Bahia Shehab

Adhan (Call to Prayer)

2014

For the past 1400 years only men have been raising the calls for prayer all over the Arab world.

"I decided to have the call for prayer raised by the voice of a woman instead of a man. Mai Kamal is a 21-­-year-­-old mezzo soprano training at the Cairo Opera House. For the past 1400 years only men have been raising the calls for prayer all over the Arab world; I felt that it was time for the feminine to raise their voices with the same chant calling for people “to hasten to worship and to hasten to success” using Mai’s melodious young strong voice.

This is also a call for peace, equality and understanding."

Bahia Shehab is Associate Professor of Professional Practice and Director of the Graphic Design program at the American University in Cairo. Her artwork has been on display in galleries worldwide and on the streets of Cairo in the form of protest graffiti. Her book A Thousand Times NO: The Visual History of Lam-Alif was published in 2010. She is a 2012 TED Global Fellow and was selected as one of BBC’s 100 Women to represent women of the world in 2013.