Picture This With Me

Yesterday (Friday) was the holy day for Muslims. The day of worship here works much like the U.S. Some people go to the mosque to worship and pray on other days, but Friday is the main day of worship (equivelent to Sunday in the U.S.). It's when the "imam" (the leader in the mosque) gives a message and a large amount of people attend, or gather elsewhere to pray.

So yesterday, after attending a conference in Istanbul, I headed out for lunch with some new acquaintances. It's was about 1:00 and the "müezzin" (person who calls everyone to pray via the loud speakers at the mosque) was just beginning the "ezan" (call to prayer). En route to lunch we turned up a pedestrian street. There were shops and restaurants lining both sides of the brick path but they were completely empty because their owners and employees were lined up in the middle of the pedestrian path. It was a fascinating sight. There were about 100 men in perfect rows, standing shoulder to shoulder, facing Mecca. Their prayer rugs were carefully placed on the brick path before them and their shoes were neatly lined up to the side of all the rugs. They were silent, but moved as if one robot, all in perfect timing. Bend at the waist...(pause)...kneel to the ground...(pause)...forehead to the ground...(pause)...head up...(pause)...and so on and so forth. Out of respect for the worshippers, we passed by quietly and supressed any urge to take a photo, so my description will have to suffice in giving you an idea of the scene.