Inside the Syrian capital’s Umayyad Mosque, six muezzins sit before a loudspeaker, collectively reciting the call to prayer that can be heard across the ancient quarters of Damascus.
They are among 25 muezzins who take shifts intoning the azan, or call to prayer, in groups, using a technique of collective recital that is unique to the centuries-old mosque.
The place of worship was closed in the middle of last month as part of measures to stem the COVID-19 pandemic, but its calls to prayer live on.
Photo: AFP
Mohammad Ali al-Sheikh, the eldest of the muezzins, said that the tradition runs in his blood.
“I come from a long line of muezzins,” the man in his 80s said. “I have been a muezzin for 68 years, as was my father until he died.”
Muezzins may have day jobs or be retirees, but are all selected for their extraordinary voices.
Sheikh was drawn to the role as a child, encouraged by his father’s colleagues who complimented him on his voice, which he cherishes as a gift from God.
“God prepares the muezzin with a voice, one that is gifted to him, to elevate god’s word,” he said.
In a room inside the mosque, a picture of the sacred Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, hangs near framed verses of the Koran.
Sheikh raises the call to prayer, with five other muezzins chanting along in unison, using a technique known as al-Jawq, which yields a unique sound when it rises from three minarets that tower over the city.
Built in the eighth century, the Umayyad Mosque has long drawn in worshipers near the Damascus center’s Hamidiyah souk, or bazaar.
Before loudspeakers were installed in the 1980s, groups of muezzins used to recite the call to prayer directly from the minarets, Sheikh among them.
Amplifying their voices so that they could be heard across Damascus, they also raised a red ball to alert other muezzins in the city to join the call to prayer, Sheikh said.
There are many accounts of how the group call to prayer started at the Umayyad Mosque, but its muezzins say that it was born out of a need to reach as many worshipers as possible.
In his book, titled The Great Mosque of Damascus, architect and writer Talal Akili said that the technique began in the late 15th century as a way to inform Muslim pilgrims converging on the city en route for Mecca that it was time to pray.
With decades of experience, Sheikh is among the muezzins qualified to grant certificates to pupils training to recite the azan.
“The muezzin’s voice must first be beautiful and loud, and after that, he must learn to recite and intonate,” Sheikh said, adding that a certificate is granted when a pupil masters the “rhythm and rules of the call to prayer.”
A nephew of Sheikh, Abu Anas, is also a seasoned muezzin, having recited the call to prayer every day for 10 years — the tradition “has been passed on from father to son, for at least five generations”, he said. “It’s not a hobby, it runs in our blood.”
‘SHARP COMPETITION’: Australia is to partner with US-based Lockheed Martin to make guided multiple launch rocket systems, an Australian defense official said Australia is to ramp up missile manufacturing under a plan unveiled yesterday by a top defense official, who said bolstering weapons stockpiles would help keep would-be foes at bay. Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said the nation would establish a homegrown industry to produce long-range guided missiles and other much-needed munitions. “Why do we need more missiles? Strategic competition between the United States and China is a primary feature of Australia’s security environment,” Conroy said in a speech. “That competition is at its sharpest in our region, the Indo-Pacific.” Australia is to partner with US-based weapons giant Lockheed Martin to make
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
TIGHT CAMPAIGN: Although Harris got a boost from an Iowa poll, neither candidate had a margin greater than three points in any of the US’ seven battleground states US Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in the final days before the election, as she and former US president and Republican presidential nominees make a frantic last push to win over voters in a historically close campaign. The first lines Harris spoke as she sat across from Maya Rudolph, their outfits identical, was drowned out by cheers from the audience. “It is nice to see you Kamala,” Harris told Rudolph with a broad grin she kept throughout the sketch. “And I’m just here to remind you, you got this.” In sync, the two said supporters
Pets are not forgotten during Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, when even Fido and Tiger get a place at the altars Mexican families set up to honor their deceased loved ones, complete with flowers, candles and photographs. Although the human dead usually get their favorite food or drink placed on altars, the nature of pet food can make things a little different. The holiday has roots in Mexican pre-Hispanic customs, as does the reverence for animals. The small, hairless dogs that Mexicans kept before the Spanish conquest were believed to help guide their owners to the afterlife, and were sometimes given