Muezzin (the caller for prayer) of Makkah’s Grand Mosque for four decades, Sheikh Ali Ahmed Mulla has continued a family tradition handed down from one generation to another. He is considered one of the most famous muezzins at the Grand Mosque for the past 40 years.
Following in the footsteps of Muhammad’s first muezzin, ‘Bilal’, muezzin Ali has been referred to as ‘Bilal’ in the Grand Mosque of Makkah for his beautiful voice and for telling fascinating stories and tales while preaching.
Born in 1945 in Makkah to a family of muezzins at Makkah Grand Mosque, he became the official muezzin in 1975 following the death of his uncle’s son Sheikh Abdullmalak al-Mulla. While his grandfather Sheikh Ali and his father Siddique and both his uncles and two of his cousins preceded doing this job.
Islamic education began at an early age, and he graduated from the Model Capital Institute in Riyadh in 1971 with a degree in art education. Later, he earned a master’s degree in the same field. After his graduation, muezzin Ali worked as a teacher at Abdullah ibn Al-Zubair Intermediate School.
He became the official muezzin of the Grand Mosque in 1974. Since then, calling for prayer is his main career, in addition to working in his own business. Muezzin Ali began practicing Azaan at the age of 13 and practicing the call to prayer from the mosque’s minaret, Bab Al-Zeyada. Eventually, he was chosen as the muezzin for the entire mosque, and he moved to the minaret at Bab Al-Mahkma.
Hearing him recite Azaan will bring peace to your heart!
How beautifully soothing!
In 1979, during the Grand Mosque seizure, Muezzin Ali was a witness to the incident where the Azaan stopped in the mosque for 23 days. Upon lifting the siege, he was the first to lead the Azaan of Maghrib prayer in the Grand Mosque, and King Khalid attended the prayer.
Azaan for Muslims was carried out for the first time on loudspeakers in Germany and Netherlands last year. A video showcasing the Azaan in the heart of Berlin went viral on the internet. Nearly 100 mosques in Germany and the Netherlands on a Friday rang the call to prayer Azaan on loudspeakers. This was done as a gesture to show support towards Muslims during the ongoing pandemic.
The same year, in 2020, Turkey turned the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque after the ruling of the court. Muezzin recited Azaan from inside Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years, and it was beautiful!
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