An
incredible medium for the proclamation of Tawheed of Almighty Allah and
Risaalat of Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wassalam), the sound
of which constantly echoes around the globe. Amazing though it sounds, but
fortunately for the Muslims of the world, it is an established fact.
Have a look
at a map of the world and you will find Indonesia (an Islamic country)
right on the eastern side of the earth's central land mass. Indonesia
consists of numerous small islands, the principle ones amongst them being
Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Saibil, all of which are well known. It is the
largest country in the world, with 180 million inhabitants. The number of
non-Muslims here is negligible. As soon as dawn breaks on the easternside
of Saibil,at approximately 5:30 am local time, Fajr Azaan begins.
Thousands of Muazzins in eastern Indonesia commence proclaiming the
Tawheed (oneness) of the Almighty, Omnipotent and Omniscient Allah and
Risaalat (Universal Apostleship) of the Prophet Muhammad (salallahu
alayhi wassalam). The process then continues and advances towards the
Western Islands of Indonesia. The time difference between the eastern and
western islands of Indonesia is one and a half hours. Hence, one and a
half hours after the Azaan has been completed in Saibil, it echoes in
Jakarta on Java island. Sumatra then follows suit and before this
auspicious process of calling Azaan ends in Indonesia, it has already
begun in Malaysia. Burma is next in line, and within an hour of its
commencement in Jakarta, it reaches Dacca, the capital city of Bangladesh.
No sooner the calling of Azaan ends in Bangladesh, it has already
prevailed in western India, from Calcutta to Srinagar.
It then advances towards
Bombay and the environment of entire India resounds with this august
proclamation. Srinagar and Sialkot (a city in north Pakistan) have the
same timing for Azaan.
The time
difference between Sialkot, Kota, Karachi and Gowadar city in Baluchistan,
(a province of Pakistan) is forty minutes, and within this time, Fajr
Azaan is heard throughout Pakistan. Before it ends there, however, it has
already begun in Afghanistan and Muscat. The time difference between
Muscat and Baghdad is one hour. Azaan resounds during this one hour In the
environments of hijaaz-e-Muqaddas (Holy cities of Makkah and Madinah),
Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq. The time difference between
Baghdad and Alexandria in Egypt is again one hour. Azaan continues to
resound in Syria, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan during this hour. Alexandria
and Istanbul are situated on the same geographical longitude. The time
difference between eastern and Western Turkey is one and a half hours, and
during this time it is echoed with the call to prayer. Alexandria and
Tripoli (capital of Libya) are located at a hour difference from one
another. The process of calling Azaan thus continues throughout the whole
of Africa. Therefore, the proclamation of the Oneness of Allah and the
Prophethood of Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wassalam) that had begun
in the eastern islands of Indonesia reaches the Eastern Shore of the
Atlantic ocean after nine and a half hours. Prior to the Azaan reaching
the shores of the Atlantic, the process of Zohr Azaan has already
commenced in eastern Indonesia, and before it reaches Dacca, Asr Azaan has
started. This has hardly reached Jakarta one and half hours later, then
the time of Maghrib becomes due, and no sooner has Maghrib time reached
Sumatra, then the time for calling Isha Azaan has commenced in Saibil!
When the Muazzins of Indonesia are calling out Fajr Azaan, the Muazzins in
Africa are calling out the Azaan for Isha.
If we were
to ponder over this phenomenon seriously and studiously, we would conclude
the amazing fact that there is not a single moment when few thousands if
not hundreds of thousands of Muazzins around the world are not proclaiming
the Oneness of Almighty Allah and the Apostleship of the noble Prophet (salallahu
alayhi wassalam) on the surface of this earth!
Inshah Allah! This
universal and continuous calling of the Azaan shall not cease until the
Day of the Judgement, we should all make necessary effort & du'a for
the same.
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