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Turkish Muslims perform
the prayer
ritual (namaz) five
times daily, according to the tenets
of Islam.
The ezan (call
to prayer) summons the faithful to
the mosque for prayers. Although it's
not required that prayer take place
in a mosque, it's felt to be more appropriate
and congenial in the sacred space
with other Muslims.
The ezan is
chanted six times daily. The exact
time of the ezan changes
from day to day and from place to place,
according to longitude and latitude,
surnise and sunset.
Here are
the names (in Turkish and
Arabic) of
the calls/prayers and sample times
for the ezan in
mid-May in Istanbul:
Imsak (Fajr; 03:38
am): two hours before dawn, to awaken
the faithful for prayer (pretty much
the middle of the night!)
Günes (Tulu;
05:42 am): Dawn, before the sun appears
Ögle (Zuhr;
13:12, 1:12 pm): Midday, when the sun
passes the zenith
Ikindi (Asr;
17:07, 5:07 pm): Afternoon, when the
shadows cast by objects are equal to
their height
Aksam (Maghrib;
20:21, 8:21 pm): Sunset, when the sun
has disappeared below the horizon;
beginning of a new day in the Islamic
calendar
Yatsi (Isha; 22:08,
10:08 pm): When the last light of day
has disappeared
Then 5-1/2 hours' sleep before the
next call...
You can check the exact times for
the call to prayer in Istanbul here so
as to plan your visits to the city's
great mosques.
Avoid visiting a mosque at
prayer-time, that is, at
or within a half hour after the ezan
is chanted from the minarets.
Avoid visiting on Friday late
morning through early afternoon,
which is when the weekly group prayers
and sermons take place. In short, if
the mosque is busy with worshippers, it's
polite to return later to
visit.
Here's more on Turkish
mosque-visit etiquette.
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