Muezzin

The muezzin is a special person in a mosque who calls people to prayer five times a day. This job helps everyone in the Muslim community know when it’s time to pray. The muezzin stands in a tall tower called a minaret and makes the call from there.

The call to prayer happens at special times: early morning, midday, afternoon, sunset, and evening. These times are called Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha. The muezzin’s call helps keep the prayer schedule right for everyone.

The word muezzin comes from Arabic. It is an important tradition in many Muslim communities around the world. Sometimes "muezzin" can also refer to a Turkish film or an ice hockey player named Jake Muzzin, but here it means the person who makes the call to prayer.

Etymology

The word muezzin comes from the Arabic language. It means “to call.” So, a muezzin is a person who makes a call.

Roles and responsibilities

A muezzin is chosen for their good character, voice, and skills to help at the mosque. Usually, muezzins are men. They are not clergy because they also help keep the mosque clean.

When calling people to prayer, the muezzin faces toward Makkah and recites a special message to announce the time for prayer. In the past, some big mosques had special helpers called muwaqqit who used astronomy to figure out the exact prayer times. Today, muezzins can use clocks or tables to know when to call for prayer.

Call of the muezzin

The call of the muezzin is a special art with beautiful chanting of the adhan. In Turkey, there is an annual competition to find the country's best muezzin.

In the past, a muezzin would climb up the minarets to share the call to prayer with people near the mosque.

Today, mosques often use loudspeakers on top of the minaret. The muezzin uses a microphone, or a recording is played, so the call can be heard far away without needing to climb.

Origins

The role of the muezzin started during the time of Muhammad. The first person to be a muezzin was Bilal ibn Rabah, a trusted friend of Muhammad. He was born in Mecca and was chosen by Muhammad for this job.

Later, when minarets were built at mosques, sometimes the muezzin was a blind person. This helped keep people's privacy because the muezzin could not see into their homes.

Notable muezzins

Some famous muezzins were Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi, Rahim Moazzen Zadeh Ardabili, and Ali Ahmed Mulla. They were known for their important job of calling people to prayer.