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Muezzin
The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer ( ṣalāt) five times a day ( Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important role in ensuring an accurate prayer schedule for the Muslim community. Etymology The English word ''muezzin'' is derived from the ar, مُؤَذِّن, , simplified ''mu'azzin''. The word means "one by the ear", since the word stems from the word for "ear" in Arabic is ''ʾudhun'' (أُذُن). As the ''muʾadh·dhin'' will place both hands on his ears to recite the call to prayer. Roles and responsibilities The professional muezzin is chosen for his good character, voice and skills to serve at the mosque. However, the muezzin is not considered a cleric, but in a position comparable to a Christian verger. He is responsible for keeping the mosque clean, for rolling the carpets, for cleaning the toilets and the place where people was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muwaqqit
In the history of Islam, a ''muwaqqit'' ( ar, مُوَقَّت, more rarely ''mīqātī'') was an astronomer tasked with the timekeeping and the regulation of prayer times in an Islamic institution like a mosque or a madrasa. Unlike the muezzin (reciter of the call to prayer) who was usually selected for his piety and voice, a muwaqqit was selected for his knowledge and skill in astronomy. Not all mosques had a muwaqqit. The office was first recorded in the late 13th century in the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo and then spread to various parts of the Muslim world. Even then, many major mosques only relied on muezzins to determine prayer times using traditional methods, such as observing shadow lengths and twilight phenomena. The lack of historical sources and research makes it difficult to ascertain the specific functions and roles of the muwaqqit. There is uncertainty among historians of science whether the muwaqqit was a specialised office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adhan
Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mosque recited by a muezzin at prescribed times of the day. Adhan is recited very loudly from the mosque five times a day on most days and all day long during the religious holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, traditionally from the minaret. It is the first call summoning Muslims to enter the mosque for obligatory (''fard'') prayer (''salah''). A second call, known as the ''iqamah'', summons those within the mosque to line up for the beginning of the prayers. Only in Turkey, Ezan is voiced in five different styles at different times; saba, uşşak, hicaz, rast, segah. Terminology Adhān, Arabic for "announcement", from root ''ʾadhina'' meaning "to listen, to hear, be informed about", is variously transliterated in different cultures. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loudspeakers In Mosques
Loudspeakers were invented in the early 20th century, and they were introduced in mosques in the 1930s, where they are used by a muezzin for the ''adhan'' ("call to prayer"), and sometimes for ''khutbah'' (sermons). Outdoor loudspeakers, usually mounted on tall minarets, are used five times a day for the call to prayer, beginning at dawn. Some mosques have loudspeakers that are powerful enough to be heard as far as 5 km (3 mi) away. In areas where more than one mosque is present, the loudspeaker sounds overlap one another, especially in the early morning when sounds are more clearly heard. Loudspeakers are sometimes also used inside mosques to deliver sermons or for prayer. The first known installation of a microphone–loudspeaker set occurred in 1936 in the Masjid Sultan in Singapore; it was reported that the summons to prayer could 'carry more than a mile'. Though some mosque attendees were sceptical of this new electric system, most believed it was necessary to em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan''), but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can have a variety of forms, from thick, squat towers to soaring, pencil-thin spires. Etymology Two Arabic words are used to denote the minaret tower: ''manāra'' and ''manār''. The English word "minaret" originates from the former, via the Turkish version (). The Arabic word ''manāra'' (plural: ''manārāt'') originally meant a "lamp stand", a cognate of Hebrew '' menorah''. It is assumed to be a derivation of an older reconstructed form, ''manwara''. The other word, ''manār'' (plural: ''manā'ir'' or ''manāyir''), means "a place of light". Both words derive from the Arabic root ''n-w-r'', which has a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Call To Prayer (close Up Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque)
A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across great distances. All religions have a form of prayer, and many major religions have a form of the call to prayer. Christianity On a daily basis, church bells are rung in major Christian denominations at the canonical hours prayed at fixed prayer times, as well as at the start of a church service. In the early Church, different methods were used to call the worshippers: playing trumpets, hitting wooden planks, shouting, or using a courier. Greek monasteries would ring a ''semantron'' (flat metal plate) to announce services. Paulinus of Nola, an early church father, is traditionally credited with the introduction of the use of bell in devotions. The steeple bells were known as ''s''. However, the invention credited to Paulinus was probably the work of Nicetas of Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleric
Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the terms used for individual clergy are clergyman, clergywoman, clergyperson, churchman, and cleric, while clerk in holy orders has a long history but is rarely used. In Christianity, the specific names and roles of the clergy vary by denomination and there is a wide range of formal and informal clergy positions, including deacons, elders, priests, bishops, preachers, pastors, presbyters, ministers, and the pope. In Islam, a religious leader is often known formally or informally as an imam, caliph, qadi, mufti, mullah, muezzin, or ayatollah. In the Jewish tradition, a religious leader is often a rabbi (teacher) or hazzan (cantor). Etymology The word ''cleric'' comes from the ecclesiastical Latin ''Clericus'', for those belonging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, including outdoor courtyards. The first mosques were simple places of prayer for Muslims, and may have been open spaces rather than buildings. In the first stage of Islamic architecture, 650-750 CE, early mosques comprised open and closed covered spaces enclosed by walls, often with minarets from which calls to prayer were issued. Mosque buildings typically contain an ornamental niche ('' mihrab'') set into the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca (''qiblah''), Wudu, ablution facilities. The pulpit (''minbar''), from which the Friday (jumu'ah) sermon (''khutba'') is delivered, was in earlier times characteristic of the central city mosque, but has since become common in smaller mosques. Mosques typically have Islam and gender se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is believed to be the Seal of the Prophets within Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity, with the Quran as well as his teachings and practices forming the basis of Islamic religious belief. Muhammad was born approximately 570CE in Mecca. He was the son of Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. His father Abdullah was the son of Quraysh tribal leader Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim, and he died a few months before Muhammad's birth. His mother Amina died when he was six, leaving Muhammad an orphan. He was raised under the care of his grandfather, Abd al-Muttalib, and paternal uncle, Abu Talib. In later years, he would periodically ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahabah
The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime, while being a Muslim and were physically in his presence. "Al-ṣaḥāba" is definite plural; the indefinite singular is masculine ('), feminine ('). Later Islamic scholars accepted their testimony of the words and deeds of Muhammad, the occasions on which the Quran was revealed and other various important matters of Islamic history and practice. The testimony of the companions, as it was passed down through trusted chains of narrators ('' isnad''s), was the basis of the developing Islamic tradition. From the traditions (''hadith'') of the life of Muhammad and his companions are drawn the Muslim way of life (''sunnah''), the code of conduct (''sharia'') it requires, and the jurisprudence (''fiqh'') by which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with the Black Sea to the north; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is located off the south coast. Turks form the vast majority of the nation's population and Kurds are the largest minority. Ankara is Turkey's capital, while Istanbul is its largest city and financial centre. One of the world's earliest permanently settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neolithic sites like Göbekli Tepe, and was inhabited by ancient civilisations including the Hattians, Hittites, Anatolian peoples, Mycenaea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibn Al-Shatir
ʿAbu al-Ḥasan Alāʾ al‐Dīn ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ansari known as Ibn al-Shatir or Ibn ash-Shatir ( ar, ابن الشاطر; 1304–1375) was an Arab astronomer, mathematician and engineer. He worked as ''muwaqqit'' (موقت, religious timekeeper) in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and constructed a sundial for its minaret in 1371/72. Biography Ibn al-Shatir was born in Damascus, Syria around the year 1304. His father passed away when he was six years old. His grandfather took him in which resulted in al-Shatir learning the craft of inlaying ivory. Ibn al-Shatir traveled to Cairo and Alexandria to study astronomy, where he fell in, inspired him. After completing his studies with Abu ‘Ali al-Marrakushi, al-Shatir returned to his home in Damascus where he was then appointed ''muwaqqit'' (timekeeper) of the Umayyad Mosque. Part of his duties as ''muqaqqit'' involved keeping track of the times of the five daily prayers and when the month of Ramadan would begin and end. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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