Islam and Spiritualism ( 26 Jun 2014, NewAgeIslam.Com)

A Historical Account of Namaz—Minaret (Part 12)

By Nastik Durrani, New Age Islam

26 June, 2014

These days, the call to prayer is performed from the Minarets attached to the mosques that often have loudspeakers mounted on the top of their minarets. However, the earliest mosques of Islam in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not have minarets. The Muslim community of Medina performed the Azaan or the call to prayer from the roof of the house of the Prophet (pbuh) or al-Masjid al-Nabawi, which doubled as a place for prayer. Hadith reports relay that the first officially appointed Islamic Muezzin (one who gives the call to prayer) Hazrat Bilal (r.a) would climb the roof of a house closest to the Prophet’s mosque and perform the call to prayer (1).

In the eighth year of the Hijrah, when the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) conquered the city of Mecca, he gave order to Hazrat Bilal (r.a) to call people to the prayer by performing the Azaan (the call to prayer) from the Ka’bah. He abided by his order and gave the Azaan from the Ka’bah. A Hadith is reported to have mentioned that Hazrat Bilal climbed the roof of the Ka’bah to perform the call to prayer (the Azaan) (2). The mosques of the earliest Muslims including even the Ka’bah lacked the minarets, because they had not yet been invented.

It has been mentioned in the Hadith reports that during the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman (r.a) the population of Muslims grew exponentially. Therefore, he added the second Azaan (known as Azaan-e-Sani in the Indian subcontinent) to the Juma’h prayer. The second Azaan was given from a place known as “Al-Zaur’a” which was then the topmost house adjacent to the Masjid-e-Nabwi (the mosque of Medina) (3). This Azaan was performed with a view to call more and more people to the prayer.

References:

1- Sirah Ibn-e-Hisham 349, published in Westenfield, Shorter Ency of Islam, P., 340۔

2- Al-Arzaqi, Akhbar-e-Makkah 193/1, Ibn-e-Hisham 822, Westenfield.

3- Tafseer Ibn-e-Kathir 366/4

URL for the Part 1: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/a-historical-account-of-namaz-or-salat-(the-islamic-way-of-worship)-part-1/d/34622

URL for the Part 2: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/a-historical-account-of-namaz-or-salah-(islamic-prayer)-(part-2)/d/34762

URL for the Part 3: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/historical-account-of-namaz—the-form-and-the-congregational-prayer-(part-3)/d/34765

URL for the Part 4: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/the-historical-account-of-namaz--timings-of-islamic-prayers-and-their-numbers-(part-4)/d/34899

URL for the Part 5: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/the-historical-account-of-namaz--prayer-(salat)-in-islam-(part-5)/d/35739

URL for the Part 6: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/the-historical-account-of-namaz-–-prayer-(salat)-in-islam-(part-6)/d/35773

URL for the Part 7: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/the-historical-account-of-namaz-or-salat–-standing-in-prayer-at-night-(quiyam-ul-lail)-(part-7)/d/35872

URL for the Part 8: http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/nastik-durrani,-new-age-islam/the-historical-account-of-namaz-or-salat--prayer-of-two-rak’ats-(part-8)/d/45912