Publicity:

When it comes to the call to prayer at Jerusalem’s sacred and historic Noble Sanctuary which comprises the Al Aqsa mosque and the spectacular Dome of the Rock, Naji Qazzaz has history on his side. As a muezzin - one of a select group chosen to perform the call to prayer - he’s carrying on a family tradition, a calling that stretches back more than five hundred years.

Naji Qazzaz enjoys an exalted status in Jerusalem’s Muslim community. He believes his talent, his velvet voice is a gift from God, “This job was offered to me by God. I don’t do it for the money, I’ve got it moving in my blood and my body. I could never leave it.”

Naji’s talented teenage son Firas is the latest in the family dynasty to grace the Al Aqsa mosque with his deep and resonant tones. Naji a humble man can scarcely conceal his pride and admiration, “I swear to God that I did not expect to have a son like Firas with his rich and distinctive voice and all my relatives and the people are so proud of him and they like him so much more than me.”

Naji who has already featured on Israeli radio with his readings from the Koran speaks in reverential tones about his father - “This is a great honour that God has bestowed upon me to walk with my father into the Al Aqsa mosque.”

There’s a volatile political atmosphere in the Holy City. The Al Aqsa mosque is supervised and patrolled by armed Israeli soldiers and police. In fact there’s a radical Israeli group the Temple Mount faithful who want to tear down the mosque and in its place rebuild a Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans almost 2000 years ago. Firas Qazzaz’s measured and mature response is “They have hatred in their hearts for Muslims they dislike us and they keep saying that this mosque belongs to them. This group has no major presence or influence in Israeli society.”

Al Aqsa & Gold Dome of the Rock

Call to Prayer

00:00

BROWN: The call to the Muslim faithful drifts across the holy city Jerusalem. It comes from what is known to Muslims as al haram al sharif – the Noble Sanctuary.

00:19

BROWN: It’s the third holiest site in Islam – the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque are famous around the world.

00:43

Call to Prayer

00:51

Interior. Mosque

BROWN: Muslims believe this is where Mohammed ascended to heaven to receive God’s instruction -- the faithful must pray five times a day.

00:58

Al Aqsa mosque

Just across the way from the Dome of the Rock is the Al Aqsa mosque.

01:12

Naji climbs stairs

Naji Qazzaz has been coming to Al Aqsa day in day out for most of his life.

01:21

NAJI QAZZAZ: This job was offered to me by God. I don’t do it for the money,

01:39

Naji

I’ve got it moving in my blood and my body. I could never leave it.

01:53

Naji call to prayer in mosque

BROWN: While many are called, few are chosen and Naji Qazzaz is one of a select group given the honour of being a muezzin.

02:03

NAJI QAZZAZ: The muezzin must have a resonant voice to attract the worshippers and show them great respect and his spiritual feelings for God.

02:18

Naji and Firas on steps

BROWN: Naji Qazzaz is carrying on an extraordinary family tradition. The task of performing the Athaan -- the call to prayer -- has been passed on from father to son for more than five centuries.

02:36

Naji and Firas walk to mosque

NAJI QAZZAZ: Our job is a totally spiritual job because my family have been coming here for 527 years – since the Turkish were here.

02:50

Naji

And that gift has been given to me and my family from God

02:59

Firas

FIRAS QAZZAZ: I have a great feeling when I walk with my father in Al Aqsa mosque.

03:03

Naji and Firas in mosque

This is the great honour that God has offered to me to walk with my father in this mosque.

03:10

Firas leads prayer

Call to prayer

03:19

BROWN: Naji’s son Firas Qazzaz is the next in line.

03:24

Call to prayer

03:30

FIRAS QAZZAZ: When I perform the call to prayer my voice must be very strong and I like to vary it.

03:50

It is diverse and the beauty of my voice keeps the worshippers in an atmosphere of reverence and submissiveness.

04:00

Street near Qazzaz home

BROWN: Just up the lane from the mosque’s front door is the Qazzaz family home. It’s seven hundred years old -- the history here is palpable.

04:16

Inside Qazzaz home

And Naji Qazzaz is sure his grandfather and great grandfather would be proud of the latest heir to their legacy.

04:32

Call to prayer

04:40

NAJI QAZZAZ: I swear to God that I did not expect to have son like Firas with his rich and distinctive voice, and all my relatives and the people are so proud of him

04:46

Naji

and they like him so much more than me.

04:55

Photo. Firas

Firas call to prayer

04:59

Firas at home

BROWN: While the words have been the same for nearly fourteen hundred years, each muezzin has his own special style.

Fundamentalists like those in Al Qaida are opposed to this sort of variation.

05:09

Naji and Firas

But Naji Qazzaz likes to improvise; for him variety is the essence of the craft.

05:28

Naji

NAJI QAZZAZ: There is a special and different tone and sound for the noon and afternoon prayers and there is a different musical key for each.

05:36

Ext. Mosque

And there is also a special tone for the prayer at sunset and sunrise.

05:48

BROWN: In Arabic it’s called the Athaan. The call to prayer is when the faithful are summoned to the mosque to surrender to god.

05:55

people outside mosque

Even for those who don’t believe, it can be a really welcome diversion because it’s a reminder that for a few moments at least, people can transcend their troubled times.

06:02

Mosque dome

Music/Call to prayer

06:13

BROWN: Trouble has too often come to the mosque. It’s been the scene of protests, riots and attacks on the sanctity of the site.

06:29

It is precisely because of this site embracing the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque that Palestinians insist Jerusalem must be the capital of their future nation.

06:42

It’s hallowed ground – to not one but two of the world’s great religions, Islam and Judaism.

06:56

Music

07:04

Jews worship at wall

BROWN: Jews worship at the western wall because it’s the closest they can get to their holy of holies.

07:14

To them, this is the Temple Mount, where the second Jewish temple stood until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.

07:24

A fringe group of Jewish radicals want to turn back time, tear down the mosque and rebuild the temple in its place.

07:39

FIRAS QAZZAZ: There is hatred in their hearts against Muslims. They dislike us and they keep saying that this mosque belongs to them.

07:52

Firas

This group has no major presence or influence in Israeli society.

08:05

Police and army guard mosque

BROWN: Such is the volatility of this disputed territory that the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque are supervised and patrolled by armed Israeli police and soldiers.

08:16

FIRAS QAZZAZ: When the people come to visit Al Aqsa mosque and they can see with their eyes that it’s surrounded by Israeli soldiers, it will hurt them deeply in their hearts.

08:29

Firas call to prayer

08:40

Firas in mosque

BROWN: Soon it will be time for the talented teenager Firas Qazzaz to join the ranks of the muezzin at Al Aqsa, but his father is going to have a hard time letting go.

08:46

NAJI QAZZAZ: We are not going to leave here and when I stop being a muezzin I will keep coming here.

09:02

Naji

It will be very difficult for me to leave this job because I started doing it when I was 18 years old and now I am 49 years of age.

09:07

Naji and Firas in mosque

So it’s difficult to leave now, because our job is full of spiritual feelings and not a normal job.

09:18

FIRAS QAZZAZ: Some people have nice voices but because no-one encourages them they will not improve. Fortunately, my father encourages and teaches me.

I forget everything, because I am in another world.

09:37

Mosque

Music/ Firas Qazzaz call to prayer

09:56

Reporter: Matt Brown

Camera: Brant Cumming

Editor: Simon Brynjolffssen

Producer: Ian Altschwager

10:21