Ali Ahmed Mulla

Sheikh Ali Ahmed Mulla ( _ar. على أحمد ملا) is the veteran muezzin (caller to prayer) at the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Ali Ahmed is up to date the longest serving muezzin for the Masjid al-Haram and has been following his family tradition in this noble profession for over 31 years. He is widely respected across the muslim world and recordings of his Adhan are widely bought and enjoyed by muslims.

Early life

Ahmed Mulla was born in October 1961, to religious parents of the Mulla family, and fathered by the son of Abdul Rahman Mulla, one of the most famous muezzins then. As he grew he was known for his good morals, good voice in addition to his islamic education, which he received from an early age. He has said in interviews that he frequently accompanied Abdul Hafeez Khoja and Abdul Rahman Mulla to the Masjid al-Haram, all of whom were notable muezzins of their era.

Family life

Mulla got married in his early thirties, and currently has a few sons, the eldest of them Atef Ahmed Mulla who he hopes will also become a muezzin at the mosque one day.

Career

Sheikh Ali Ahmad Mulla became one of the luckiest muezzins as he began performing adhan at the mosque when he was just 14, calling for prayer from the minarets in the absence of Abdul Hafeez Khoja, his maternal uncle, Abdul Rahman Mulla, his paternal uncle, and Ahmad Mulla, his grandfather, who were all muezzins at the mosque. Mulla began performing before the introduction of loudspeakers, when muezzins stood at each of the seven minarets such as the Bab Al-Umrah Minaret, Bab Al-Ziyara Minaret, and Bab Al-Hekma Minaret and called for prayer. The timing to deliver the adhan was given by the chief of muezzins from Al-Shafie Maqam, near the Zamzam Well and each muezzin repeated what the first muezzin said until the adhan was completed. It was a tradition started by the Ottomans, which is continued today in Turkey. After graduating from the Institute of Technical Education in Riyadh in 1970, Mulla worked as a teacher at Abdullah ibn Al-Zubair Intermediate School. He was officially appointed muezzin at the Masjid al-Haram in 1975. He has also had the honor to perform adhan at the Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medinah on one occasion. Performing adhan at the Masjid al-Haram, for Muslims the holiest mosque in the world, has been claimed by him as a very great honor.

ee also

*Masjid al-Haram
*Al-Masjid al-Nabawi
*Muezzin
*Mecca
*Adhan
*Imam

External links

* [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=34375&d=30&m=10&y=2003] October 2003 interview.
* [http://www.haramainrecordings.com/search/label/Azan] Ali Ahmed Mulla azan collection from Makkah.
* [http://www.haramainrecordings.com/2007/04/azan-by-sheikh-ali-mullah.html] Ali Ahmed Mulla