Shia Azan: listen to the Ja'fari Adhan

The Adhan is an announcement, not a performance. It tells a household, a street or a city that the time for prayer has entered, and it does so with a small number of repeated phrases that most Muslims recognise immediately.

A recording can only ever be one voice in one moment. Styles differ across Iraq, Iran, South Asia and the diaspora, and the same words can sound measured and plain in one recitation and unhurried and melodic in another. None of that changes the content of the call.

The commonly recited Shia Adhan shown here opens with the takbir, moves through the testimonies to God's oneness, Prophet Muhammad's messengership, and Imam Ali as Wali and Hujjah of Allah, calls people to prayer and success, includes 'Hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal', and closes with the takbir and the declaration of God's oneness.

We publish the Arabic with clear line breaks so it can be followed while listening. The text on this site is editorially prepared and is being checked against printed references before it is presented as verified.

Transliteration is a reading aid for people who do not read Arabic script. It cannot represent Arabic sounds exactly, and it is not a substitute for hearing the phrases recited.

The English rendering on this site is deliberately plain. Where a term carries more than one reasonable translation, we note the alternatives rather than choosing silently.

Each phrase of the Adhan has its own short guide: the Arabic, a transliteration, a concise English meaning and a note on how it is commonly recited. Start with the phrase guide if you are learning the call for the first time.

This site includes 'Ashhadu anna Aliyyan Waliyyullah' and 'Ashhadu anna Aliyyan Hujjatullah' in the displayed, commonly recited Shia sequence after the testimony to Prophet Muhammad. Major Ja'fari legal manuals distinguish the testimony to Imam Ali from the eighteen constituent phrases of the Adhan, so it is recited devotionally without intending it as a formal constituent. Follow your marja on the legal detail.

This page was drafted editorially and is awaiting review by a qualified Ja'fari scholar. Treat it as an educational summary, not a personal religious ruling. Where practice varies, follow the guidance of your marja.