Dreams in the Sunnah · Abu Dawud 499
Abdullah ibn Zayd and the dream behind the adhan
The short answer
Abdullah ibn Zayd dreamed a man with a bell who taught him the words of the call to prayer. The Prophet ﷺ called it a true dream and told him to teach Bilal. It became law only because he confirmed it, and Bukhari tells the origin without it.
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In this article
Before the adhan had words, it had an argument about what to use. A flag, a horn and a bell were all suggested, and the Prophet ﷺ disliked most of them. That is the background for a dream about a man who was carrying a bell.
What people proposed, and what came of it
The narrations show the Muslims of Madinah working the problem out in public. They gathered for prayer and had no agreed way of announcing it, and several ideas were offered.
| Proposal | What the sources say | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A flag raised at the time of prayer | The Prophet ﷺ did not like it | Abu Dawud 498 |
| A horn, like the Jews' | "This is the matter of the Jews," and he did not like it | Abu Dawud 498, Muslim 377 |
| A bell, like the Christians' | "This is the matter of the Christians" in one report; elsewhere a bell is ordered to be made | Abu Dawud 498, Abu Dawud 499, Ibn Majah 706 |
| A fire lit as a signal | Mentioned among the ideas | Muslim 378b |
| A man appointed to call out | Suggested by Umar; the Prophet ﷺ told Bilal to get up and call | Bukhari 604, Muslim 377 |
The reports do not agree on whether a bell was ordered. In Abu Dawud 499 and Ibn Majah 706 the Prophet ﷺ had one made, and in Abu Dawud 498 he disliked the idea. A reader should hold both: the Companions were still trying things out when the dream came.
The dream itself
In Abu Dawud 499 Abdullah ibn Zayd says a man carrying a bell appeared to him in his sleep. He asked whether the man would sell it, and was asked what he meant to do with it. He said they would use it to call people to prayer. The man answered that he could suggest something better, and taught him the words. Ibn Majah 706 adds a detail: the man wore two green garments.
The scene is an unusual one for a dream. The dreamer is offering to buy an object the Prophet ﷺ had already commissioned, and the figure in the dream replaces that purchase with a gift. The man then stepped back a little and gave the words for the iqama, the call that is made when the prayer starts. In Abu Dawud 498 Abdullah says he was between sleep and wakefulness when the newcomer taught him.
He went to the Prophet ﷺ in the morning and told him. The answer is the same in all three narrations: it is a true dream, and he should teach the words to Bilal, who has a louder voice (Abu Dawud 499, Tirmidhi 189, Ibn Majah 706). So Abdullah got up with Bilal and taught him, and Bilal called.
Umar heard it from his house, and came out trailing his cloak, saying that he had seen the same thing. The Prophet ﷺ said: to Allah be the praise, and in Tirmidhi's version, that this confirmed it all the more (Tirmidhi 189). Abu Dawud 498 says Umar had seen it 20 days earlier and said nothing, out of shyness that Abdullah had spoken first.
Bukhari's account leaves the dream out
Here the sources are not all alike, and we want to say so plainly. Bukhari 604 and Muslim 377 narrate the start of the adhan on Ibn Umar's authority without any dream. The Muslims used to gather and guess the time, some proposed a bell and others a horn, and Umar suggested that a man be appointed to call, and the Prophet ﷺ told Bilal to stand up and do it.
What the dream does, and does not, establish
The dream matters for what happened next to it. It gave the words, and the words became law, but not because they were seen in a dream. The Prophet ﷺ heard them, judged the vision true, and told Bilal to use it. The ruling came from his confirmation in waking life, and the dream was the occasion.
That is also why scholars refuse to extend the case. It is not evidence that a dream can add an act of worship, or make something lawful, or carry any command. The religion was perfected and is not added to by sleep, and a person who says they were told something in a dream still has to bring it to the Qur'an and the Sunnah while awake. The Qur'an already refers to the call to prayer (Qur'an 5:58), so the practice had a footing there. The detailed wording is what the dream is credited with supplying.
We would also point out the dreamer's behaviour. Abdullah did not start calling the words in the street. He reported the dream to the one person who could judge it, as the manners of dreams advise, and Umar, who had seen the same thing, did not push himself forward. For what this says about how to treat a dream of the Prophet's own time, see seeing the Prophet in a dream, and for the general principle see can dreams be true in Islam. The dictionary entry on the call to prayer in a dream covers what the compilers make of hearing it asleep.
Common questions
Did the adhan come from a dream?
In part, according to several narrations. Abdullah ibn Zayd dreamed the words, told the Prophet ﷺ, who said it was a true dream and told him to teach Bilal (Abu Dawud 499, Tirmidhi 189, Ibn Majah 706). Bukhari and Muslim tell the beginning differently, with Umar suggesting that a man call the prayer (Bukhari 604, Muslim 377).
Does this mean a dream can create a law?
No. The adhan became an obligation of the community because the Prophet ﷺ heard the dream, judged it true and had Bilal use it. Scholars are agreed that no dream alone, even one claiming to come from the Prophet, can establish a ruling. The dream here was confirmed while he was awake.
Why did the Prophet ﷺ choose Bilal instead of Abdullah?
The narrations give a reason in his words: Bilal had a louder voice (Abu Dawud 499, Ibn Majah 706). Another report says the Ansar thought Abdullah would have been made the caller had he not been ill that day (Abu Dawud 498). The first is the Prophet's stated reason.
Reviewed 5 October 2026 by The Editorial Team. We cite our sources and fix mistakes openly: see our editorial standards, or report a correction.