What Flees at the Call to Prayer

When the adhān is raised, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) states that Shayṭān passes wind and flees, unwilling even to hear it, his ears covered as he runs. Once the prayer that follows has ended, he returns to circle the rows of worshippers, seeking to sow whispers among them — which is why the rows are drawn close together, so that, in the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the hearts within them are drawn together as one. A gesture as small as this carries its own weight in the unseen world.