Dought - clear - Was the adhaan revealedby wahy or was it suggested by a sahaabi?.

I think i once read that the adhan )call to prayer(was suggested to
our prophet Muhammed )( by another muslim after he said he didnt want
to use the bells that the christians used or the rams-head)?( that the
jews used to call people to prayer. How does the idea of everything
the prophet ordered being an inspiration that is inspired fit in with
this?
I am not trying to be picky here, but am asking purely to aid my understanding.
Praise be to Allaah.
"Adhaan" in Arabic means conveying; in Islam it means announcing that
the time )for prayer( has come. It was prescribed during the time of
the Messenger of Allaah )peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him( in
Madeenah. According to the hadeeth of 'Abd-Allaah ibn Zayd ibn Abd
Rabbihi, when the Messenger of Allaah )peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him( decided to use a bell even though he disliked it because
it was like what the Christians used,'there appeared to me ina dream a
man who was wearing two green garments, in whose hand was a bell. I
said, "O slave of Allaah, will you sell that bell?" he said, "What
will you do with it?" I said, "We will call the people to prayer with
it." He said, "Shall I not show you somethingbetter than that?" I
said, "Yes." He said, "Say, Allaahu akbar Allaah akbar … )to the end
of the adhaan(." When morning came, I went tothe Messenger of Allaah
)peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him( and told him what I had
seen. He said, "This is a true dream, in sha Allaah. Get up with
Bilaaland tell him what you have seen, so that he cangive the call,
because he has a more beautiful voice than you." So I got up with
Bilaal and started telling him what I had seen, and he gave the call
to prayer. 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab heard that whilst he was in his
house, and he came out, dragging his cloak behind him, saying, "By the
One Who sent you with the truth, O Messenger of Allaah, I saw the same
as he saw." The Messenger of Allaah )peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him( said: "To Allaah be praise."' )Narrated by Ahmad, 1588;
al-Tirmidhi, 174; Abu Dawood, 421, 430; Ibn Maajah, 698(.
It is clear from this hadeeth:
That the words of the adhaan came in a dreamwhich was seen by a great
sahaabi and approved of by our great Prophet. They were not a
suggestion asyou mentioned, but a dream, and it is known that dreams
are one of the seventy parts of Prophethood, because it was stated in
a hadeeth narrated by Ibn 'Umar that the Prophet )peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him( said: "Dreams are one of the seventy parts of
Prophethood." )Narratedby Ahmad, 4449(.
Al-Bukhaari narrated a different version: "True dreams are one of the
forty-six parts of Prophethood." )Narratedby al-Bukhaari,, 6474;
Muslim, 4203, 42005(.
The dream here, which the Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him( described as a true dream, came fromAllaah and was not a
suggestion from a person. So it was a part of Prophethood becauseit
was approved of by the Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him( and was described by him as a true dream. If the Prophet had not
approved of it, it would not have been considered a true dreamand it
would not have been a part of Prophethood. The one who judged it to be
truewas the Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him(, and
the one who commanded them to act upon it was the Prophet )peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him(, who received revelation )wahy( from
his Lord.
'Umar )may Allaah be pleased with him( had seen a similar dream. Letus
not forget that 'Umar was one of the Rightly-guided khaleefahs
)al-khulafaa' al-raashidoon(, of whomthe Messenger )peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him( said, "I exhort you to adhere to my
sunnah )way( and the sunnah of the rightly-guided khaleefahs. Hold on
tightto it with your back teeth." )Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2600; Ibn
Maajah, 43; Ahmad, 16519(.
'Umar's view frequently coincided with the wahyand divine legislation.
'Aa'ishah reported that the Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him( used to say, "Among the nations whocame before you there
were people who were muhaddathoon )inspired(. If there is anyone like
this in my ummah, it is 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab." )Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 3282; Muslim, 2398(. Ibn Wahb said muhaddathoon means
inspired.
You may ask, why did the adhaan start in this fashion, being seen in a
dream by two sahaabis then being confirmed bythe wahy? Why was it not
revealed directly? The answer is that Allaahdecrees whatever He wills,
however He wills, may He be glorified and exalted. Perhaps the wayit
happened was meant to demonstrate the virtue of these two sahaabis and
to confirm the how good this ummah is, because among them are some
whose opinions coincidewith the wahy and somewho had true dreams which
confirmed their truthfulness, for the people who have the truest
dreams are the truest in speech as the Prophet )peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him( said.
Finally:
The definition of the Sunnah given in the books of the scholars is
that it consists of everything that was narrated from the Messenger
)peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him(, everything that he "said,
did or approved of."
What is meant by his words and actions is clear. What he approved of
refers to when someone did something in front of him and he approved
of it – this is also part of the sharee'ah, not because that person
did it, but because the Messenger )peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him( approved of it. The Messenger )peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him( never kept quiet about falsehood and he never approved of
anything false or misguided that was done by others. He would
disapprove of it and speak out against it,as he did in the case of the
sahaabi Abu Israa'eel, as was narrated by Ibn 'Abbaas, who said:
"Whilst the Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him( was
giving a khutbah, he saw a man standing in the sun, and he asked about
him. They said, 'That is Abu Israa'eel. He vowed to stand and not sit
down, not to seek shade, not tospeak, and to fast.' He said, 'Tell him
to speak, seek shade and sit down, but let him complete his fast.'"
)Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6326(.
The Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him( approved of
Abu Israa'eel's vow to fast, but he cancelled therest of his vow and
did not approve of it.
So it is clear that the adhaan became part of the religion when the
Prophet )peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him( confirmed what
Allaah had shown the two sahaabis in theirdreams, and commanded
'Abd-Allaah ibn Zayd to teach it to Bilaal so that he could call the
people to prayer.Hopefully the explanation given abovewill dispel your
confusion and make matters clearer to you. We ask Allaah to grant
usand you understanding of Islam. And Allaah knows best.