This is an example of an Ezan. If you ever take a trip to Turkey, you will commonly hear the Ezan, or Muslim call to prayer, in any town or city you visit. The ezan is chanted six times a day, commonly originating from a mosque in the city. The times are called İmsak, Güneş, Öğle, İkindi, Akşam, and Yatsı, which translate to pre-dawn, sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, evening, and night respectively. The locations and exact times for these calls are subject to change depending on the season and geographical relationship of the location to Mecca. The Turkish government, specifically the Republic of Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Affairs, provides information for all these times and locations on their website.
The Ezan is conducted as the Salaah, or fixed ritual of Islamic prayer, is conducted in many other Muslim-majority countries. A majority of people in Turkey are Sunni Muslims, about 80.5%, whereas Shia Muslims make up 16.5% of the population. In Sunni Islam, individuals are expected to pray 5 times a day for Salaah, to which Ezan follows rather than the Shia Islam ritual of praying 3 times a day.
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