More Random Thoughts

Hearing the muezzin call to prayer both in Israel and here in Egypt is so evocative. The sound of the call is quite beautiful.  Our guide said to be a good Muslim one must pray 5 times a day, but said he personally doesn't believe that it needs to be at set times or in a mosque.  When we were in the Khan Khalili suq, there is a large mosque on the square and enormous inverted umbrellas open before the call. We thought they were part of the decoration, but they were to shade the men praying, and folded up after prayers.  It was a very moving sight to see many men in prayers, stopping everything, including asking tourists to buy things, in order to pray.  We walked on and came upon a group of women praying further down the street, facing East, but separated from the men.  As we traveled, I began to use the muezzin's call as a sort of clock, but often a very beautiful one, and always reminding me I was in Egypt.