Al Adhan: Documenting historical background, practice rules, and musicological features of the Muslim call for prayer in Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Abstract

Adhan, also known as the Islamic call to prayer, is performed five times a day emanating from the spires of every mosque in the world, thus announcing to the faithful their obligation to praise Allah. Throughout the ages, Adhan has commonly been the subject of scholarly work; however, the majority of stated analysis had been performed predominantly in the sphere of theology and linguistics: Daud, 1997; Hilawi, 1984; Khalil and Hafez, 1984; Qadi, 1999; Sadani, 1996, Howting, 2006; Hirschkind, 2006. In Anglo-Saxon academia, the interest has been focused onto similar topics, barely touching on the musical context of the Islamic call to prayer: Choudhuru, 1957; Farmer, 1857; Faruqi, 1987; 1995; Nasr, 1987; Rasmussen, 2001; Waugh, 2005; Frishkopf, 2013. This study tries to establish a connection between different aspects of human culture, namely: Islamic religious tradition and music, presenting two vocal performances of the Adhan as Lahn (melody) in an attempt to show some unique features in the performance of Adhan within the territory of Jordan. Therefore, the first aim of the present study is to demonstrate the Adhan not merely as a part of the theological heritage of Islam, but rather as a cultural phenomenon, part of the Arabic musical heritage. Furthermore, the authors will analyze how the Adhan is taught and how it is performed as per Arabic ancient sources and performance practices. In conclusion, the paper shall analyze the musical characteristics of the two formally recognized Adhan performed within the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.