Five times a day across the Middle East, people are reminded to pray when the call to worship emanates over loudspeakers from the many mosques that fill the land. I am Christian but find the lilting, echoing song of the iman quite enchanting. As Friday is the day of worship for Muslims, at approximately noon on this day each week in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, the call to prayer is followed by 20 to 30 minutes of a speech given by the imam of various mosques, broadcast over loudspeakers throughout the streets. This probably is not unique to Sharjah, but I haven’t heard the speech of the imam anywhere else.
I shot this video from my apartment window one Friday afternoon with the words of the imam of the Al Maghfera mosque reverberating off the buildings. While the call to prayer is quite lovely, the Friday speech has an entirely different character. You might want to listen to this video to hear a sound you may never hear anywhere else.
Hmmm…interesting, I hear the azaan everyday (in fact I get up in the morning due to the sound), but have never heard any speech. Didn’t even know they broadcasted it on loud speakers…
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Sabina Reply:
February 21st, 2011 at 03:32
Oh, yeah, very loudly every Friday from more than one mosque. Do you live in Sharjah?
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you must be loving the UAE if you love the sound of prayers
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Sabina Reply:
February 22nd, 2011 at 10:03
Hi Zablon – I do love it. There’s nothing like it at home
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Hmm, no thanks.
We can hear the prayers from a Cham (Muslim) village near where we live here in Kampot but the distance is enough to make it sound quite soothing and serene.
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Sabina Reply:
March 2nd, 2011 at 03:08
Hi Simon – the call to worship in Muslim countries definitely could not be described as soothing or serene. But what is on this video is not the call to worship, but a portion of the half hour Friday speech afterwards.
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Wow, the Adhan in UAE is so different from the one in Egypt!
I agree it’s enchanting and intense… I love it, even if I’m not religious.
I remember I saw a video once, where a British journalist is moved to tears by the sound of it… and I can understand!
The most unbelievable one for me was on Friday, Jan 28th (a day I will never forget) – I was on a rooftop in Cairo and the protests were just below the building. Suddenly the Adhan started and the protesters stopped to bow in prayer. It was … unbelievable. And beautiful.
It was also the best “alarm” I had, the first morning after I finally moved to Cairo… waking up with this sound was the best welcome ever! First thing I did on my first day in Cairo was smiling: how beautiful is that?
Yes, as you can see I DO like this sound too a lot!
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Sabina Reply:
March 2nd, 2011 at 03:09
The call to worship is a great alarm – if you need to get up before 6:00. What is in this video is the Friday service, though, after the call to worship.
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I know that a lot of people don’t like the sound of it, but I think the call to prayer sounds so magical.
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Sabina Reply:
March 2nd, 2011 at 03:09
I can’t imagine not liking it. The silence in countries without the call to prayer is kind of dull.
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I knew that the call to prayers was broadcast over a loudspeaker, but I didn’t know that the Friday speech was too. Unfortunately, I can’t listen to it right now, but when I get to my home computer I’m going to check it out.
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Sabina Reply:
March 2nd, 2011 at 03:11
Steve, I hope you’ve had a chance to listen to it by now. I’ve never heard the Friday speech anywhere but Sharjah.
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