A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across great distances. All religions have a form of prayer, and many major religions have a form of the call to prayer. [1]
On a daily basis, church bells are rung in major Christian denominations at the canonical hours prayed at fixed prayer times, as well as at the start of a church service. [2] [3]
In the early Church, different methods were used to call the worshippers: playing trumpets, hitting wooden planks, shouting, or using a courier. [4] Greek monasteries would ring a semantron (flat metal plate) to announce services. [5]
Paulinus of Nola, an early church father, is traditionally credited with the introduction of the use of bell in devotions. [6] The steeple bells were known as campanas. [7] However, the invention credited to Paulinus was probably the work of Nicetas of Remesiana, and most likely used in the churches used by the Bessi in the highlands of Western Thrace. [8] In AD 604, Pope Sabinian introduced the ringing of bells at the canonical hours and the celebration of the Eucharist. [3] Their use spread rapidly as the bells were not only useful signaling the call to worship, but could be used in times of danger. [9]
The Roman tintinnabuli were made from forged metal and were not large in size. [10] By the end of the 7th century, larger bells originating from Campania and Nola were cast. The bells consequently took the eponymous names of campana and nola from cities. [4] By the early Middle Ages, church bells became common throughout the rest of Europe, and were most likely spread by the Irish missionaries and their Celtic influence. [5]
The Adhan (Arabic : أَذَان [ʔaˈðaːn] ) is the Islamic call to prayer. [11] It has different names in different languages. It is recited by a muezzin at defined times of the day. The call is recited loudly from the mosque five times a day on most days and all day long during the religious holidays of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, traditionally from the minaret. It is the first call summoning Muslims to enter the mosque for obligatory ( fard ) prayer ( salah ). [12] A second call, known as the iqamah summons those within the mosque to line up for the beginning of the prayers. The main purpose behind the multiple loud pronouncements of adhan in every mosque is to make available to everyone an easily intelligible summary of Islamic belief. [12] After the call is made, Muslims are gathered to go to pray.
In Indian Hinduism, Nepali Hinduism and Balinese Hinduism, the Trisandya is a prayer said three times each day: six in the morning, noon, and six in the evening, in line with the Sandhyavandanam tradition. [13] [14]
The Puja Tri Sandhya is the call to prayer. [15]
The Barechu (Hebrew : ברכו, also Borchu, Barekhu or Bar'chu) is the beginning of the Jewish prayer service. It serves as a call to prayer, and is recited before the blessings over the morning and evening Jewish prayer services (the Shema , Shacharit and Maariv ), and before each aliyah in the Torah reading. [16]
A mosque, also called a masjid, is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed, such as an outdoor courtyard.
Paulinus of Nola born Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus, was a Roman poet, writer, and senator who attained the ranks of suffect consul and governor of Campania but – following the assassination of the emperor Gratian and under the influence of his Hispanic wife Therasia of Nola — abandoned his career, was baptized as a Christian, and probably after Therasia's death became bishop of Nola in Campania. While there, he wrote poems in honor of his predecessor Saint Felix and corresponded with other Christian leaders throughout the empire. He is credited with the introduction of bells to Christian worship and helped resolve the disputed election of Pope Boniface I.
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ancestor. More generally, prayer can also have the purpose of thanksgiving or praise, and in comparative religion is closely associated with more abstract forms of meditation and with charms or spells.
Puja, also spelt pooja, is a worship ritual performed by Hindus to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honour a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event. It may honour or celebrate the presence of special guests, or their memories after they die. The word puja is roughly translated into English as 'reverence, honour, homage, adoration, or worship'. Puja, the loving offering of light, flowers, and water or food to the divine, is the essential ritual of Hinduism. For the worshipper, the divine is visible in the image, and the divinity sees the worshipper. The interaction between human and deity, between human and guru, is called a Darshanam.
The athan is the first Islamic call to prayer, usually recited by a muezzin at five times of the day in a mosque, traditionally from a minaret. The adhan is also the first thing recited in the ear of a newborn baby. It is often the first thing recited in a new home.
Arti or Arati is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, part of a puja, in which light from a flame is ritually waved to venerate deities. Arti also refers to the songs sung in praise of the deity, when the light is being offered. Sikhs have Artikirtan which involves only devotional singing; the Nihang order of Sikhs also use light for arti.
The muezzin is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer (ṣalāt) five times a day at a mosque from the minaret. The muezzin plays an important role in ensuring an accurate prayer schedule for the Muslim community.
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is sometimes called a house of worship. Temples, churches, mosques, and synagogues are examples of structures created for worship. A monastery may serve both to house those belonging to religious orders and as a place of worship for visitors. Natural or topographical features may also serve as places of worship, and are considered holy or sacrosanct in some religions; the rituals associated with the Ganges river are an example in Hinduism.
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell towers, often part of a municipal building, an educational establishment, or a tower built specifically to house a carillon. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, as a public service.
Balinese Hinduism, also known in Indonesia as Agama Hindu Dharma, Agama Tirtha, Agama Air Suci or Agama Hindu Bali, is the form of Hinduism practised by the majority of the population of Bali. This is particularly associated with the Balinese people residing on the island, and represents a distinct form of Hindu worship incorporating local animism, ancestor worship or Pitru Paksha, and reverence for Buddhist saints or Bodhisattava.
A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, but are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some Christian traditions they signify to people outside that a particular part of the service has been reached.
In Islam, Friday prayer, or Congregational prayer is a community prayer service held once a week on Fridays. All Muslim men are expected to participate at a mosque with certain exceptions due to distance and situation. Women and children can also participate but do not fall under the same obligation that men do. The service consists of several parts including ritual washing, chants, recitation of scripture and prayer, and sermons.
The iqama is the second Islamic call to prayer, recited after the adhan. It summons those already in the mosque to line up for prayer (salah).
A dikka or dakka, also known in Turkish as a müezzin mahfili, is a raised platform or tribune in a mosque from which the Quran is recited and where the muezzin chants or repeats in response to the imam's prayers. It is also used by the muezzin to chant the second call to prayer (iqama), which indicates to worshippers that the prayer is about to begin. On special occasions or evenings, such as during the month of Ramadan, expert or professional Qur'an reciters also use the platform to chant parts of the Qur'an. It is also known as the mukabbariyah in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.
Religious behaviours are behaviours motivated by religious beliefs. Religious actions are also called 'ritual' and religious avoidances are called taboos or ritual prohibitions.
Al-Islah Mosque, also known as the Al-Islah Islamic Center or the Al-Islah Jame Masjid, is a mosque following the Sunni tradition in Hamtramck, Michigan. It was founded in 2000 by immigrants from Bangladesh, of which a large community exists in Hamtramck. Al-Islah Mosque is currently expanding to a bigger building next door.
Loudspeakers were invented in the early 20th century, and they were introduced in mosques in the 1930s, where they are used by a muezzin for the adhan, and sometimes for khutbah in Islam. Outdoor loudspeakers, usually mounted on tall minarets, are used five times a day for the call to prayer. Loudspeakers are sometimes also used inside mosques to deliver sermons or for prayer. Electrically amplified adhans have become commonplace in countries such as Turkey and Morocco, whereas in others such as the Netherlands only 7 to 8% of all mosques employ loudspeakers for the call to prayer.
The Trisandya is a commonly-used prayer in Indian Hinduism and Balinese Hinduism. It is uttered three times each day: 6 am at morning, noon, and 6 pm at evening, in line with the Sandhyavandanam tradition.
The Wembley Central Mosque is a mosque in the London Borough of Brent. The principal mosque in North West London, it is located on Ealing Road, Wembley, and serves the United Kingdom’s fifth largest Muslim community, which is predominantly Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Along with the adjacent Muslim Welfare Association, it can hold up to 2200 people.
The Farooq E Azam Mosque and Islamic Centre is an Islamic mosque in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It opened on Saturday 15 July 2017, taking 12 years and costing £2.2 million to complete construction. The mosque is the largest in both the town and the local area, being able to accommodate up to 2,500 people.
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