Your 6-year-old son as muezzin in Dubai? Meet young Emiratis chosen to announce prayers

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How would you feel if you heard your own son reciting the Azan (call to prayer) in your neighbourhood?

Dubai is running a campaign called Muezzin Al Farij, aiming to select and hone the finest muezzins among children in the city's neighbourhoods.

Thirteen-year-old Abdul Rahman was one of them. "It's a sweet feeling," he told Khaleej Times. "I feel that God chose me. I aspire to be a muezzin in Al Haram one day."

It was his mother who asked him if he wanted to join the Muezzin Al Farij programme and become a muezzin, he said.

"I told her yes," Abdul Rahman said, recalling how he even trained with his parents and nervously recited the call to prayer in front of the committee.

His brother, 11-year-old Omer, also signed up. He was just as anxious but after showing the committee that he could do it, too, he was grateful to have been selected.

"My friends at school now recognises me as a muezzin and even asks for my autograph," he told Khaleej Times.

Both have recently performed prayers at Al Nasr Club Mosque‚ where Abdul Rahman announced the Dhuhr prayer and Omer announced the time for Maghrib.

Their mother Sameha, who lives with the family in Nad Al Hamar, said the new "beautiful initiative" captivated families and residents of Dubai.

"I hope more families would encourage their children to participate, as hearing my sons give the call to prayer fills my heart with warmth," she told Khaleej Times.

How muezzins are selected

Muezzin Al Farij was initiated in 2023 by the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai, in collaboration with Furjan Dubai. Since then, it has attracted more than 300 young Emiratis.

"The idea of the initiative revolves around strengthening Emirati identity and religious faith among our young children,” stated Jassim Mohammed Al Khazraji, Director of the Maktoum Centers for the Holy Qur'an and its Sciences to Khaleej Times.

By targeting children between the ages of 6 and 16 residing in different neighbourhoods of Dubai, and offering them the opportunity to undergo training in the proper recitation of the call to prayer. The process begins by recording a comprehensive clip of the call to prayer, lasting around 20 minutes, without any sound enhancements, in the presence of the child's guardian.

These recordings are then uploaded to a designated competition email address. A judging committee carefully evaluates the submissions and selects a representative, or "Muezzin Al-Farij," from each neighborhood. Following this, a competition ensues where the public plays a crucial role through voting on social media platforms to determine the ultimate winner. The participant who secures the highest number of votes is crowned the winner.

The impact of this initiative has already been observed in the community. Ahmed Issa Al Haj Al Qasim, a member of the " Muezzin Al Farij ", was featured in photographs alongside Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed. These photographs were officially shared by Dubai Media Office in X.

Sheikh Hamdan has demonstrated his commitment to support and recognize the contributions of both young and adult muezzins and imams. Recently he has extended his appreciation to adult muezzins and imams by implementing salary increases for them.

Additionally, the Maghrib call to prayer was recently raised at Al Wasl Expo Square, with Mohammed Yousef Mohammed from the Al Barsha district captivating the audience with his voice.

Videos of his performance went viral online, with people expressing pride in the young muezzin, and mothers seeking advice on how to enroll their own children.