An imam is a person who leads prayers in a mosque; and in Muslim countries, hearing the chanting Arabic prayers of an imam broadcast via loudspeakers around town several times per day is by no means an unusual occurrence. Sometimes the recitation of the prayers sounds absolutely melodic; and other times — well — let’s just say that the content of the prayer is what is most important in Islam…
Video: Imam Leaves Microphone On and Snores
…but a video which has been circulating on TikTok allegedly caught an imam in Bahrain who accidentally left the microphone on; and his snoring resonated through the loudspeakers and around the community after he apparently fell asleep.
https://www.tiktok.com/@kingyadao/video/6949576353645743361?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6925829631396742661
At least one copy of the TikTok video is also on YouTube.
Summary
I cannot personally verify whether the video — which was brought to my attention — is authentic. After all, anyone could simply overdub the sounds of snoring over what would otherwise be the scenery of a Muslim community; although I am not sure why anyone would go through the trouble of doing that just to create a fake video…
…but if you have ever been in a location where the primary religion is Islam — I have been to several Muslim countries — and heard the prayers resonating throughout the community, you might find this video as harmlessly humorous and even get a hearty laugh out of it.
Whenever I hear the prayers publicly recited in Arabic by an imam from a local mosque, it reminds me of the sounds of a cantor praying in Hebrew or Aramaic in a synagogue — and why not, as Judaism and Islam have a lot in common…
…and I have to admit that when I first heard an imam reciting prayers through loudspeakers, I was initially taken aback — but sometimes, I find listening to them comforting even though I do not understand a word that the imam is saying.
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
