Pasha special edition, part 2: The significance of the call to prayer in Islam

The call to prayer in Islam has been sounded out aloud for centuries. Recently in South Africa a citizen took issue with the noise coming from the Islamic education centre in his neighbourhood and took the matter to court. Here we explain how the call to prayer came about, why it's important and some of the issues around it.

In today's episode of Pasha, Suleman Essop Dangor, emeritus professor of religion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, discusses the call to prayer. He also responds to the question of whether there is Islamophobia in the country.

Read more: Pasha special edition: The Muslim call to prayer controversy in South Africa, part 1

Photo Four mosque loudspeakers on a post on a rooftop for playing the Islamic call to prayer. By alexreynolds found on Shutterstock .

Sound “Azaan” By Jigmet, found on FreeSound licensed under Attribution license .

Music “Happy African Village” by John Bartmann, found on FreeMusicArchive.org licensed under CC0 1 .

“Arabic 2-4” by nemaavla, found on FreeSound licensed under Creative commons license .

By Ozayr Patel, Digital Editor