sparrow

[On my last holidays, during Ramazan, in the evening, when the sun goes down, I used to sit on my balcony and watch it slowly disappear into the sea..... and then I just was waiting for the gunshot......the breaking of the fast....

It gave me a bit of shivers, thinking of all those people who at that moment started their dinner, a feeling I can only have in Turkey
and then came the muëzzin, the one in Kaş did is so beautifully (they are not the same everywhere, some are really bad to hear)....
Through my open window I could also hear it in the early mornings, and again I had that thought of people going to eat

Does anyone have the same feeling or am I just hopelessly romantic or too great a fan of anything Turkey ??

(Mind you,I only liked it when I was in Kaş,I'm not so fond of them in a big city and surely not an a Friday ! )

Guz1

Sparrow,

I know exactly what you mean. I get the same feeling when I hear the call to prayer, but I thought that was the Imman. Wonder if anyone can explain the difference between an Imman, a Muezzin and a Mullah.

Maria.

sparrow

Hi Guz,

As far as I know, the muezzin is the man who recites the prayers 5 times a day and the Imman is the one who leads the prayes and preaches inside the mosque

I dont know if there are Mullah's in Turkey, isn't that more something from Afghanistan or son ??

Guz1

Thanks Sparrow. Just trying to understand the Islamic pecking order. I thought Mullah's were Islam's version of priests. I'm guessing that there is some kind of Islamic hierarchy cos someone has to "call the shots" on the ground, so to speak.

Maria.

VWBug

Guz, that is right the mullahs are like priests and also they do have political power also.
Thanks Ataturk, resqued Turkiye from mullas. There are loads of them Iran, and they run the country.

Guz1

Hi VWBug,
Can you give me an idiot's guide to the hierarchical structure in Islam, from the least important to the most important. For instance, I thought the Ayatollah ran the show in Iran whereas there once was someone called (I think) the Pasha in Turkey. Are these just local or regional titles, or is there a structure of Islamic holy people that is common throughout the world?

I know my question isn't very clear, maybe because I'm only really familiar with the RC structure and Islam probably is not run on the same lines as Catholicism. For instance, in the RC religion we have, from the top down, the Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Canons, Parish Priests, Curates, and Deacons (all men of course, but only God is perfect!!) What would be the Islamic equivalent?

Maria.

VWBug

Guz, I am sorry I do not follow all those religious idiots who run people these days. All I know about the Ataturks Turkiye. I have studied Ottoman history but I don't remember that there was such power levels of religious fanatic mullas. I can't help on this but you may find some answers if you do research on the web.
I am ready to help you out on different subject but please forgive me.

Guz1

That's ok VWBug. I was just curious and I'm far too lazy to research the subject. Thanks anyway. I still love to hear the call to prayer when I'm in Turkey although I'm a bit disappointed that it isn't the Imman because I have met a local Imman and I whenever I heard the call I would say to myself "I know him" and now it's just another stranger. My little bubble has been burst!

Maria.

VWBug

I think it must be imam's voice but I am not sure. Some of the mosques have very bad sound system also and calling to prayer is not fun to hear. I found out some of the big mosques in Istanbul like Blue mosque have better amplifiers and they sound very good.