Love Thursday & the call to prayer.

My Love Thursday post is a little off topic today, as I bring you a Ramadhan special… a lesson in history, and in faith.

Hearing the adhan, or the Islamic call to prayer, often makes me weep, often gives me a feeling of such closeness to God, and often fills my heart with the extreme love that I feel for God.

And sometimes, it makes me ponder its origins in this world, when Bilal (ra) called the Muslims to prayer for the first time, and I am filled with love and admiration for this man who was once a slave.

Bilal was an Ethiopian slave who endured extreme torture at the hands of his master because he embraced Islam. Although this burden was so great on him, he never faltered in his faith, and was later bought and given his freedom by one of the companions of Muhammad (saw).

His strength, his character, his faith, and his love for God have earned him such a high status in Islam, and such esteem from Muslims all over the world. This Ethiopian slave.

(clip is approx. 3 mins. my flash skills are somewhat lacking, so if you click on the ‘stop sound’ button, you will need to reload the page to get back the sound… sorry.)

The meaning of the call to prayer.

God is most great.
I testify that there is no God except God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
Come to prayer!
Come to success!
God is most great.
There is none worthy of worship except God.

credits: all photos are from istockphoto.com and remain the copyright of the photographer. the adhan was taken from here.