Interrupted Dreams

While I have inherited my father's champion sleeping abilities, they seem to be failing me as of late. After three months of relatively peaceful sleep, I am now waking up every morning for the pre-sunrise call to prayer. (Salah 101: faithful Muslims pray 5 times throughout the day; prayer time is announced by a guy going up to the minaret and, well, announcing.) The call to prayer can be quite beautiful; however, in these modern times, the announcer is typically aided by a loudspeaker, which distorts his voice and makes the whole thing somewhat unpleasant. It can be rather funny as well... like when you hear the muezzin (announcer) clearing his throat into the microphone or talking to someone in the background.

Now consider this ritual in a city with several thousand mosques, each with a muezzin starting at a slightly different time. Egad. Now try it about 4:30 in the morning... you see the problem?

However, if President Mubarak has his way, the cacophony would be reduced to single, centralized call to prayer. This plan has been in the works for several years, but has not been well-received by all. Read a recent Washington Post story here.