4am alarm call

EVERY Friday afternoon the shrill sound of a siren is heard in the air over Haifa and in many large cities in Israel.

It has nothing to do with a bomb alert; it is the warning that Shabbat is rapidly approaching, and observant citizens should make last minute arrangements for the day of rest and prepare to light candles.

Thereafter, the Shabbat quiet, more or less, settles over the town. In recent months Haifa's residents have become aware of a new sound emanating from a local neighbourhood, and resounding throughout the city five times a day, every day.

It is not shrill. It is a man's voice singing in modulated tones, in Arabic, and was at once identified as the Muslim muezzin calling members of the faith to prayer.

According to tradition, the function of the muezzin was created in the time of Muhammad to ensure that the faithful, who are expected to pray five times a day, would know when the time had come.

Muhammad thought that the human voice was most appropriate to communicate the message, as opposed to a Christian bell or a Jewish horn.

Originally, the muezzin would climb the steps to the top of the minaret of the mosque, and there utter his call.

Today loudspeakers are used where necessary, and in large areas, modern electronic amplification.

The text, sung in a minor key, is simple: ''Allah is the greatest. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Come fast to prayer. Come to success. Prayer is better than sleep (said only before the morning prayer). Allah is the greatest. There is no god but Allah.''

Obviously, the muezzin's calls are intended only for Muslim ears, and heretofore have been confined largely to the neighbourhood where numbers of the faithful reside.

More recently, however, here in Haifa the volume has been turned up and the muezzin can be clearly heard over most of the city. The tones are not raucous, but Jews and Christians in many parts of the city complain of the disturbance.

''Why do we have to be subjected to their calls to prayer?'' they say. Worst of all is the early morning call - around 4am.

Many who suffer from sleep problems find their slumber suddenly disturbed.

Where we live, in an all Jewish neighbourhood on Mt Carmel, the muezzin's call has become a five-time daily feature.

We repeat, it is not unpleasant, except in instances where it is a personal disturbance.

Haifa has a justifiable reputation as a city where, for the most part, Jews and non-Jews live together in relative harmony, at least commercially, if not socially.

Jews constitute about 87% of the population, Christians, who are mostly Arabs, about 8%, Muslims, Druzes and others, 5%.

The recent amplification of the muezzin's calls has introduced a disturbing note and has created a great deal of resentment.

It was quickly ascertained that the voice came from the small Arab neighbourhood of Halissa, and veteran residents have not forgotten that in 1948, when the state of Israel was proclaimed, the mosque in Halissa was utilised by Arab snipers to fire into the very heart of the Jewish section of the city.

Today Halissa is the centre of what many consider a deliberate provocation. Complaints against 'the noise' were registered with the mayor, but with no results.

Indignant Jewish reaction finally brought a promise that the early morning call, sounded before sunrise, would be muted, though one of the lines of that early text, as noted above, and uttered twice, expresses the view that prayer is better than sleep.

A search on the Internet reveals that Haifa's problem is not unique. The five calls a day, disturbing non-Muslims, is already a cause for violent non-Muslim reaction in other countries, including India and even in non-Muslim neighbourhoods of Malaysia.

The city of Calcutta imposed a ban on amplification of the muezzin's call, and Muslim appeals to the courts were rejected, upholding the ban.

Some Christian advocates of good will and multiculturalism have been quick to defend the muezzin.

Writes one: ''What is the difference between the rooster's early morning call, the neighbour's lawnmower's noise, the early morning traffic or the muezzin's call to prayer?''

Response was not lacking.

''Multiculturalism? Try going to Oman or Saudi Arabia and building a church.''

Back here in Haifa, we were awakened the other morning at about 4am by the voice of the muezzin rising to the Carmel from the city below as he intoned his call.

It was annoying, but he finally sang us to sleep. We are assured that quiet will soon reign again.

Email him at urigeller@compuserve.com

Back to main page