Call to Prayer

Five times a day a beautiful song resonates from each mosque’s minaret for everyone to hear.  This is the Muslim call to prayer.  Being in a country where the predominant religion is Islam, you’re going to hear the call to prayer a lot and I’m lovingly surprised with this beautiful melody each time.  Minarets are the spires next to the mosque and a staple to the Muslim landscape.  Most mosques have one or two.   There used to be a rule that a mosque could only have more than one minaret if the Sultan had visited.  Minarets exhibit loud speakers to play the call to prayer beginning early in the morning and then repeated four more times before the day is through.  Prayer times follow the lunar calendar so the intervals change a bit each day, it’s not the same now as it was when we arrived a few weeks ago.  

Mosque with two minarets (Istanbul)

While in the Basilica Cistern, an amazing underground place next to Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia), the call to prayer reached me, but not from a minaret.  The Basilica Cistern is full of pillars and walkways along a vast spread of water.  It’s lit in the most spectacular way and utterly stunning.  Coy serenely swim in the water and as I was observing them, I noticed coins on the fountain floor.  I decided to make a "wish."  I plucked an American quarter and a Turkish lira (also a coin) from my wallet.  If you’ve read any of the previous posts in this blog, I’m sure you can guess what my thoughts were about…

Basilica Cistern

I was again called to pray at the Basilica of St. Anthony off Istiklal Street.  By placing one Turkish lira in an unsupervised donation box you could take a candle.  This seemed like an amazing deal I just couldn’t pass up.  There were many amazing deals I couldn’t pass up during this trip, which is why my suitcase is full of scarves, but I digress.  Upon selecting my candle I walked to an open area along the wall where a shallow amount of water rests above a of layer sand in the wall crevice.  I used another candle to light my own and as I put my candle in it’s new resting place, I was nearly moved to tears.    

My candle

Turkey is a very religious and spiritual place.  Histories of all religions can be found here.  While in Turkey we learned of the Christians who fled to Sille and lived in caves to avoid persecution of the Romans.  We visited several mosques and learned about the introduction of Islam to the region.  Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived in harmony among one another for centuries.  It’s all so mystical, sacred, and peaceful I challenge anyone not to be as fully and profoundly moved as I am.