I wake up in a blue room and panic for a moment because I’ve forgotten where I am. Curtains with delicate floral patterns and tattered hems bend the shadows of iron bars. The adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, moans though the windows. I brush the curtains aside and the damp air and words of the salāt al-fajr, the dawn prayer, spill in. Islamabad spreads out below me as clumps of dark shapes, interrupted by dots of orange and green. A streetlight. A kitchen window. A barking dog. The soft, sticky sound of tires on wet pavement. Several blocks away, the minaret of a mosque pierces the sky, illuminated against the darkness, and the muezzin calls out from the too-loud, tinny speakers. I can’t understand the words, but I appreciate how they compel a quarter of the world to fall to their knees in prayer five times a day.
— Cory Richards, The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within (Random House, July 9, 2024)
- Photo: Morning Group Prayer. 5:40 a.m. 61° F. August 13, 2024. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT. (I recognize this was not a Muslim prayer group, but was inspired by the moment and the book passage.) More photos from this morning’s walk here: (1) Daybreak & (2) Brody & Wally Play date.
- Book Reviews:
- NPR (July 10 2024): “This photographer nearly died mountain climbing. His memoir details the mental toll“
- Outside (July 7, 2024): “Cory Richards Was Too Depressed to Get Off the Couch. Then, He Summited Everest Without Oxygen.”
Powerful
Swept away to another place instantly….
Me too!
Ive been to Riyadh and the United Arab Emirates – the calls to prayer are awe inspiring in a way. Everything stops, everyone faces Mecca and prays as one. There are elements of the society which I found disquieting, but this universal pause was memorable in its own right.
That must have been a fascinating trip Mimi…
It was for sure
This brings back two distinct memories. I grew up in the Middle East. And used to Adhan 5 times a day, starting at dawn. I left back home in 1991. I didn’t miss it. I just didn’t think about it, the Adhan. Then one day years after we immigrated to Canada I ran into my siblings, all of us heading towards the living room. All summoned by the sound of something stronger than anything. Dad was in tje living room watching a travel show from Turkey. It was the sound of the Adhan coming from the tv. My little sister cried, she had missed it so much. All of us did.
My most precious memories as all of us waking up at dawn to wash up, and pray.
Then, in 2012 I was in Kuwait for 10 days for a work related trip. I arrived late at night. Fell asleep in my clothes, to be woken up by the Adhan coming from 5 different minaret of different mosques. It’s engraved so deep dk. So deep.
Like Mimi said, everyone and everything stops for prayer time. Group prayers are a thing in Islam actually.
Thank you for sharing, dk.
Wonderful. Thanks for sharing Sawsan.