This video does well in capturing the essence of hearing many adhans reminding individuals to stop what they are doing and come to the mosque and pray. And if unable to go to a mosque, one can always pray in the privacy of their home or even beside their car. Anyone hearing multiple adhans at one time for the first time cannot help but be moved by the cascade of sounds.
Watch the brief video and then share your comments.
Are you happy or sad that adhan is or is not heard in your respective area announcing muslim prayer times?
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I enjoyed that video very much. Just recently I read somewhere in one of my articles or books that the call of the Adhan would, in Islam be the equivalent of church bells ringing in Christianity. In other words, it would serve the same function and call people to prayer (or in the ringing of bells telling people when a mass or service was about to start.) And the reason church bells came into being was because many people hundreds of years ago did not have clocks or watches and didn’t know when to start walking toward the church in order to get to mass on time. They were hung high in the spires so that they could be heard for long distances…I would imagine the very same reason an adhan would go high to the top of the mosque to call prayer time.
It was a lovely sound…thank you for sharing Carol.
I remember watching the programme. I was touched by how touched Kate Humble (the host) was when she heard the adhan here.
This programme was aired on the BBC.
Are you happy or sad that adhan is or is not heard in your respective area announcing muslim prayer times?
yes, i’m very happy when i heard Adhan .
============
God Great, God is Great
اللة اكبر،اللة اكبر
God is Great ‘ God is Great
اللة اكبر، اللة اكبر
lber witness that there is no god but Allah
أشهد ان لاالة الا اللة
lber witness that there is no god but Allah
أشهد ان لاالة الا اللة
lber witness that muhammad is the messenger of Allah
أشهد ان محمد رسول اللة
lber witness that muhammad is the messenger of Allah
أشهد ان محمد رسول اللة
come to the prayer’ come to the prayer
حي على الصلاة ،حي على الصلاة
come to the success’ come to the success
حي على الفلاح ، حي على الفلاح
Allah is Great ‘ Allah is Great
اللة أكبر ، اللة أكبر
There is no God But Allah
لا اله الا اللة
I watched the whole series of programes about the frankincence trail and loved it. Like the commentor above, I was touched to see how the Adhan affected the presenter and alsoher adventerouse nature.
Some of the places she went to were so beautiful and I found it so funny when she went to see the Saudi young men playing with their “boys toys” ie their expensive cars soupped up to the max.
There were many clips that made me wounder how important the fragrance still in the middle East.
Can you do an article on it maybe? I found it weird that you can actually EAT frakincence
I certainly like the sound of adhan, but found the reporter’s reaction to be a little over-wrought. Maybe it was the first time she’d heard it…
My quantum of appreciation for the call to prayer, though, differs very much according to country. Actually, the Saudi adhan are among the least pleasant. For several years, the mosque closest to the US Embassy in Riyadh had a muezzin-in-training, whose voice had not yet completely broken. Hearing his call did not instill feelings of sanctity.
Turkey would have to take the honors for the sweetest call to prayer, perhaps followed by Tunisia and Egypt.
But there can be too much of a good thing… on my 10th-floor apartment balcony in Giza, I had the loudspeaker of the mosque next door. The five daily summons were okay, but the all-night zhikers got to get a bit much.
Sometimes the call of adhan was nice , the key work being “sometimes”, depending on the voice and pitch.
But It is an experience to hear it and if one gets an oppurchunity you SHOULD hear it in saudi.
The other issue was my daughter was a baby then and a adhan would start and she’s sit up awake at that unearthly hour, aah i was pissed , so my day at home doing nothing started bright and early. not condusive to a sleeping child and her very sleepy mom who wanted to laze around.
I enjoy the peace and quiet here. I don’t miss the adhan at all, I guess you can always get a great recording if you want one.
Evidently according to some here the video did not represent the best of the adhan sound. I thought it sounded nice…I guess that goes to show you that it takes experience(of which I have none) to be discriminating! LOL!
From another post on this blog I came to know about many different styles of Azan – in India they are usually of the same style.
John Burgess,
I saw your blog and found it very informative. Will go through it more carefully.
I am sad not to hear the Adhan, I really miss it, even my Adhan clock broke and it doesnt have the sound any more.
That was absolutely amazing!
Unfortunately, I live in an area very far from any mosque, and I feel very bad about it.
@John Burgess
I understand your point…..the Riyadh Adhan never appealed to me either…it doesn’t touch me at all….in fact, first time i heard it i was startled! (no offence Riyadh people)
The Makkah and the Madinah adhan are amazing, especially the older ones…the Egyptian Adhan is my favorite of course…
@Muslim
Thanks for the Adhan translation..However, it’s not a very good one…I’ll come back with t he right translation..and thanks for the Adhan Hazeen…I liked it a lot…
Thanks, Carol for this post…. Amazing how the call of Allah touches the hearts that are searching for the truth!
ok, so this is the other Mariam…I’m afraid I do not miss the call. This was a great post, and brought back the sounds. I must admit Jeddah sounds better than Riyadh.
As to my problem with the call, please know that the call is not a “suggestion”, but rather a demand. While it is nice to remember things other than daily commerce during the day, I do not like to be forced to do anything.
We live in an area of Riyadh which is called Mohamadiya and can hear so many different adhans when it is time for prayer. One of my favorites in Riyadh is the one in Clocktower. I like the unique “clips” of sounds and as I understand it was the father who started the particular way of calling the adhan when the clipped sound at the end and the son now continues the tradition.
Overall my favorite is Makkah at the Haram. I wish I knew the name of this one imam but he has the most beautiful and melodic voice.
It’s funny….church bells are along to ring in America but rarely you hear an Adhan. Seems to me it would fair (and nice) if at least on Friday afternoons mosques in the US would be able to call the Adhan.
I wanted to ask, as there seems to be a difference in how the adhan is called in different areas (within saudi), can anyone do some links to show some of the differences for me please?
I’ve listened to a few different ones but did not realise that there were such significant difference within the kingdom or is it just depending on how the person is taught/ prefers to call?
Thanks
Carol, the masjed on 3rd in the nineties calls adhan. There is no law against it. Now let’s see if church bells ring in KSA – oh i forgot there can be no churches.
In Damascus, the call to prayer was so clear that my then-infant son, just learning to speak, would call out ‘Allahu Akbar’ in the same pattern as the local muezzin. This caused a great deal of astonishment to passers-by, always followed by huge smiles.
It was more impressive when he’d be taken outside in his stroller… even the omni-present mukhabarat would stand shocked.
There was no way that the Damascenes didn’t realize he was a hawaja, what with his blue eyes and blond hair…
Daisy: You’re more than welcome to look around. Stop to comment, too, if you like!
John b…..whaat do you mean by hawaja?
Is it not allowed for mosques to play their azan in the US? I don’t know. There are none near me. I enjoyed hearing them in Damascus.
susanne: I don’t think it’s actually a matter of ‘not being allowed’.
Mosques, generally speaking, are a relatively new thing in the US. As such, they do not enjoy a ‘place’ in the community that is time-honored and set. They also have to deal with existing rules and regulations.
Over the past 30 years, US communities, particularly in major cities, have been erecting noise ordinances to reduce the level of sound that runs through them. Airlines have had to install noise limiters; churches and universities, even 200-year-old ones–have had to stop ringing their bells, possibly with Sunday exceptions.
A mosque would be introducing ‘new noise’–measured in decibels, not content. Thus, they might have a hard time using loud speakers to call to prayer.
jman: hawaja is a foreigner, usually a Westerner. Sometimes also called ‘franki’.
Strange—just as I am reading this the mosque next to me starts. In the back of my mind I am trying to describe my neigborhood mosque. It is quiet soft spoken one, except in the early morning though. I can hear mosques echoeing all over the city of Istanbul, one after another after another. It is such a moving sound at the crack of done.
The Mosque near me is one of the most visited in world but I must say, there was this tiny little mosque near me in Sharjah, and that one had such a beautiful adhan.
I am wondering if the mosques have a call to prayer in the U.S… Does it? For example in D.C.–Just curious.
Off the topic…I think it totally stupid that the Swiss have banned minerets.
oh, I forgot, and many will not believe this one. I have a strange statement to say here and no, I do not want to be offesive. There is a stray dog in my neighborhood who will howl at the Mosque at the call to prayer. I saw another dog do the same in another part of Istanbul.
So sometimes when I hear the adhan it followed by ooooh, oooh,eeh, ooooh. ( the stray dog howling along with the prayer.
I had written about the same thing on my blog, a few days back linking to the same video. Its really a miracle. Having lived in Jeddah all my life in the midst of all those adhans, I really miss them here in the UK. Its even hard for me to find the religous me, sometimes (which is sad!).
When I lived in Pakistan, I loved hearing the sound of the adhan called from the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. It was quite powerful.
I know that same places in the States will have the adhan from inside a facility but not to the outside, such as the Saudi embassy for example.
there’s a few here where they call the adhan, but again it’s not heard outside the bldg. I think it’s a noise pollution limit thing.
Jacee– i believe you , we had a similar thing going in india once, the stray dogs would howl when the adhan started, and a guy from the mosque would come and chase them away.. i think they just respond to the sound / tone.
i repeat, the masjed on the east side in the nineties calls adhan. However, it being NYC, the sound is somewhat consumed in the general noise during the day. It is only at night and early morning that one can hear it clearly.
Minarets and the associated adhan have become such a political issue in Europe its good to remember that there are still some places in the world where it’s not such a issue.
The call to prayer can be heard over loudspeakers outside of mosques in at least Dearborn and Hamtramck, Michigan
Zahra. I know that there is an Adhan clock application that you can have on your computer. I don’t know exactly where you can find it though. I’m sure if you google it though.
As Salaam Alaykom;
The sound is truly inspiring. I can see the reason for your tears.(?)
In the months before 911, I was in Kenya as a Christian Missionary. I think the town was Nanooki, and we arrived there near the time of the afternoon prayer. The adhan was going on and I was quite frightened; fearing that the Muslims would come out and do things to us.
In September of 2006, I converted to Islam, and the call to prayer stirs my soul like nothing else.
Ma Salaama
Hala
@Hala,
Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience.
i think you must have a beautiful voice to make the athan stir the hearts of people. sometimes an elderly man makes the athan in the masjid next to my house. (i know he’s elderly b/c my husband knows him.) unfortunately he doesn’t have a nice voice so when he calls it i am not as moved.
once i stayed in dallah hospital for 2 weeks and during the stay they played the most beautiful athan that brought such peace in my heart. i could instantly understand why they chose that particular mu’than for a hospital. his voice calling Allah’s name had such a calming affect.
so i think calling the athan is a lot like reciting the quran, you either have a beautiful voice to carry those powerful words or you don’t.
oh and by the way, i saw the video a few weeks ago and was touched by her genuine tears. but i do have to admit the saudi man’s mention of mary and jesus was a bit strange. did he know if she even believed in them or not? i just don’t think his comment was necessary. it seemed to detract from the moving moment the lady was having. the athan is so powerful it can speak for itself.
Umm Tiflain,
I am not too far from Dallah hospital in Mohamadiyah so I believe I have a good idea which masjid you are talking about!
bedu i’m minutes from dallah so we are practically neighbors……we should meet some day!
Umm Tiflain,
That would be a real pleasure. I cannot wait to get back to Riyadh and resume normal life there!
guys can you please tell me who recited the azan that is played in dallah hospital. It is so appealing, i woulld be thankfull if someone can help me download that azan.
I agree Syed, it is a beautiful azan. I hope someone knows how to locate it.
Kindly tell me what is the name of the Muazzan of Azan in Dallah Hospital.
or just upload the file.
million thanks
Can we just ask Dallah Hospital management to let me have the mp3 (audio file)?
did anybody try?
The name is Sheikh AbdulMajed Salamah As-Sareehi
الأذان بصوت الشيخ عبد المـجيد السريحي