Adhan

Adhan is the call to prayer in Islam which is done by the muezzin. It is pronounced as Aathan (The first vowel is prolonged, and th is pronounced as in the English word The.) The root of the word is A/tha/na which means to permit, and another derivative of this word is O/thon (the first O is pronounced as in u in the German word G�tterfunken) and means ear.

The adhan is called five times in the day for the Fard (mandatory) prayers. The purpose is to call the people to the mosque, not to start the prayers. The equivalent call to start the prayer is called Iqame (pronounce the e.)

During the Friday prayer (Salat Al Jomaa), there are two athans; the first is to call the people unto the mosque, the second is said before the Imam (in Sunni islam) starts the Khotbeh (Kh as in "Ch" in the Scottish dialect Lochness; the religious lesson or speech before the Friday prayer.) Just before the prayers start, someone will recite the Iqame as in all prayers.

The literal translation to the athan (sunni) is:

God is Greatest, God is Greatest,

I assert that there's no god But God

I assert that Mohammed is God's messenger

I assert that Ali is God's Waliy

Come to the prayer

Come to the success

God is Greatest, God is Greatest

There's no god but God

The adhan was not written or said by Muhammed but by one of his Sahabeh (the people who saw and believed in Muhammed) but Muhammed did choose it to be the Muslims' call to prayer.

Different denominations of Islam have different adhans. The aforementioned is the most common. Shia muslims add "I assert that Ali is God's Waliy (the word meaning either proponent or the "heir").

Note To Editor* The Literal Translation is Greater not Greatest. The word for Greatest is "Al-Akbar" not "Akbar" which means actually Greater or Bigger. This is due to the fact that the word has no "Al-" in front of the word. "Al-Akbar" would mean the Greatest or the Biggest.