and something was elevated for him. Al-Albani mentioned that this narration is more explicit regarding the minaret. Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated from Abdullah ibn Shaqiq that it is from the Sunnah to call the Adhan from the minaret and the Iqamah (second call to prayer) from inside the mosque.

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

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