It's been a while

Hi folks!

I've been meaning to post my last entry for a long time, but have been postponing it. I started an article about the call to prayer, and even got close to finishing it, buy with the move back to the States, applying for school in a rush, and starting back at work, I misplaced it and possibly even lost it.

"No big deal," I hear you saying. "Just start over." I've meant to do that at least five times, but life has just gotten too busy, which is unfortunate, because the call to prayer is really awesome and you call should hear it. By that, I mean you should really consider going to Turkey and hanging around Istanbul, Antalya, and Erzurum, and hear the call wafting overhead, mingling with other calls in the city. It grounded me at a time when I didn't feel very grounded. I wish mosques here in the States would sound their calls. I'm not sure if they aren't allowed, or if they choose not to. At least in Detroit, Michigan one can hear the call. There isn't a law prohibiting the call to prayer, nor is there a noise ordinance against it. In neighboring Hamtramck there is a bit of a debate whether the local mosque can sound its call. There is no law against it there either, but mosque officials wanted to be neighborly and get permission anyway. As it stands right now, the issue is going up for a vote in July or August to be determined by the city residents. Hopefully, it will pass.

Here's the beginning of the article I started a few moons ago.


I am generally a heavy sleeper. Sometimes I wake up enough just before sunrise to hear the day's first call to prayer. I try to stay awake to listen to the whole thing because it is quite beautiful, but it usually lulls me back into my slumber.

At prayer time, there is a call from the minaret of the mosques, the ezan. In olden days, a man would climb to the top and sing in a beautiful and loud voice for the people in the surrounding area. Nowadays it is sung through loud speakers postioned at the top of the minarettes. In Trabzon, there is one voice for all the mosques. His voice bounces off the surrounding mountains so that during the pauses one can here him three times over. In Istanbul one can here several men singing at different intervals, floating together in a sea of beautiful singing above the city. I once had the pleasure of being on top of one of the seven hills Istanbul rests on when the call to prayer went off. I felt like I was being wrapped in a melodious blanket of peace.

The first call to prayer is sounded around 5:30 am, although it varies because the times are in sync with the moon. This one is the longest and low in tone. As the day progresses, they speed up little by little so that the last call is maybe half as long as the first.

The words of the call are sung in Arabic and are translated like this:

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar .
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar ,
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest,
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.

Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah
Ash-hadu alla ilaha illa-llah
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah.

Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah.
Ash-hadu anna Muhammadar-Rasulullah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

Hayya ‘ala-s-Salah, hayya ‘ala-s-Salah.
Hasten to the Prayer, hasten to the Prayer.

Hayya ‘ala-l-falah, hayya ‘ala-l-falah.
Hasten to real success, hasten to real success

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.

La ilaha illa-llah.
There is none worthy of worship but Allah.

As-Salatu khairun min an-naum
As-Salatu khairun min an-naum. .
Prayer is better than sleep.
Prayer is better than sleep.

Not to fall behind in these technological times, a cell phone company in the United Arab Emirates has made the call to prayer cell phone friendly.

Want to hear it? Check these out. (The Arabic word is Azan. The Turkish word is ezan.)