Turkish Daylights: Friday prayer

© aNadventures

One of the many things I miss about Turkey is the daily call for prayers. The muezzin’s voice echoes from every mosque in the country five times a day, according to the position of the sun. I got used to this reassuring background sound, to these cyclical religious hymns, even though never understood the texts since they’re in Arabic.

Friday is the Muslims’ holy day. Around noon, all religious men gather in and around the mosques and engage in prayer. I often saw them during lunch breaks in the area near the office. They would lay out their carpets, take off their shoes and bow their torsos. There’s something peaceful about these collective praying ceremonies. I would pass the praying groups and watch for a few seconds, not too long though, since any disturbance (such as the distraction by a woman) should be avoided during prayer times. If you’re visiting Turkey as a tourist, you shouldn’t take any photographs during prayer times either, out of respect. Sneaky me took just one for the purpose of this blog entry.

As we’re talking about prayers, let me express my sincere hopes for Colombia’s soccer team to win against Brazil today and make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Fingers crossed!

Have a peaceful Friday, everyone!