Friday, July 31, 2009

Call To Prayer

Arriving to a devoutly Islamic city in the late afternoon is a magical experience. Watching the sun set behind domed mosques while The Call To Prayer echos all around you is as beautiful as it is haunting.
As an atheist I must say that the dawn Call To Prayer is not nearly as pleasurable.



This video is taken in Medan, Indonesia, the administrative capital of Sumatra. While Indonesia is the world's most populace Islamic nation, it is pretty moderate, Medan is a little different. The island of Sumatra is largely Christian, so a conscious decision was taken in Jakarta to relocate Muslims to Medan, making the capital an Islamic haven.

3 comments:

  1. Now that I re-watch this video I am mistaken about the location. This is actually Jakarta, during a break in the rain of the floods of January 2007.
    My point about Medan is still valid though.

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  2. "There is no compulsion in religion"

    :>

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  3. I did not mean to imply that they were force PELNI ferries at gun point and dropped in Medan harbour.
    To use a non-word, they were greatly "incentivized"

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