The Adhan (Muslim Call to Prayer)                      

Listening Example - Adhan (Call to Prayer)       

There are several occasions when "sacred" music (in the Western sense) is involved in Islamic worship. The Adhan is not music, according to Muslims; it is Quranic recitation. It has characteristics of pitch, melody and rhythm, which we often associate with music, but it is not music in the way we understand this term in the West. The most important of these are the Adhan (Call to Prayer), the Prophet's birthday (Mawlid), songs (with religious poetry as text) in praise of the Prophet Mohammad and his family (Na't), and the naming of God or spiritual concert (Dhikr).

The Adhan is the name for the Call to Pray from atop the minaret of an Islamic mosque. With this, the believers are called to the Friday holy service and to the five prayers prescribed for the day- in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset, and in the evening. Shortly before the beginning of the holy service the Mu'adhdhin or Muezzin climbs the winding steps of the minaret tower to chant the Adhan, announcing the time for all Muslims to stop and pray.

Five times a day the Muezzin climbs atop the minaret or the roof of the mosque and loudly and distinctly chants (with a strong clear voice) the Call to Prayer, which for orthodox Muslims comprises these seven formulations: 

                                     The Adhan: The Call to Prayer

        1. God is the most great.

        2. I witness that there is no god but Allah.

        3. I witness that Mohammad is the messenger of God.

        4. Come to prayer.

        5. Come to salvation.

        6. God is the most great.

        7. There is no God but Allah.

These seven phrases are repeated one or more times according to fixed rules, with a long pause between each phrase. The musical structure of the Adhan is defined by the principle of contrast, which gives an individual musical profile to each repetition of a phrase as well as to different phrases. Whereas the first phrase tends to be fairly simple, the phrases that follow are often more melodic, if not rhapsodic with embellishments. Altogether the Adhan is made up of twelve melodic passages that move between two tonal centers in the same maqam (scale - an inventory of selected pitches) row, but separated by a fourth or fifth. The tempo of the Adhan is usually quite slow; only at sunset is it performed faster and with fewer melismas (melodic ornaments).