AZAN (Arabic for " announcement ")

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 79 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: AUD-BAI

AZAN (Arabic for " announcement ") , the

call

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

summons

SUMMONS (Fr. semonce, from semonner or semondre, Lat. summonere, summonitio)

to public prayers proclaimed by the Muezzin (crier) from the mosque twice daily in all

Mahommedan

MAHOMMEDAN

countries. In small mosques the Muezzin at Man stands at the

door

DOOR (corresponding to the Gr. Bbpa,. Lat. fores or valvae; the English word, with other forms common in allied languages, comes from the same Indo-European
stem
- STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")
as the Gr. Obpa and Lat. fares)

or at the side of the building; in large ones he takes up his position in the

minaret

MINARET (from the Arabic mandrat ; manar or miner is Arabic for a lighthouse, a tower on which liar, fire, is lit)

. The

call

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

translated runs: " God is most

great

GREAT

!" (four times), "I testify there is no God but God!" (twice), " I testify that Mahomet is the apostle of God!" (twice), " Come to

prayer

!" (twice), " Come to salvation!" (twice), " God is most

great

GREAT

!" (twice), " There is no God but God!" To the morning Azan are added the words, "

Prayer

is better than sleep!" (twice). The devout Moslem has to make a set response to each phrase of the Muezzin. At first these are mere repetitions of Man, but to the cry "Come to prayer!" the listener must answer, " I have no power nor strength but from God the most High and Great." To that of "Come to salvation!" the formal response is, " What God willeth will be: what He willeth not will not be." The recital of the Azan must be listened to with the utmost reverence. The passers in the streets must stand still, all those at

work

WORK

must cease from their labours, and those in bed must sit up.
The Muezzin, who is a paid servant of the mosque, must stand with his face towards Mecca and with the points of his forefingers in his ears while reciting Man. He is specially chosen for good character, and Azan must not be recited by any one unclean, by a drunkard, by the insane, or by a woman. The

summons

SUMMONS (Fr. semonce, from semonner or semondre, Lat. summonere, summonitio)

to prayers was at first simply " Come to prayer!" Mahomet, anxious to invest the call with the dignity of a ceremony, took counsel of his followers. Some suggested the Jewish

trumpet

, others the Christian bell, but according to legend the matter was finally settled by a dream:" While the matter was under discussion, Abdallah, a Khazrajite, dreamed that he met a man clad in green raiment, carrying a bell. Abdallah sought to buy it, saying that it would do well for bringing together the assemblyof the faithful. ` I will show thee a better way,' replied the stranger; ` let a crier cry aloud " God is most great, &c." ' On awaking, Abdallah went to Mahomet and told him his dream," and Azan was thereupon instituted.

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