WANTED: EMIRATI MUEZZINS TO CALL THE FAITHFUL TO PRAYER
Awqaf seeks candidates born in the UAE with strong voice and eloquent azan pronunciation
The UAE’s religious affairs authority has launched a search for talented muezzins to call the country’s faithful to prayer.
Candidates must have a strong voice and eloquent pronunciation to powerfully project the azan.
An advertisement was issued this week by Awqaf, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments.
Applicants must be Emirati, at least 20 years old, and should excel in Arabic phonetics.
Awqaf asks prospective muezzins to send in a sample voice recording no longer than three minutes for consideration.
If successful, recruits will be asked to perform the unified prayer call close to their place of residence.
Each emirate has a designated mosque that transmits prayer calls at times that vary across the country – by seconds or a few minutes – depending on the location of the Sun. The prayer call is always made live.
The unified call to prayer system dates from 2004 and negates the need for every mosque to have a qualified muezzin.
In Abu Dhabi, the unified prayer calls are made at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and transmitted to the surrounding area.
Abu Khaled, who asked not to be formally identified, is an Emirati muezzin who also has a full-time job. He told The National that he would like to see more UAE nationals embrace the opportunity. The position is rarely full time and can be fitted around work.
“The dhuhr azan is the only one I don’t do because I’m at work at the time,” he said.
Abu Khaled began his role after a family bereavement almost five years ago.
“I lost two people who were close to my heart in a matter of months,” he said.
“Before the deaths in my family I barely prayed. I was arrogant and careless.”
Today, he says, being a muezzin has changed his life. “There is no greater deed in life,” he said. “It surprises me why there are so few Emiratis in this field. It is a gateway to heaven.”
Recruiting Emiratis for the post has been a challenge.
The Federal National Council has debated the issue, including in 2010.
Ali Al Matroushi, who at the time represented Ajman, urged Awqaf to rely less on expatriates.
“Although there are many qualified graduates among our young people, the authority is recruiting people on visit visas,” he said.
“With their broken Arabic, many of these imams do not even know how to read the Quran.”
His comments were directed to Dr Anwar Gargash, who was Minister of State for FNC Affairs at the time, who said that “emiratisation becomes more difficult when it comes to imams and muezzins because of the lack of specialised local cadres and the abundance of mosques”.
Since then, the authority has taken steps to encourage nationals to work as imams and muezzins.
In 2014, it was recorded that only 4 per cent of imams and muezzins were UAE nationals.
Earlier this year, a new federal law stated that vacant job posts in mosques should first be offered to Emiratis, which was not the case before, but that expats can be hired in the absence of suitable candidates.
There is no greater deed in life. It surprises me why there are so few Emiratis in this field. It is a gateway to heaven
ABU KHALED Muezzin