The Turks also built, close to each mosque, one or more candle-shaped towers, called minarets. About midway of a minaret is a balcony, and five times a day a priest appears on this balcony and calls the people of the city to prayer. This is done instead of ringing church bells as they do in Christian churches, for Mohammedans do not use bells, even in their own homes. When they want to call a servant they clap their hands. The first call to prayer is about five o’clock in the morning—sort of an alarm clock—when the priest says, “Come to prayer. Prayer is better than Sleep.”

Not many people get up at that time to pray, however. When he calls out, a very good Mohammedan goes into the nearest mosque to pray, or he gets down on his knees and bows his head till it touches the ground. Whenever he goes into a mosque he must first wash his face, hands, and feet, so almost every mosque has a pool or fountain, sometimes on the steps, sometimes in the courtyard, where the people can wash before they enter. For this reason also there are a great many fountains throughout Istanbul. They are not for drinking—they are not for beauty; they are for washing. The mosques are for men only. Women used to be allowed in little hidden cells in the mosque, where they could not be seen, for women and children were supposed neither to be seen nor heard. The Mohammedans’ Sunday is our Friday. The Mohammedan goes to the mosque every day if he can, but always on Friday.