Fiqh-us-Sunnah Volume 1, Purification and Prayer, Fiqh 1.107A.
Making zhikr, supplications, and practices of a similar nature before the morning azhan are innovations to the sunnah. In al-Iqna and its commentary, a book of Hanbali fiqh, it is stated, “What some callers do before the morning azhan (i.e. zhikr, chanting, loud supplications and so on) are not part of the sunnah. No scholar has said that it is preferred to do such acts. In fact, they are hateful innovations introduced after the time of the Prophet and his companions. No one is to order such acts, and no one is to blame one who avoids such acts. If one has left money for such acts, it is not permissible to use it for those acts, as they contradict the sunnah. In Talbis Iblis by Ibn al-Jauzi, it states, “I have seen people staying up a part of the night on the minaret admonishing the people, making zhikr and reciting the Qur’an in a loud voice. They keep people from sleeping and disturb those who are making late-night prayers. These are rejected and evil actions.” Ibn Hajr says in Fath al-Bari, “What is done in the way of zhikr before the morning azhan, the Friday prayers and the prayers for the Prophet is derived neither from the azhan nor from the Islamic law.