Ramadan in Dubai: Your 6-yr-old son as muezzin? Meet young Emiratis chosen to announce prayers

How would you feel if you heard your own son reciting the Azan (call to prayer) in your neighbourhood?

Dubai is running a campaign called Muezzin Al Farij, aiming to select and hone the finest muezzins among children in the city's neighbourhoods.

Thirteen-year-old Abdul Rahman was one of them. "It's a sweet feeling," he told Khaleej Times. "I feel that God chose me. I aspire to be a muezzin in Al Haram one day."

It was his mother who asked him if he wanted to join the Muezzin Al Farij programme and become a muezzin, he said.

"I told her yes," Abdul Rahman said, recalling how he even trained with his parents and nervously recited the call to prayer in front of the committee.

His brother, 11-year-old Omer, also signed up. He was just as anxious but after showing the committee that he could do it, too, he was grateful to have been selected.

"My friends at school now recognises me as a muezzin and even asks for my autograph," he told Khaleej Times.

Here's a clip of of Omer reciting the Azan:

Both have recently performed prayers at Al Nasr Club Mosque‚ where Abdul Rahman announced the Dhuhr prayer and Omer announced the time for Maghrib.

Their mother Sameha, who lives with the family in Nad Al Hamar, said the new "beautiful initiative" captivated families and residents of Dubai.

"I hope more families would encourage their children to participate, as hearing my sons give the call to prayer fills my heart with warmth," she told Khaleej Times.

How muezzins are selected

Muezzin Al Farij was initiated in 2023 by the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai, in collaboration with Furjan Dubai. Since then, it has attracted more than 300 young Emiratis.

"The idea of the initiative revolves around strengthening Emirati identity and religious faith among our young children,” Jassim Mohammed Al Khazraji, director of the Maktoum Centresfor the Holy Qur'an and its Sciences to Khaleej Times.