Azan Insult
This is from last week’s Arab Times, one of those things I clip because they are interesting and then sometimes I forget. My Kuwait readers will wonder why I am even bothering, maybe this isn’t so interesting, but to me, it is one of those things that illustrate a difference in how we think.
Man Insulted in Azan Row:
Director of an unidentified department of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs has filed a complaint with the Andalus Police Station accusing a Kuwaiti man of humiliating him and threatening to cause him harm, reports Al-Rai daily.
A knowledgeable sourse said the man works as a muezzin at a mosque in Sulaibikhyat and the suspect accused him of calling the faithful for prayers earlier than the time assigned by the ministry.
The source added residents of the area had sent letters of complaints to the ministry stressing the muezzin should abide by prayer timings issued by the ministry.
A source added the man is a political activist and has a file at State Security.
The source also said the man visited the director and humiliated him in a very negative manner. The man reportedly called the official on the phone and called him a donkey and threatened to cause him harm.
Here’s what I love – in Kuwait, the muezzins are LIVE! In every other Islamic country in which I have lived, it has been recordings, but here, they are LIVE! One woman told me that their muezzin was fired because at the end of the call to prayer, music started playing, and everyone knew he had left a recording.
Each muezzin starts the call to prayer at a slightly different time, so you hear a chorus of individual voices raising their voices to say “God is great” and to call the people to prayer, a sound as beautiful as the church bells of western countries, which fulfill a similar function. You can hear the sound of the call to prayer here:
And in how many countries would exact time be an issue when calling people to prayer? Life is sweet, living in a country where time to pray is an important issue.
And here is what I find intriguing – in the west, when we call someone a donkey, it is a very mild insult. I have heard that here, being called a donkey is like one of the very worst things you can call a person. Please, local friends, can you tell me why donkey would be such a bad insult?
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Yes dear Muazzens do differ slilghtly when announcing prayers bas that’s like seconds differences & it does sound nice – especially if the Mouzzan has a good voice not like people they put there sometimes…
Hmm, I don’t find the word donkey insulting at all, on contraire – the donkey is a beautiful, hard working animal π so, I dunno why someone would take it as a curse word
i believe it should be Athan + moathen … the writer might be of indian background for him/her to pronounce it azan …
LOOL I’m sorry this story is hilarious. He called him a donkey hahaha.
Who knows why donkey is a bad insult. But it is definitely not the worse thing you can call a person there are much worse words. Donkey is a little worse than calling someone a shmuck or a jerk in English. Not as bad as calling someone a …. female dog. π Speaking of which, can you tell me why a female dog is a bad insult? π
Now more seriously, the timing of the prayer is important to us because its importance is mentioned in the Quran. I personally believe that God is testing our sense of discipline in the practice of our faith. It’s not hard to commit to praying at some point any time during the day that you choose for example. But would you remember God throughout the day? In my opinion the five prayers test that…that you’re committed to being in a constant relationship with God throughout your day.
You are an excellent ambassadress of your country. I hope that whenever you choose to leave Kuwait inshalla you will be our ambassadress and let Americans know a little more about us.
Dear Xpat, I enjoy reading your posts on anything related to Islam. Yes I do consider the Prayer timing to be an important issue. Had it not been, the Prophet (pbuh) wouldn’t have described it in much details, nor would he have mentioned the times during which prayer is forbidden. Allah knows best.
Thanks for your input, Chikapappi. I love the sound myself, and I love it that those few seconds make for a lovely mixed chorus during the azan/athan. Do you see donkeys in Kuwait? We used to see them in Tunisia and in Jordan, and you are right, they worked hard.
AbdulAziz, I don’t know! All I have is the article from the newspaper, and you are right, I have heard it pronounced athan.
Zin, yep, I can tell you. And you might think I am using a bad word, but the female dog is called a “bitch” and that IS the technical term. It’s an insult because when a female dog goes into heat, she has no thinking capability at all, and will mate with any male dog capable of copulating. That’s why you see so many strange dog combinations. So it is insulting because it implies looseness, or that you are the result of loose behavior.
Thank you for your lovely and gracious compliment, but the truth is, you, the commenters, are helping many many readers to learn more about Kuwait. I just opened the conduit, and insh’allah, we all learn something.
Thank you, HS, and you are always welcome to help clarify these issues for us when they come up.
By the way, in reading the newspaper story, did you notice how difficult it was to keep things sorted out. Both men were referred to as “the man”.
Yes I did have a little trouble with “the man”. Also source was mispelled.
Your description of the insult … priceless LOL
I don’t know if it scientifically proven, but anyone who’s been called a donkey is an implication of massive stupidity.
The old mentality (grand parents) is to comment “it’s just an animal, it doesn’t understand” when a pet does something annoying or wrong, and saying that any animal is controlled by basic instincts and follows the desires with no intelligence, plus that human beings have been graced by brains over animals and that’s the main difference between them.
So taking those two elements as the background for region’s mentality, you will have somehow an idea why a donkey is considered an insult.
P.S.
The top comment does not reflect my opinion to the matter. Just brainstorming to dig up the reason behind such reaction to the word, though it is not as funny illustrated as “female dog explenation”
I heard some people had problems with the Athan in the fajr! That is a little before sunrise, which to say the least, is bad on their part! (That sentence completely butchers the meaning of grammar). Anyway, Prayer times are set based on a certain calculation. However, in reality, Athan is based on the Sun etc, I seem to think that time (to the second) should not be so strict.
Uh Zin, I am embarrassed to tell you, I think that “sourse” was my typo. *blush*
Touche, your explanation sounds logical, and the only thing I don’t understand is why it would be taken to be such an insult. I may have misunderstood, but I think someone told me it is like the WORST insult, but I don’t seem to find any substantiation of that here.
Aha! Now that would make sense, wouldn’t it, if people had to get up too early? Thanks N.
I hope you guys get that I don’t have a dog in this fight; I just think it’s cool to live in a country where the timing of the call to prayer is an issue. π
Intlxpat,
let me clarify the mystery for you my dear, the insult of Donkey in Arabic equals that of a Jackass in American language, therefore you see the democrats have a donkey as a party logo, but they wouldn’t dare to use a Jackass as a logo. Capish
Salam,
I am not sure where you got the idea that in many muslim countries the muazzin is not live but their voice is recorded. I think it is the other way around. Most of the Muslim countries have live muazzins who call people to pray.
Just a thought.
Peace
Thank you, Sohail.
Intlxpatr
Unbelievable ;
I found my first ever comment on your blog dated 11 Sept 2007 .
It is full circle now .My first and my last comment on your blog
Daggero – you are quitting commenting? I have offended you?
intlxpatr
no ,that was my last comment becuase i did not make any comment after it , now this is my last comment
π