The Islamic Call to prayer in Morocco called in Arabic Adhan / Azan أذان, is a special out loud call you will hear five times a day wherever there is a mosque in the whole country.
Purpose of the Islamic Call to prayer?
The purpose of the Adhan is to invite Muslims for their obligatory prayers and it should be called before each prayer by the person called ” Moazzin مؤذن “.
Adhan / Azan meaning in English
A moazzin ( مؤذن ) calls using the minaret loudspeakers of the mosques to announce every prayer. When it is the time of the prayer, you may be surprised by several Adhan Calls at the same time in your entourage coming from different mosques with a lag of a few seconds between them.
Adhan’s Text meaning in English:
The words you will hear in the Mosque’s call to prayer in Morocco or in any Muslim country is as follows:
1/ Allahu Akbar! (repeated four times).
Meaning: God is Great
2/ Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah (repeated two times).
Meaning: I bear witness that there is no god except the One God.
Ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasool Allah (repeated two times).
Meaning: I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
3/ Hayya ala Salat (repeated two times).
Meaning: Hurry to prayer (Rise up for Prayer).
4/ Hayya ala L Falah (repeated two times).
Meaning: Hurry to success (Rise up for Salvation).
5/ Allahu Akbar (repeated two times).
Meaning: God is Great!
6/ La ilaha illa Allah (One time)
Meaning: There is no god except the One God.
For the pre-dawn prayer called Fajr, the following phrase is inserted between the fourth and fifth part above (between Hayya ala L Falah and Allahu Akbar), towards the end :
As salatu Khayrun Mina nawm (repeated two times).
Meaning: Prayer is better than sleep.
Live Islamic Call to prayer in Morocco
In the vidéo below, you have an example of Adhan / Azan in Marrakech city (Called the Red city) of the Koutoubia mosque which is the largest one in the city.
The Exception of Friday Prayer Azan / Adhan
On Fridays, Muslims have the same 5 daily obligatory prayers as the other days of the week but the exception on Fridays is that in the second prayer of the day called “Dhuhr”, there is always a sermon in all mosques between the call to prayer repeated 3 times and the prayer. In this prayer, you will notice more people are going to the mosques than usual and most of them are wearing their Moroccan traditional clothing.
