The Call to Prayer

Every so often, while I'm eating lunch, or watching the sun set, if I'm lucky enough, I am able to hear the adhaan being called from the masjid by my house. The masjid is built so the call to prayer can be heard on the streets just as it is in a Muslim country. I say if I am lucky because the masjid doesn't turn on the loudspeaker every prayer, they only do it every so often. Last Friday I was lucky.

Subhanallah there is something about hearing the call to prayer outside of a masjid that is so calming. It's different if you're at the masjid already and the time for prayer comes in and the adhaan is called. Or if you're at home and you have one of the electronic adhaan reciters. But if you're just doing your own thing, at home, like eating lunch, or at the store, or wherever, and all of a sudden, you hear the adhaan being called from the local masjid - I can't even find the words to describe it. Perhaps I appreciate it so much because it reminds me of my experiences in the various Muslim countries I have visited, where that is part of the normal routine every day, every prayer. Or perhaps it is special because I realize that even ten years ago, hearing the adhaan like that would be unimaginable. Or perhaps its just hearing the call to prayer outside of a masjid - perhaps its just supposed to have that effect on you - where you stop what you're doing and just reflect on the words being recited.

I remember the first time I heard the adhaan in my house. We had just moved in a few months back, and one of the things I loved about my house was that I could see the masjid everyday from my windows. It was this perfect, unobstructed view from our window. It was Ramadan, and we were both up for sahoor, and it was getting close to Fajr time. We would try to make it to Fajr everyday at the masjid. One day, we were running a little late, and were in the last stages of making wudu. While I was waiting for Tariq, I started to hear something very familiar, and then strained very hard. Finally, I just opened the window, even though it was very cold. And there, so crystal clear, was the adhaan being called. I was blown away. I mean, to think, it was Fajr time, which means it was very early, like 5am, in Hyde Park, a diverse Chicago neighborhood, but not at all majority Muslim, to think that the adhaan is being called so clearly, enough that people even 4 blocks away can hear. I was amazed. But also late for Fajr at the mosque! Sometimes, though being late is a blessing, as in this case, where I discovered that the adhaan was not just heard in the masjid, but its call emitted outside as well.