Is the response to the mu'adhdhin's adhan made up by one who was busy with something and could not repeat it during the mu'adhdhin's adhan?

The questioner : Regarding making up the adhan.

The Shaykh : How does one make up the adhan?

The questioner : For example, a person was talking—say, speaking to another—when the mu'adhdhin called the adhan, and he could not stop him until the mu'adhdhin was saying "Hayya 'ala al-salah, hayya 'ala al-falah" or similar phrases; so does he make up the adhan? Does he go back and say "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," or did he miss the adhan entirely because he was busy with something and could not repeat it during the mu'adhdhin's adhan?

The Shaykh : He responds to what he is in the process of responding to, but what is missed is missed. So if he was busy with the response—meaning, if he calls the adhan quietly so that he catches up with the mu'adhdhin in the last phrase of his adhan—then he has not responded to the mu'adhdhin; rather, he has called the adhan.

The questioner : I mean, Shaykh, if he caught up with the mu'adhdhin, for example?

The Shaykh : Did you understand what I said?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : So why are you rushing? You are saying that a man was busy with some work from responding to the mu'adhdhin in every phrase of the adhan. It is well known that the response to the mu'adhdhin is like this: when the mu'adhdhin says "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," the listener says "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," and so on until the end of the adhan. Is this clear to you up to this point?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Up to this point, good. So he was busy and did not respond to the mu'adhdhin in every phrase from the beginning of the adhan to "Hayya 'ala al-salah." There, the mu'adhdhin had settled, right? Now, the next step, and the third, which is perhaps the last, I say: if he was busy, or if he occupied himself with going back to say "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," he is not responding to the mu'adhdhin. All that can be said about it is that he is calling the adhan just as the mu'adhdhin called it. The difference is only that the mu'adhdhin raised his voice while he lowered his. So there is no benefit in this going back; rather, it is calling the adhan, and this is not prescribed. Then, while he is coming to the rest, and while he is repeating the adhan rather than responding to it, he will miss the response to the rest of the adhan.

The questioner: Yes, I understood.

The Shaykh : Did you understand me?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Okay; did you understand me?

The questioner : Yes, but there is an addition, Shaykh. If the mu'adhdhin is calling the adhan—say—slowly: "Hayya 'ala al-salah," then he pauses for a while, "Hayya 'ala al-falah," then he pauses for a while, and this person can repeat it quickly, as if saying "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar."

The Shaykh : I did not understand you.

The questioner : No, I understood you, Shaykh, but you said what I understood.

The Shaykh : ... I swear to you that you did not understand me? I am saying: if he goes back to the adhan, he is not responding; he is calling the adhan. The response is as I described to you and as you know: the mu'adhdhin says "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," and the listener responds to him by saying "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar." You described the situation just now until he reached "Hayya 'ala al-salah." There, he became free to respond. So now, he is between two things, and I am developing the point: he is between two things; either he responds to the mu'adhdhin in what remains, or he calls the adhan for himself quietly. So is he responding to the mu'adhdhin?

The questioner : He is not responding.

The Shaykh : This is what I told you. So there is not a single point left, no matter how small. The answer is very clear: it is recommended that if he wants to obtain the remaining virtue, he should occupy himself with responding to the rest of the adhan. As for going back to the beginning of the adhan, he will be calling the adhan and not responding, and then he will lose the remaining response. So in this situation you are describing, he did not respond either at the beginning of the adhan or at the end.

The questioner : I understand from your words—Shaykh—that it is not prescribed for him to do this action; that ... the adhan as it is described, but rather, whenever he catches up with the mu'adhdhin on something, he starts with him.
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The Shaykh : ... This, we return to the first issue; the matter of the adhan. This one who was busy from responding to the mu'adhdhin; what do you think, is he sinful?

The questioner : Allah knows best.

The Shaykh : Allah knows best. The matter is in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):
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