Why did the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, not give the Adhan?

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not take on the role of the adhan himself due to his preoccupation with the affairs of the Muslims, which no one else could manage, while others were capable of performing the adhan and observing its time.

Scholars have differed on the superiority between the adhan and the imamate. Those who held the imamate to be superior argued that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and his successors did not undertake the task of the adhan due to their engagement with the affairs of the Muslims.

Al-Mawwaq mentioned that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, abandoned the adhan because if he were to say, "Hasten to prayer," and they did not respond quickly, punishment would befall them, as stated in the verse: ﴿And let those who oppose his command beware, lest a trial befall them or a painful punishment strike them.﴾ [An-Nur: 63].

As for the caliphs, their engagement with the affairs of the Muslims prevented them from performing the adhan, as exemplified by the saying of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him: "Were it not for the caliphate, I would have performed the adhan."

The narration stating that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, performed the adhan during a journey was deemed weak by Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, who clarified that its meaning was his command to Bilal to perform the adhan, not his direct performance of it himself.