520 - Muhammad ibn al-Wazir narrated to us, Abdullah ibn Dhuwayd—the freed slave of al-Walid—informed me, from Sulayman ibn Musa, that he heard him say: "If you pray in your house, suffice yourself with the iqamah, and make it in pairs; it shall serve as both adhan and iqamah."

Chapter: A boy performing the adhan while he is not yet of age (baligh).

• I heard Ishaq say: "The minimum age at which it is permissible for a boy to perform the adhan is when he reaches seven years, because he is commanded to pray at that time, and just as he is commanded to lead the people in prayer if he is the most knowledgeable of them in the Quran, provided he has reached seven years or surpassed it."

521 - Muhammad ibn al-Wazir narrated to us, he said: al-Walid narrated to us, he said: Ismail informed me, from Ibn Jurayj: I said to Ata: "May a boy perform the adhan even if he has not experienced puberty?" He said: "Yes."

Chapter: The estimated time between the adhan and the iqamah.

• And I heard Ishaq say: "It is not appropriate for the mu'adhdhin, once he has called the adhan, to leave the mosque under any circumstances, unless he has erred and called the adhan while not in a state of wudu; in that case, he may return to perform his wudu for the necessity, or any similar excuse. As for worldly needs, or lunch, or any worldly interests, he should not. The adhan and iqamah were established for the mu'adhdhins to provide a duration sufficient for the people to perform wudu in their homes, then walk at their ease to the mosque, offer some rak'ahs, and then he performs the iqamah.

The mu'adhdhin is required to observe who is coming and who is waiting, and whether they have finished what they were commanded to do of prayer, then he performs the iqamah. If he sits in his home to have lunch, he misses what we have described of monitoring, and we do not know of anyone among the Salaf who did that."