Azaan echoes at London’s iconic monument Tower Bridge

LONDON: The historic monument, Tower Bridge, echoes with Azaan given by British-Muslim entrepreneur to mark the last Friday of Ramadan 2021.

Kazi Shafiqur Rehman, 35, delivered Azaan in the style of the Grand Mosque’s head muezzin, Sheikh Ali Ahmad Mulla. While giving a call to prayer on the UK’s popular historic monument, he wore a white thobe and Saudi ghutra as part of an inter-faith virtual iftar.

Mulla has been serving as the head muezzin at the Grand Mosque since 1975 and Muslims all around the globe recognise his voice irrespective of whether they have visited the Grand Mosque or not.

The Azaan at the Tower Bridge was given during an Iftar hosted by Tower Hamlet Homes, East London Mosque, London Muslim Center, and Tower Hamlets Interfaith Forum.

While talking to Arab News, Rehman said that he felt satisfaction after delivering Azaan publicly and too from the Tower Bridge.

“I am just an ordinary individual and for me to be blessed with such an opportunity is humbling,” he said. Rehman has been delivering calls to prayer in the mosques for the past two decades, however, this is the second time he has given Azaan at London’s popular location.Last year, he had delivered Azaan at London’s financial district, Canary Wharf. His video was watched a million times.

“After delivering the Azaan in Canary Wharf last year, I realised that the call to prayer is such a strong message and that I was sending it out across the world via social media,” Rahman said.

“It had such a huge reach even on LinkedIn, and many non-Muslims said how mesmerising they found the Azaan, and were asking about what it was,” he added.

He wants to deliver Azaan at other global iconic locations including Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.