Call to Piety: The Role of Adhan in the Shaping Rumi Identity and Governmental Authority

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the intricacies of individual acoustic communication systems that have operated in Istanbul for years, with a focus on the Muslim call to prayer, adhan. Being the bearers of society’s religious, cultural, and social values, the religious signals have always been more than mere sounds and have been held in high regard for centuries. The power they embodied made them an essential subject of the political agenda for any ruling elite. As adhan’s symbolic image, both in the minds of Christian and Muslim believers, changed over time any specific religious sound is met with ambivalent reactions. The Ottomans followed a nuanced strategy to control their sonic environment and adhan was one of the primary tools that they have had in hand. Specifically, the study delves into the various ways of reciting adhan as a tool used by the Ottoman government to redraw the social boundaries.