The Adhan

"Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!"

You hear the call and it's strange, foreign, exotic.

I hear a call that is as familiar to me as the beat of my heart.

"God is the Greatest, above all things, all people, all animals, all of creation!"

You think "terrorist", the vocal sub-minority you hear on selected news coverage, the same people who twist Islam into something I don't recognize.

But they don't speak for me. I speak for me. This call speaks for me.

"Ash-shadu illah ilaha il Allah!"

Firm conviction is the armor of my heart and mind.

"I bear witness that there is nothing, no god, no person, nothing in all existence that is worthy of worship except GOD, ALLAH, Lord of the Throne!"

"Ash-shadu anna Muhammad rasulAllah!"

"I bear witness that Muhammad is a messenger from Allah, bringing the same message carried down through the centuries by other prophets, by Abraham, Noah, Jacob, David, John, and Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of them)."

I bear witness that the Qur'an is the truth of my soul, recognized by my soul, inscribed in the fibers of my heart and the memory of my soul, awoken by the world "Iqra! Read!"

"Read! In the name of your Lord who created! Read! And your Lord is Most Generous, who taught by the pen, who taught men what they did not know."

"Haya a salah!"

Come to prayer. Lay down your worries, your fears, your sorrows, your joys. Rest your heart. Quiet your mind. It's time to pray.

"Haya a falah!"

Come to success. Forget your wealth, your poverty. Forget your station in life, be it the highest or lowest of consequence to others. The best success is yet to come. It's time to pray.

"Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!"

Allah is the Beginning and the Ending. He encompasses all things. He knows all things. He hears all things.

"La illaha il Allah!"

There is no god but GOD.