93Tho~e bonds constituted the Muslim community's spiritual and social
strength, and in this Jay the secret of their success befo re God and among
men: faith in God, love for parems, frater nity among peo ple, and ethics at
the ser vice of the universe and of all beings.
The CaD to Prayer
As months went by, ritual practices had been gradually insticmed: fasting
in the month of Ramadan and a more precise imposition of Z(duJ! (the
purifying social tax), were added to the profession of faith and to praycr.
The Muslims met in the mosque at p recise urnes and prayed togeth er.
The Prophet was looking for a m eans to call the faithful to prayer. He
had been considering the possibilities o f imitating Jewish or Christian
practices, with bells or with a horn. One day, however, Abdullah ibn Zayd,
an Ansar who had L'lken part in the second covenant of al-Aqabah, came
to him and told him o f a d re am in which a man taught him the mann er
in which he was to call others t o prayer. The Prophet listened [0 him and
immediately recognized th at the vision was genuine. He sent for the for-
mer slave Bilal, whose voice was extraordinarily beautiful, and had him
stand on tOP of the highest house near th e mosque and call the people to
prayer.
This same, never-changing call, based on the affirmation of God's
greatness ("Allahu Akbar''), the pro fession of faith (" I bear wimess that
there is no god bur God and that Mu hammad is God's Messenger"), and
an invitation to prayer and success in this world and the next, has fo r
almost fifteen centuries been resonating through J-Iuslim towns and cities.
In all its different intonations, rhythms, and voices, this call in its musical-
ity exp resses the union o f faith and beauty, of spirituality and aesthetics-
JUSt as th e I~rophet had WIshed It when he chose Bilal as a muezzin. I I is
a reminder of the O ne God who loves beauty, and who, five times a day,
welcomes those who answer the beautiful call that invite s them to meet
the Most Beautiful (al-JaRlil).29