When the Minaret Became Silent
I have not heard the adhan أَذَان call to prayer by the muezzin from the minaret at the mosque on my street since the #lockdown was declared by the federal government for the control and prevention of further spread of the #Coronavirus in Nigeria. Religious congregations have been banned and all gatherings of people in crowds must not be more than twenty and they must put on facemasks.
How can someone shout "HALLELUJAH" or "Allāhu akbar" when wearing a facemask?
Will Almighty God accept muzzled praises of "HALLELUJAH!", "Al-Ḥamdu lillāh!" or "Allāhu ʾakbar!"?
The voices of the muezzin and I were the first voices neighbours heard at dawn around 5.30am.
The sound of my "HALLELUJAH!" in my bedroom to begin my early morning prayers, praises and worship of our Almighty God JEHOVAH sometimes came first before the sound of the muezzin's Takbir, ʾAllāhu ʾakbar!
Many times, my closest neighbours complained about the loud sound of my baritone voice in praising Almighty God. But I always chose to make a joyful noise unto the Lord, because it a written
command to us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psalm 66:1; 95:1–2; 100:1; 1 Chronicles 15:16) and in Psalm 149:5 -6:
"5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;" There is power in prayer.
Every faithful believer has that power written in Psalm 149:7-9.
HALLELUJAH!
I have always lived with mosques on my street since childhood; from Obalende on the Lagos Island to Shomolu, Mushin, Gbagada, Ikotun Egbe and Jibowu on the Lagos mainland. The voice of the muezzin from the minaret of the mosque in Jibowu was the loudest ever and he often woke up the entire neighbourhood from Lawani Street to Tani Olodo Street leading to the popular Jibowu Bus Stop, the motor park of several transport vehicles for interstate travels.
This is from my notes two weeks ago.
I am now missing the voice of the muezzin since I relocated from Jibowu to a nearby middle class neighbourhood in Yaba, where there is the St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Church and without any mosque nearby.
PS:
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