Mosques are indispensable places of our religious life. What makes mosques meaningful is its community. Imams and muazzins are the people who unite the mosque with the community and the neighborhood, and make it the center of life.
Imams and muazzins address the minds with the prayers in the mihrab, the sermons and preaches in the pulpit, the salas and adhans in the minarets, and invite people to be in contact with people, the environment and Allah. One of the elements in which the invitation language is reflected to the community is the communication between imam and muazzin. It can be said that what is reflected through their relationship is more effective than what is preached from the mihrab and pulpit. This relationship is always in front of the community. While what is reflected from the mihrab is “lisan-ı kâl” (the message one gives by their words), those reflected by the compassion or hatred of muazzin-imam stand out as “lisan’ı hâl” (the message one gives by their behaviors). Their relationship is in a sense a “test of sincerity” of what is said in the pulpit. Therefore, their relationship, solidarity, respect, conversation, socialization, friendship, success and ability to work together are of high importance.
Researches indicate that there is a direct relation between the reputation of the person in communication and the audience’s change of attitude. The message from a highly respected person can be more easily accepted by the listener. The credibility of the religious officials as the source of religious services, particularly the imam and muazzin, depends on their reliability, competence, dignity, popularity, objectivity, sincerity, and consistency.
If an imam or muazzin behaves impatiently, disrespectfully or unfairly while on the other side talking about such values as patience, kindness, forgiveness, right, love, unity, peace, nationality, the community may easily feel it and distance themselves from not only the imam and muazzin but also from from the mosque or even all religious officials. Because their relationship is in a position to affect people’s opinions and trust in religious officials.
At this point, this article has been prepared with the objective to be beneficial in terms of the communication between the Prophet Muhammad as an imam(saw) and muazzin Bilal Habashi (ra), by setting an example of this relationship and its reflections on the community.
It is understood that there was a sincere relationship between them based on compassion, respect, and cooperation.
Bilal was always with the Prophet. We observe thatthe Prophet shared duties with Bilal, and preferred him when he was in search for someone to assign a duty. We witness that he had heart to heart talks with Bilal and protected him.
We comprehend that the Prophet was prioritizing Bilal on especially masjidcentered activities, collaborated with him and gave him significant duties from dividing the booty to people to important works regarding treasury and organizing charity activities.
We learn thatthe Prophet prioritized him while choosing a deputy instead of himself, empowered him for directing other duties.
It is also noteworthy that the Prophet complimented Bilal on many occasion. It can be said taking into account many hadiths stating the meaning and importance of being muazzin that he would compliment being muazzin in general sense, and Bilal in particular, as he was identified with his duty as a muazzin.
In addition to the general compliments, we also see special compliments of the Prophet Muhammad to Bilal such as “What a beautiful person Bilal is. He is the master of the muazzins.”
As mosque officials, imams and muazzins should be aware that while they are trying to ensure calmness in the mosque for a peaceful worship, their negative attitudes and behaviors towards each other prevent the communication in the mosque and have serious consequences such as destroying the peaceful environment.
Their relationship cannot be hidden from the community. Having a good relationship will have a positive effect on the community’s commitment to the mosque.
Bilal acted with the Prophet as much as possible both inside and outside the mosque. The Prophet ensured that Bilal was actively involved in the activities he carried out inside and outside the mosque, and gave priority to him.
As in their example, imams and muazzins should act together at least in the mosque-centered activities, should support each other, develop a sincere dialogue, and have a relationship based on love and respect. They should motivate each other with an encouraging style, take an approach that will honor one another both in the presence and absence of the community, and should strive to use a heartfelt language.
Ülkemizde din hizmetleri resmî olarak, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı tarafından; ‘Müftü’, ‘Vaiz’, ‘Murakıp’, ‘Kur’ân Kursu Öğreticisi’, ‘İmam’, ‘Müezzin- Kayyım’, ‘Aile Danışmanı’ vb. görevliler tarafından yürütülmektedir. Bu görevlilerden halkla en fazla iletişim içerisinde olanlar imamlar ve müezzinlerdir. Sürekli göz önünde bulunmaları nedeni ile imam-müezzin arası ilişkiler, cemaat tarafından yakından izlenmektedir. Bu sebeple imam-müezzin arası iletişimin sağlıklı olması son derece önemlidir. Zira bu iletişim, kürsüde mihrapta ve minberde söylenenleri test etme teliğine sahiptir. Ayrıca imam ve müezzin, din hizmetlerinin ve din görevlilerinin halka dönük yüzüdür. Dolayısıyla imam müezzin ilişkisi din görevlileri hakkında olumlu/olumsuz kanaat oluşturabilecek özelliktedir. İmam-müezzin arası ilişkilerde olumsuz örneklere rastlanmaktadır. Bu makalede Hz. Peygamber (s.a.s.) ile Hz. Bilâl (r.a.) arasındaki iletişim imam-müezzin özelinden/ penceresinden değerlendirilecektir. Çalışma genel olarak meslekî dayanışmaya özel olarak da imam-müezzin arası ilişkiye örnek olması amacı ile hazırlanmıştır.
Primary Language | Turkish |
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Subjects | Religious Studies |
Journal Section | Research Article |
Authors | |
Publication Date | March 15, 2020 |
Submission Date | November 13, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2020 Volume: 56 Issue: 1 |
Diyanet İlmi Dergi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).