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.

Thoughts from Chookooloonks

Beautiful, Shaz, thank you for sharing.  And Happy Love Thursday.

K.

Thoughts from crunchy carpets

Thank you for sharing….
I have always loved the whole idea of a ‘call to prayer’...heck I miss hearing church bells from my childhood in Scotland….

beautiful

Thoughts from farah

that was really beautiful..i understand what you mean …..we have it playing 5 times a day and the feelings are exactly as you described

Thoughts from shaz

thanks Karen, happy love thursday to you too.

Crunching Mom, it is nice, I think because it has a way of bring the community together.

farah, yes, it does have a way of stirring up emotion.

Thoughts from meredith

A great example of the greatest love, love for God.

Thoughts from Hema

thanks shaz

I am always so moved when i listen to this. I have it on a CD and everytime I hear it I connect to something beyond time and space, my heart opens and I just weep. So amazing..
hem

Thoughts from shaz

meredith, it is the greatest love, you are so right.

Hema, I am happy that you are so moved by it, the meaning of it is so awesome.

thanks for your comments.

Thoughts from mokey

Thanks! Even though it’s just one word you have no idea how much this blog has helped and changed me….

Thoughts from shaz

Mokey, you are very welcome.

Thoughts from mokey

what’s your e-mail address?

Thoughts from shaz

Mokey, it is (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Thoughts from Ravenbajan

That was very interesting to me.  Thank you for teaching others about your religion!  I always wondered what it was they were saying in that call to prayer.

Thoughts from shaz

hi Ravenbajan, thanks for your comment, I am happy that I helped you understand the meaning.

Thoughts from Sid

Oh, that is just the best sound ever! It always gives me chills and makes me feel … humble.

Thoughts from shaz

yes, and you know the same time I got your comment, I was playing it for the kids (eldest was trying to learn it), and even the baby was ‘goo-ing and gaa-ing’, trying to sing along.