LONDON: A British-Muslim entrepreneur delivered the adhan from London’s iconic Westminster Bridge on Friday, dedicating the call to prayer to thousands of Palestinians who have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza.
Kazi Shafiqur Rahman, 38, performed the adhan in the style of the Grand Mosque of Makkah’s head muezzin, Sheikh Ali Ahmad Mulla, whom he has been a fan of since childhood.
Mulla has been a muezzin at the Grand Mosque since 1975 and his powerful voice is familiar to Muslims worldwide.
Friday’s event, with London’s towering Big Ben in the background, was the third time that the entrepreneur has performed the adhan at a renowned location in the UK’s capital. He delivered the adhan from Tower Bridge in 2021 and Canary Wharf the previous year.
Rahman told Arab News that delivering the adhan in a public place was a gift from him to the people.
“This is a gift from me to the people, and not just Muslim people, as so many non-Muslim people appreciate it as well,” he said.
He dedicated the adhan to the 33,175 Palestinians who have been killed in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 and the victims of the 2017 London Bridge attack.
“The adhan is a beautiful message of God, and this is a prayer for those who lost their lives in the 2017 London Bridge terror attack. It is also a message of solidarity to my brothers and sisters who were killed in Gaza,” Rahman said.
Rahman said he chose to express his solidarity by performing the adhan after seeing how much traction his previous calls to prayer in Canary Wharf and Tower Bridge created.
“I saw the power of the adhan when I performed it in public previously, and that’s why I chose the call to prayer to express my solidarity,” he said.
