Salaam Minara Family,
Question for you: how many unread notifications on your phone or device right now?
Enough to make your chest tighten just thinking about opening them?
Let’s talk about a different kind of notification - the Adhan. The Minara team had a little conversation about the Adhan not too long ago which inspired a blog post [coming soon insha Allah!] but we thought we’d give you a little taster here too…
The Adhan is an unmissable feature of the Middle Eastern soundscape. A sacred thread woven into the rhythm of daily life - five times a day, without fail. Minarets stretch skyward, voices rise, and for a few seconds, the world stills.
Shall we take a moment to share that experience here too? Wherever you are in the world right now, whatever you may be doing…
Bismillah.
And then -
Ping! 🔔
We’re back in the real world. Alarms. Messages. Notifications. A digital chorus of interruptions designed to hijack your focus and fray your attention.
Research tells us the average person now spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone each day and checks it at least 58 times daily. Every ping releases cortisol, every buzz disrupts concentration, and every red badge nags: you’re behind.
But not the Adhan - the Adhan doesn’t stress you. That’s not what it’s been designed to do.
So what does it do?
It soothes. It invites less: less noise, less pressure. There’s absolutely no push to produce or consume.
Gentle and encouraging, it invites you to meet with your Maker.
Unlike other calls to worship: bells, shells, drums - the Adhan is always live, always human. It isn’t confined to a place of worship; it spills into city streets and quiet courtyards and you hear it; you feel it.
What makes it so different?
Well - its voice is one aspect.
The mu’adhin - the caller - must have integrity, a beautiful recitation, and a heart attuned to time itself [remember at one time, a mua’dhin would even ascertain the prayer times by determining the physical position of the sun]. What is apparent here is that calling the Adhan transforms from mere task to devotional act.
And then there are the words. Let’s just focus on the opening call for now.
Allahu Akbar
Note the ‘greatest’. Not just great - greatest. Greater than what? The answer is intentionally left open because it applies to everything.
We can make our own individual lists sure but the following will be relevant to us all:
greater than your success
greater than your stress
greater than deadlines, guilt, anxieties, constant alerts and updates and pings
greater than heartbreak and grief
greater than power
greater than everything in the world combined
… whatever you’re thinking about, whatever you’re going through right now, God is greater than that.
Allahu Akbar really contextualizes our realities to remind us that nothing [but Allah of course] is ultimate. Nothing is designed to last forever. And what that does is soothes us just as the whole concept of salah and each of its component has been designed to do.
Even those who mock it can be moved by it. Abu Mahdhura was just a boy when he mimicked the Adhan in jest, only to have the Prophet ﷺ - rather than rebuke him - call him close, praise his voice, and teach him the words himself. Aby Mahdhura then became the mu’adhin of Makkah and his descendants would carry the call for generations. The Adhan became his legacy.
[Keep a lookout for the full story on said upcoming blogpost soon insha Allah]
For now, we’re extending an invitation to you reflect:
what notifications do you want to silence in your life?
What spiritual reminders do you want to invite in?
We Demand Your Attention NOW
It’s not just the notifications on our devices though is it? It’s the notifications that assail our hearts and minds even in our restorative moments - periods of sleep and periods of pray.
You’re standing to pray - Allahu Akbar and then suddenly:
That awkward thing you said in 2014 that still haunts you like a ghost with WiFi.
Whether or not you actually turned the oven off. Or the iron. Or life.
“Did I respond to that text or just imagine I did?”
The lyrics to a commercial jingle from your childhood. Word for word.
The 57 things on your to-do list that suddenly feel very urgent... now.
That one sock you lost in the laundry. Where did it go? Where did it go?!
When someone waved at the person behind you and you waved back anyway.
[We know you all can relate!]
Take it as a good sign - Shaytan targets sincere people most in their salah. Your prayer is making a difference and Shaytan does not like it one bit!
So what to do?
Well first - clear the vessel. Before you raise your hands, let the thoughts come, greet them and then wave them goodbye. Say to Allah with determination, “Ya Allah, I’m leaving these thoughts with you. Give them back to me after our meeting.”
Second - when the distractions hits mid-salah, just proclaim quietly in your heart, “Ya Allah, my heart is diverted - please guide it back to you.”
Third - try your hand at new surahs to stop auto-pilot mode. Or try a new prayer spot to adjust your mindset. A new environment does wonders!
Fourth - visualise. Whom do you stand in front of? Let that image still you.
Last but not least - du’a pre and post salah. Ask Allah for Kush’u in your salah. Short and sweet does it (Ya Allah, keep Shaytan away from me. Keep my heart present here in this moment - just You and me) or you can recite one of the sunnah dua’s as listed on this article here: 6: Persistently Ask Allah for Khushuʿand Do Not Give Up – Life With Allah
Wishing you all a very blessed week 💜.
Oh PSA - we’ll be at the Muslim Tech Festival this weekend in London. If any of you also happen to be there, please do come and say hello to us at Minara!
Love and du’as,
The Minara Team
