Religion in Niger

Every morning (5:30) we wake up to the Muezzin’s call to prayer.  Well actually it isn’t the Muezzin.  He used to climb the stairs of the Minaret and yell.  Now, he just pushes a button on the tape player or iPod and it comes out on a loud speaker from the top of the Mosque.  Actually, it is on the loud speaker on every Mosque in town.  They all start at about the same time, but not quite the same time, so it is like an echo floating around town.  The loud speakers work very well so everyone in town hears the call… at 5:30 in the morning.  Think of an air raid siren going off 5 times a day, starting at 5:30.  We’d do well to add a microphone to our church bells and ring them more often.

The call to prayer is heard at dawn, at the midday, about the middle of the afternoon, just after sunset, and at nightfall about two hours after sunset.  It is called the “Adhan” and goes like this:

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar,  (God is the greatest, God is the greatest) (2x)

Ash-hadu an’ la ilaha ill Allah,  (I bear witness that there is no God but Allah) (2x)

Ash-hadu ana Muhammadan Rasoolallah, (I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah) (2x)

Hayya ‘alas-Salah, (Rush to prayer) (4x)

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, (God is the greatest, God is the greatest)

La illaha ill Allah (There is no God but Allah

Sometimes in the morning prayer I am told they add the line, "It is better to pray than to sleep."  

Of course, not everybody prays, not everybody prays all five times, and not everybody is into it.  It is like Christianity, some are into it, and some aren’t.

It is interesting to see the men praying.  (I never see the women pray and they are not obliged to so although there seems to be some controversy about this.)  Several or many will gather out by the street, in a Mosque, on a patio,  I even saw them praying at a fabric store.  There is a cleansing ritual before prayers to get your ready and then a set ritual during prayers.  The ritual is folding your arms and facing Mecca, kneeling, prostrating yourself, and then rising.  Everyone does it all together.  Those who do pray regularly will always have a prayer rug with them.

I guess what is remarkable is the commitment these men have to their faith.  Just think of taking 5-10minute quiet times, 5 times a day, everyday and showing the world that you are doing it.  We don’t have time for it.  The “it,” being God.  Sally and I have been attending prayer time each weekday.  It lasts about 20 minutes except on Wednesdays it goes for an hour.  This is a big chunk out of our morning, a disruption; a good one, but still a disruption at times.  I can’t imagine doing it 5 times each day.

We have been exposed to a lot of Nigerien Christians too.  The ones we have been around are certainly into their faith.  They need to be for many of them who have not grown up in the faith have had to endure banishment from their families and communities.  For some, to say that you believe in Jesus is to say that there is more than one God and in Islam that is not allowed.  I can’t imagine we are much more accepting when someone converts to another faith, even within Christianity.

We have been told that Christianity is exploding in Niger.  While it may be a bang, I don’t think it is a very big bang yet.  But those that have joined are going to change the world because of the commitment they have had to make and the social hardship they have had to endure.  There is no milk-toast Christianity here.