A Historical Account of the Islamic Prayer- Azaan (11)
By Nastik Durrani, New Age Islam
02 April, 2014
Religions have
determined various and different ways to call out people to perform
their respective prayers within the prescribed times, such as blowing
bells, arousing sound, kindling fire or any other means that could be
used for the purpose of announcement.
The Islamic call to
worship, known as Azaan and recited by the muezzin at prescribed times,
had not been obligated in Makkah, as Makkan Muslims were a very small
minority and hence they used to offer their prayers in secret places
fearing the pagans of the Quraish. It was, then, impossible to openly
announce the timings of the Islamic prayers to Muslims. However, when
the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) migrated to Medina and noticed
that Muslims there increased in number, he began to feel the need for
the Azaan i.e. the need for warning the people of the impending time for
prayer. For the people at that time could not make out the exact time
of prayer. Sometimes they were too busy with their daily activities to
take cognizance of the passing prayer times and thus they would commit a
grave sin by missing out on the obligatory prayers.
It has been reported
in the Sahih Muslim that when Muslims migrated to Madina, they used to
turn up for the prayers in the prescribed times, without an Azaan being
called out to them. One day, a consultation was being done among the
Prophet’s companions with regard to this. One of them suggested the use
of bells as practiced by the Christians, while another pointed to the
use of horns as practiced by the Jews. But one of the Prophet’s senior
companions, Hazrat Umar (r.a) recommended that there should be a
Muezzin, a person who could call out the Azaan to inform people about
the prayer times from the mosque. The Prophet (peace be upon him) liked
it and preferred Umar’s opinion to that of others. He, then, asked his
companion Hazrat Bilal (r.a) to get up and pronounce the Azaan for the
prayer (1).
According to another
tradition, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was anxious as to how to
gather the people for prayer. He did a consultation with his companions
regarding this matter. Some people told him: “Hoist a flag at the time
of prayer; when they see it, they will inform one another.” But the
Prophet (peace be upon him) did not like it. Then someone mentioned to
him the horn of the Jews, which was called as Ash-Shaboor or Al-Ka’ba.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not like it. He said: This is a
practice specific for the Jews. Then they mentioned to him the bell of
the Christians. He said: This is a practice specific for the Christians.
Some people suggested the Prophet (pbuh) to consider the kindling of
the fire as practised by the fire-worshippers. But the Prophet (pbuh)
said: This is the way of the fire worshippers. (2).
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