Istanbul Opens School for Out-of-Tune Calls to Prayers

Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Muezzin by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1866)

Bad singing is never pleasant to the ears, and when it involves the daily call to prayer in the Muslim world, it’s all that more tough to stomach. That’s why religious authorities in Turkey are now requiring some of Istanbul’s muezzins and imams to have singing lessons before returning to the minaret. The vocal training seems to be working, as complaints about off-key prayer calls have dropped from hundreds a month to only dozens.

 
Mustafa Cagnici, who is in charge of religious affairs for the city of Istanbul, told the BBC that some singers are hopeless. “There are some people who can't improve, no matter how much training you give them,” he said. “So we connect their mosque, by radio, to a central mosque where there's an imam who can sing.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
 

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