Call To Prayer

The great white tower stands above the town, reminding all that live and visit here to atone and understand the power of creation. You walk the stone streets, watching the people prepare for another day of business and can't help but wonder how the heavenly director is able to prepare everything that happens so precisely, with such infinite and yet indefinable accuracy. The adhan is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin at prescribed times of the day. Adhan is called out in the mosque five times a day, traditionally from a minaret, summoning Muslims for mandatory prayers. A second call known as iqama then summons Muslims to line up for the beginning of the prayers. The main purpose behind the multiple loud pronouncements of adhan in every mosque is to make available to everyone an easily intelligible summary of Islamic belief. It is intended to bring to the mind of every believer and non-believer the substance of Islamic beliefs, or its spiritual ideology. In modern times, loudspeakers have been installed on minarets for this purpose. Shi'a sources state that it is Muhammad who, according to God's command, ordered the adhan as a means of calling Muslims to prayer. Shi'a Islam teaches that no one else contributed, or had any authority to contribute, towards the composition of the adhan. Sunnis state that the adhan was not written or said by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, but by one of his Sahabah (his companions).