Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Muslims have gone through similar crises involving cholera and other contagious diseases and massive floods and invasions by bloodthirsty tyrants. Yet, no one has ordered people to make collective adhan from their homes at the same time as a protective spiritual device to prevent the spread of such diseases.
In responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
The adhan was instituted by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to announce the time of the prayer. Therefore, its original intent was to notify the people to join the congregational prayer in the mosque.
All the schools of jurisprudence concur on this point. Imam Ash-Shafi`i said, “Adhan is an announcement of the arrival of the time for prayer.”
When, in exceptional cases, because of floods or heavy rain, people could not come to the mosque, the Prophet told the muezzin to add the following words, “Pray in your homes.”
Muslims have gone through similar crises involving cholera and other contagious diseases and massive floods and invasions by bloodthirsty tyrants. Yet, no one has ordered people to make collective adhan from their homes at the same time as a protective spiritual device to prevent the spread of such diseases.
Prophet Muhammad taught us to offer Qunut al-Nazilah and offer duaa imploring Allah to avert the calamities.
Prophet Muhammad also prescribed duaa to read for healing.
Istighfaar and turning to Allah in repentance individually and collectively is an excellent means of invoking the mercy and help of Allah when faced with calamities and tragedies. That is the lesson we learn from the following story of Imam Hasan al-Basari:
“Imam Al-Qurtubi (the author of the world-renowned Tafsir of the Quran) reports from Ibn Subayh: “A man came to Hasan complaining about famine. He advised him to implore the forgiveness of Allah. Another person came and complained to him about poverty. He told him also to seek forgiveness from Allah.
A third person asked him to pray for him for an offspring. He told him: seek forgiveness of Allah. Still, another person came complaining that the water in his orchard has dried up. Again, his advice was: Seek forgiveness of Allah.
Ar-Rabi (who witnessed these incidents was pleasantly surprised and so) asked Hasan: Different people came to you complaining of various tests they face in life, and yet you advised every one of them to seek forgiveness of Allah!
Hasan replied, “Yes; it is so. But I never made it up myself. Allah, the most exalted, says in Surat Nuh (narrating the story of Nuh that he said): “My preaching to them was: Seek forgiveness of your Lord, for He is the Most Forgiving. Should you persist in doing so, He will send down rain pouring from the skies; and bless you with wealth and offspring and gardens and rivers (flowing with water).” (Nuh 71:10-12)”
Therefore, we don’t see any such precedent for calling people to do a collective Adhan, as described above.
As our great imams have ruled: Islam does not allow us to fix specific rituals in this way without the sanction of the Lawgiver as it would be akin to instituting innovations in religion.
Prophet Muhammad said: “Whoever innovates something in our religion without our sanction, one ought to shun it.” (Al-Bukhari on the authority of Aishah, the beloved wife of Prophet Muhammad)
Almighty Allah knows best.