Call to prayer

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Muezzin

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]

Christianity[edit]

Bells of the San Gabriel Mission
See also: Church bells

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]

Islam[edit]

Main article: Adhan

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]

Hinduism[edit]

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]

Judaism[edit]

Main article: Barechu

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]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Templeton, John Marks (January 2008). Wisdom From World Religions: Pathways Toward Heaven On Earth. Templeton Foundation Press. p. 130. ISBN 9781932031171. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Jupp, Edmund W. (2003). Bell Watching. Intellect Books. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-84150-808-5.
  3. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sabinianus" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 966.
  4. ^ a b Buse, Adolf (1858). S. Paulin évêque de Nole et son siècle (350-450) (in French). Translated by Dancoisne, L. Paris: H. Casterman. pp. 415–418.
  5. ^ a b Bells. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Buse, Adolf (1858). S. Paulin évêque de Nole et son siècle (350-450) (in French). Translated by Dancoisne, L. Paris: H. Casterman. pp. 415–418.
  7. ^ Haweis, Hugh Reginald (1878). "Bell" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (9th ed.). pp. 536–539.
  8. ^ Henry Wace (ed.). "Paulinus, bishop of Nola". Dictionary of Christian Biography. London: John Murray. Archived from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  9. ^ Smith, Roger J. (1997). "Church Bells". Sacred Heart Catholic Church and St. Yves Mission. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  10. ^ Walters, Henry Beauchamp (1908). Church Bells. A. R. Mowbray & Company. p. 4.
  11. ^ "Adhane - Appel à la prière depuis la Mecque" (in French). Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ a b Dessing, Nathal M. (2001). Rituals of Birth, Circumcision, Marriage, and Death Among Muslims in the Netherlands. Peeters Publishers. p. 25. ISBN 978-9-042-91059-1.
  13. ^ Blum, A. (2018). Island Secrets: Stories of Love, Lust and Loss in Bali. Monsoon Books Pte. Limited. ISBN 978-1-912049-27-1. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  14. ^ Nordholt, H.S.; Van Klinken, G.; van Klinken, G.A. (2007). Renegotiating Boundaries: Local Politics in Post-Suharto Indonesia. KITLV Press. p. 412. ISBN 9789067182836. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  15. ^ Hynson, Meghan (2021). "A Balinese 'Call to Prayer': Sounding Religious Nationalism and Local Identity in the Puja Tri Sandhya". Religions. 12 (8): 668. doi:10.3390/rel12080668.
  16. ^ "Barekhu". myjewishlearning.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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