# How would you handle daily calls to prayer starting at 6 am? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317 "2015-11-22T23:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/101 "2015-11-26T18:03:48Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Actually, I lived quite close to a RC church in Mannheim Germany. They rang their bells at that time. [Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_bell) is a good place to see what other times they rang the things. I should have said “in the USA”. Anyone ever heard of a church in the USA ringing their bells 365 days day a year at 6 am? ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/102 "2015-11-27T18:07:24Z")
I’m with \*\*Whynot \*\* on this one. I’ve lived close enough to a military base to hear the morning reveille at 6am every morning, grew up in a house directly under the flight path of a different military base, and grew up in a time when the emergency sirens in our rural town were sounded every day at noon. What bothers me about the azan is that it contains vocalizations. It is terribly difficult to ignore sounds that contain words, especially ones that you don’t understand. If it were just tones it would be much easier to adjust to - and it might actually be a nice thing for the town. Once I became accustomed to hearing bugles at 6am, it was a much nicer sound to wake up to than my shitty alarm clock. It just occurred to me that even though my town is liberal and very diverse, and has a fairly significant Muslim population, I’ve never heard a call to prayer here. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/103 "2015-11-28T03:06:02Z")
Well, in answer to the OP, I expect I would handle it by rolling over and going back to sleep. Or maybe by waking up then, since it’s not that much earlier than when I get up. But then, I don’t find incomprehensible human language all that hard to tune out. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/104 "2015-11-28T04:25:50Z")
> [@grayhairedmomma](#): > > It just occurred to me that even though my town is liberal and very diverse, and has a fairly significant Muslim population, I’ve never heard a call to prayer here. It would be an interesting data point if you could find out why that is. The most likely answer is simply that you don’t live close enough to a mosque to hear the azan. But perhaps there is a more interesting answer. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/105 "2015-11-28T04:42:38Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > It would be an interesting data point if you could find out why that is. The most likely answer is simply that you don’t live close enough to a mosque to hear the azan. But perhaps there is a more interesting answer. Ours has an app for that. [Mosque Foundation | Bridgeview, IllinoisMosque Foundation App - Mosque Foundation | Bridgeview, Illinois](http://www.mosquefoundation.org/mosque-foundation-app) ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/106 "2015-11-28T06:10:42Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Muslims aren’t perfect. This is problematic, Broomstick. A trigger warning would have been nice. K? Thanks. As for me, I would be more accepting and even more welcoming of Muslims who wanted to create a public nuisance than any other of the white cis-gendered scum around. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/107 "2015-11-28T06:40:43Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Ours has an app for that. [Mosque Foundation | Bridgeview, IllinoisMosque Foundation App - Mosque Foundation | Bridgeview, Illinois](http://www.mosquefoundation.org/mosque-foundation-app) Yes I’m very familiar with those – as I may have mentioned upthread, my cell phone came with it installed automatically. I had to remove it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/108 "2015-11-28T13:15:01Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Yes I’m very familiar with those – as I may have mentioned upthread, my cell phone came with it installed automatically. I had to remove it. Well, that’s it. Not very interesting, but it’s why we don’t hear the call to prayer. You asked. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/109 "2015-11-28T13:17:24Z")
That is, there’s no religious requirement to have the call to prayer. There’s a requirement to pray, not to disturb the peace beforehand. So many mosques in mixed areas provide apps, so their members can receive a private call without disturbing the neighbours. I appreciate their consideration. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317/110 "2015-11-28T14:31:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Well, that’s it. Not very interesting, but it’s why we don’t hear the call to prayer. You asked. Sorry - I did not know you and **greyhairedmamma** lived in the same town. Apologies if I came across as snarky or ignorant; not my intent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-handle-daily-calls-to-prayer-starting-at-6-am/738317.md?page=5)