“Oh, that voice...” - muezzin: meaning and origins of tradition

1. What is azan and iqamat
2. Adhan and iqamat in jamaat
3. Azan and Iqama for one person
4. The wisdom of adhan and the history of its origin
5. Azan conditions
6. Sunnah when reading adhan and iqamat

Iqamat is a call made immediately before performing the obligatory part of the prayer (fard).

Azan is a notification of the time for prayer and a call to perform it; in past times, when there were no loudspeakers, the adhan was performed by the muadzin from a high place, for example, the minaret of a mosque.

Azan and Iqama for one person

For one person, the rulings of the Sharia indicate that the adhan and iqamat are sunnah, which is confirmed by the story of Uqba bin Amir about how the Prophet of Allah Muhammad ﷺ said that Allah was surprised to see a shepherd who gives the adhan and then performs prayer, while how it is with the herd in the pasture. Then Allah Almighty said: “ Look at this servant of Mine, he gives the adhan and stands up for prayer, fearing Me. And I have already forgiven My servant and brought him into Paradise .”

It is advisable to pronounce the call even for a person who performs prayer alone, and even if it takes place at home or somewhere in the steppe. The adhan must be pronounced loudly, even if the person is not in the mosque. This is stated in the hadith that Abu Said al-Khudri testified that you should raise your voice when you are in the steppe and grazing sheep and are about to say the azan before performing prayer, and that he heard such a command from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Ramadan

Ramadan, called Ramadan in Turkey, is a month-long period of fasting observed by Muslims around the world every year, usually in May and June. (Actual dates vary depending on the Islamic lunar calendar.) Participants avoid food and drink, including water, from sunrise to sunset, breaking their daily fast with a festive meal or iftar.

Participating in fasting is a type of prayer, and people who do it are intentionally “fasting” in order to develop empathy. They try to understand how the poor feel. Otherwise how can we understand it?

No one expects visiting foreigners to fast—many Turks do not. But if you are traveling in a Muslim country during Ramadan - or even a predominantly Muslim community or area - you can be polite and avoid eating or drinking in public during the day. Choose indoor restaurant seating, and if you need water, drink it carefully. At sunset, head to cafes, restaurants to taste the special bread, dates and other delicacies that are traditionally served for iftar (dinner during the month of Ramadan).

The wisdom of adhan and the history of its origin

The adhan contains multifaceted wisdom: it notifies Muslims of the time and place when and where prayer will be performed, it encourages believers to perform prayers collectively, and it also motivates careless Muslims by reminding those who have forgotten about it to perform prayer. prayer is the greatest mercy of Allah.

The call was legalized in the first year of the Hijri, since at that time there was an urgent need for some kind of sign to be installed that could inform believers that the time for prayer had arrived. At first, the Muslims did not come to a common decision, but as night fell, Abdullah ibn Zeid was sent a dream in which he saw a man carrying a bell. Abdullah asked him if he was carrying that bell for sale, and the man answered his question with a question, asking what Abdullah was going to do with this bell, to which he said that with the help of this bell he would call believers to prayer. The man who carried the bell offered to teach him something more useful, and taught Abdullah the adhan and the iqama. The next morning, Abdullah went to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and told him ﷺ about his dream, to which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ testified that the vision was true and he should convey these words to Bilal, since he has a more sonorous and suitable voice for this.

Adhan, truly, has a number of advantages: everything that the muazzin’s voice achieved will testify for him on the Day of Judgment before Allah - be it a genie, a person or any living creature. Its virtues are so great that if people knew about it, they would enter into competitions for the right to make the azan, as the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said.

Basic qualities of a muezzin

According to accepted tradition, a muezzin is a person who “has the sunnah.” That is, possessing qualities that can be described as internal and external purity. This is expressed in the fact that the muezzin must be pious, not commit sins, lead a decent lifestyle, and be a believer. Secondly, he must have a pleasant and fairly powerful voice, and learn to pronounce the azan melodiously. Actually, the very concept of “muezzin” is based on these two main qualities.

Among other requirements, there are also the following:

• be of legal age;
• male;
• sober and of sound mind;
• clean and wearing clean clothes;
• be able to climb the steep steps to the very top of the minaret.

Thus, the role of the muezzin for Muslims is significant. In those Islamic communities where traditions are preserved, in the internal representation of believers, the voice of the muezzin is the voice of an angel. It is with him that the transition from ordinary everyday activities to the more important is associated - communication with the Almighty. Therefore, this man has always been and remains very respected.

Azan conditions

In order for azan and iqama to be considered valid, the person who makes them must comply with a number of conditions:

• to be a Muslim;
• a man (a woman is not allowed to perform the adhan, but she can read the iqamat quietly);
• must be of sober mind and reason;
• the order of words must be observed, and the words themselves must be pronounced continuously, without a long break;
• performing adhan when the time comes for prayer;
• sounds must be pronounced clearly, and the text itself must be stretched as required by the relevant rules of the Arabic language;
• when performing azan, it is prohibited to chant it excessively, especially if this leads to the letters, characters changing, or if this leads to the addition or subtraction of sounds;
• the azan and iqamat performed by a minor, but discriminating mumayiz boy (that is, already distinguishing between men and women) will be valid;
• Also, the call will be valid if a person overslept the time of prayer or forgot to perform it on time.

Sunnah when reading adhan and iqamat

Desirable actions when performing adhan and iqama include:

• It is advisable to pronounce them while standing, but it is undesirable to read them while sitting if it is possible to do so while standing;
• muadzin must face the Qiblah;
• the reader should be in a state of small and complete ablution;
• it is undesirable to walk around the minaret while making a call, although this does not apply in cases where the city is large;
• When the muezzin is about to proclaim the call to prayer, he should stand on a hill, preferably a minaret. If there is no minaret, it can be recited from the roof of the mosque. Nowadays, loudspeakers are installed on the roofs of mosques, and muezzins can read the adhan in the mosque while standing. If the loudspeaker is faulty or the power is cut off, the muezzin must follow the rules stated earlier;
• adhan and iqamat should be proclaimed to the same person;
• It is desirable that the muadzin have a beautiful and loud voice;
• Iqamat, unlike azan, is pronounced quietly; there is no need to climb to a height. This should only be done when there is a possibility that not everyone will be able to hear the iqama;
• Between the azan and the iqama, time must be extended so that the believers can complete the sunnat prayers and gather for prayer.

Minarets

Bilal founded the tradition of chanting adhan from the roofs of the tallest buildings. However, as Islam spread, the idea arose of erecting a special tower for muezzins - a minaret. The construction of the first minarets dates back to approximately 670.

Over time, the number of minarets became a distinctive feature of a mosque, by which its significance is determined. The main mosque of Islam - Al-Masjid al-Haram (Sacred Mosque), located in Mecca, has nine minarets. The second most important is Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the burial place of Muhammad) in Medina -ten.

Words of Iqama

Iqamat in Arabic
Form of Iqamat according to the Hanafi madhhab: “Allahu akbarul-laahu akbar (2 times). Ashhadu alla ilaha illallah (2 times). Ashhadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah (twice). Haya 'ala ssolya (twice). Haya 'alal-falayah (twice). Kad kamatis-salatu kad kamatis-salatu. Allahu akbarul-laahu akbar. La ilaha illallah.

Listen to the Iqamat of the representative of the Istanbul Muftiate Erhan, according to the Hanafi madhhab:

Words of the Ikamat according to the Shafi'i madhhab: Allahu akbarul-lahu akbar. Ashhadu alla ilaha illallah. Ashhadu anna muhammadar-rasulullah. Haya 'ala pissing. Haya 'alal-falayah. Kad kamatis-salayatu kad kamatis-sala. Allahu akbarul-lahu akbar. La ilaha illallah."

Listen to the Iqamat as read by Muhammad al-Luhaydin according to the Shafi'i madhhab:

Translation into Russian: “Allah is Great, Allah is Great. I testify that there is no god but Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Hurry to prayer, hurry to salvation. Get ready to pray, get ready to pray. Allah is Great, Allah is Great. There is no god but Allah."

Istanbul. Qibla direction

Distance to Kaaba? km

NEWS

Qibla direction?°

Some aspects

Iqamat and adhan are important sunnahs, because in the first centuries of the existence of Islam in the world, Muslims observed them very strictly; there are several rulings regarding them in the Sharia and the Muslim world. Let's consider a number of questions related to this topic.

When combining two prayers, how are the azan and iqama read?

If two prayers are combined, it can be zuhr (lunch) or al-asr (afternoon), then you can say the azan only once, and then say the iqamat each time separately for each prayer. The Iqamat need not be repeated if it has already been said and there is a delay in starting the prayer.

Mistakes when pronouncing adhan words

The muazzin must ensure that there are no mistakes in the pronunciation of the words of invocation. Among such errors may be a questioning intonation, which is heard if the letter “hamza” is added at the beginning of a word - “AAllahu AAkbar?” It would also be a mistake to extend the sound “a” in the word “akbar” after the letter “b” - “Allahu Akbaar”. Another common mistake is when the letters “uau” are added to the meaning of “and” - “Allahu wa Akbar”.

If the person praying reads an additional prayer and hears the iqama

Another ruling concerns additional prayer: it is not allowed to begin if the iqamat has already been given for the beginning of the obligatory collective prayer. If the iqamat was given after the person began the additional prayer, then he can complete this prayer if there is not much left to the end.

If it takes a lot of time to complete the additional prayer, then the prayer should be interrupted without taslim, and then join the imam to perform the obligatory congregational prayer.

If you are about to leave the mosque and miss the adhan or iqama

There are situations when someone is in the mosque and the azan or iqama finds him there. In this case, you should not leave the mosque unless there is a really good reason. Abu Hurayra testified to this when he said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded not to leave the mosque if he was caught there by the call to prayer until the prayer was completed.

How is the azan performed for other optional prayers, but read by the jamaat?

Only calls for five daily prayers require the performance of azan - for all other prayers they call differently. For example, during holiday prayers or on the occasion of an eclipse, which are usually performed collectively, the call “as-Salatu Jamia” is performed.

How to read the Iqamat if a group of Muslims is traveling and they combine prayers in the mosque, having read the obligatory prayer with all the parishioners of the mosque, how should they read the second prayer?

If a group has performed a collective prayer in a mosque and the worshipers leave the mosque at the end of the prayer, and at this time another group of travelers are about to say the call for the next prayer, then in this case the call should be said not too loudly, so that the group leaving the mosque does not think that it is already The call for the next prayer sounds and did not return to the mosque.

How to read the adhan and iqama for several missed obligatory prayers?

Both for timely prayers, a call is made, and for those that are being reimbursed, but if there are more than one compensable prayers, then for the first reimbursed prayer, the azan and iqamat are pronounced, and for all the rest, only the iqamat is read. The same applies to those situations when a person performs the refundable prayer first, and then performs the timely prayer.

Is it possible for a woman to recite the adhan and iqamat?

Reading the azan for women's collective prayer is undesirable, but reading the iqama is desirable, which one of the Muslim women should say quietly.

Muslim customs in Turkey

The most common form of Islam practiced in Turkey is Sunni Islam, another exodus from neighboring countries where most people adhere to Shiite Islam. Turkey is also known for its Sufi community, an Islamic mystical tradition associated with the city of Konya and the poet Rumi.

Devotees, known in the West as "whirling dervishes", use the whirling movement to deepen their spiritual connection. Some groups hold demonstrations where visitors can experience the tradition firsthand.

It is good to know the roots of religious traditions, but ultimately Ozkan cautions against overemphasizing the various names and sects of Islam that the Prophet Muhammad never mentioned and which are not in the Qur'an.