Devout Muslims pray five times a day, facing the direction of Mecca. This ritual prayer is called salat or salah and is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Prayer times are based on sunrise and sunset, so they can vary widely by location and time of year. To alert Muslims to the correct time, a prayer leader called a muezzin announces a call to prayer (Arabic أَذَان, romanized Arabic adhan, Persian and Turkish namaz).
This call to prayer is a melodious chant of specified words in Arabic, familiar to anyone who has lived or traveled in Muslim countries.
Who Calls Muslims to Prayer?
The adhan is performed by a man called a muezzin. He is not a clergyman or religious leader, but an upstanding member of the community chosen for his voice and skills. He may be responsible for maintaining the mosque as well.
Content of the Call to Prayer
What is the muezzin actually saying? Below are the words of the adhan in Arabic, Romanized Arabic, and an English translation. Most of the lines are repeated multiple times.
In addition to encouraging Muslims to come to pray at the mosque, the call to prayer includes the shahada, which is the first Pillar of Islam and a statement of faith in God and his Prophet.
| Arabic | Romanized Arabic | English |
|---|---|---|
| ٱللَّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ | Allahu Akbar | God is most great |
| أَشْهَدُ أَن لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ | Ashadu anna la ilaha illa Allah | I bear witness there is no god but God |
| أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ | Ashadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah | I bear witness Muhammad is the prophet of God |
| حَيَّ عَلَى ٱلصَّلَاةِ | Haiya 'ala al-salat | Come to prayer |
| حَيَّ عَلَى ٱلْفَلَاحِ | Haiya 'ala al-falah | Come to wellbeing |
| ٱلصَّلَاةُ خَيْرٌ مِنَ ٱلنَّوْمِ | Al-salat khayrun min al-nawm* | Prayer is better than sleep* |
| ٱللَّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ | Allahu Akbar | God is most great |
| لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ | La ilaha illa Allah | There is no God but God |
*dawn prayer only |
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How the Call to Prayer is Announced
Traditionally, the call to prayer is made from the tower (minaret) of the mosque, but in modern times it is often broadcasted over loudspeakers. Sometimes it is pre-recorded.
Muslims who don't live or work within earshot of a call to prayer can use a prayer times app that alerts them to exact prayer times in their location and can play an audio adhan.
Melody of the Call to Prayer
The call to prayer is not simply spoken, but chanted in a melodious, musical way.
There are some general guidelines for how to do this, based on those for recitation of the Qur'an, but less binding.1 With no fixed melody prescribed for calling the adhan, there can be significant variation in its delivery.
[Ethnomusicologist] Lois Faruqi identified two styles: laythi, an unembellished recitative style popular in rural areas, and sultani, a less recitative and more florid, urban style.1
References
Joseph Progler, Sound and Community in the Muslim Call to Prayer folkways.si.edu ↩ ↩