SALA (Chant from the minaret) (salat, salavat ):

It is a religious form of prayer full of love and praise to the Prophet asking for mercy from Allah, taking refuge in him, respectfully mentioning him and his family, and asking for his intercession. It is sometimes a composition and sometimes extemporaneous. With Arabic lyrics in prose, its chanting is called “giving sala or bringing salavat (prayers).” Sala is sometimes recited in a group or by an individual like the muezzin at a mosque or minaret or by dervishes at dervish lodges. Formerly sala was chanted before the morning-prayer and after the noon, afternoon, and night prayers. Sala was not chanted at the call to evening prayer because of a lack of time. It is also known that sala is recited from time to time at various religious and Sufi gatherings. The types of sala are as follows:

Morning sala: It is chanted before the morning call to prayer in accordance with its original composition in the dilkeshaveran mode (a mode starting with e” and ending on f’ sharp). Although there is a strong narrative that it was composed by Buhurizade Mustafa Itri Efendi (d.1711), there are also those who say it was composed by Khatib Zakiri Hasan Efendi (d.1623). The lyrics of the morning sala are comprised of three divisions:

1. es-Salat u ve's-selamü aleyk (Peace and greetings be upon you)
2. Ya seyyidena ya Rasulallah (O Master, O Apostle of Allah)
   "       "          "   Habiballah (Beloved of Allah)
   "       "          "   Nebiyyallah (Prophet of Allah)
   "       "          "   Hayra halki'l-lah (Best of Creation)
   "       "          "   Nura arsi'l-lah (Light of Allah’s Throne)
3. Allah, Allah, Allah, Mevla hu (Master, He).

It is chanted as follows: The first line is repeated after each line of the second division of the Prophet’s attributes and then it finishes with the 3rd division.

Friday and Eid Sala: It was chanted by the muezzins (who call to prayer) from the muezzin galleries prior to the Eid and Friday prayers. Khatib Zakiri Hasan Efendi composed this work in the bayati mode (one of the oldest and most used modes; it is a combination of the 4th and 5th Ottoman musical modes). The lyrics are as follows:

1. Ya Mevla Allah
2. Leyse'l-iydu limen lebise'l-cedid
   Inneme'l-iydu limen hafe mine'l-vaid
   
   Leyse'l-iydu limen rakebe'l-mataya
   Inneme'l-iydu limen terake'l- hataya
   
   Leyse'l-iydu limen beseta'l-bisat
   Inneme'l-iydu limen tecaveze ala's-sýrat
   
   Leyse'l-iydu limen tezeyyene bi zineti'd-dunya
   Inneme'l-iydu limen tezevvede bi zadi't-takva
   
   Leyse'l-iydu limen nazara envai'l-elvan
   Inneme'l-iydu limen nazara cemali'r-Rahman
3. Ve salli ve sellim ala es'adi ve esref-i nur-i cemi' i'l-enbiya-i ve'l-murselin
4. Ve'l-hamdu lillahi rabbi'l-alemîn.

The work is chanted as follows: The first division is chanted as a group; the second division is recited by one person. In the second division, which is comprised of 5 verses, each verse begins with the exclamation “Ya Mevla Allah.” Then after the third division is recited by one person, the sala ends with the fourth division being chanted in unison. Today sala is not recited in this manner in mosques at the Eid and Friday prayers.

Funeral Sala: There are two kinds of funeral sala. The salat-u salam is chanted from the minaret for the purpose of giving the news of death. The other is recited during the funeral ceremony when the corpse is being taken to the graveyard and after the corpse has been buried.

a. The funeral sala which is chanted from the minarets is recited to give the news as to when the funeral prayer will be held. We know from references that this custom first began in Egypt under the Fatimids. This manner of giving sala continues today with the sala being recited one hour before the funeral prayer to enable those who will attend to get ready for it.

The sala chanted during the funeral procession after the funeral prayer is a kind of dhikr and is recited in unison with those attending. It was composed by Khatib Zakiri Hasan Efendi in the simple hüseyni mode. The text is as follows:

1. La ilahe illallah vahdehu la serike leh ve la nazira leh, Muhammedun eminullahi hakkan ve sidkan. Allahumme salli ala seyyidina Muhammedin ve ala
2. Ve ala al-i Muhammed.
3. Vesalli ve sellim ala es'adi ve esref-i nur-i cemi'l-enbiya-i ve'l-murselin
4. Ve'l-hamdu lillahi rabbi'l-alemin (Praise to Allah, the Lord of the world).

The work is recited as follows: The 1st and 3rd divisions are chanted by one person; the 2nd and 4th divisions are chanted in unison.  Also, it is recited one more time after the corpse is buried and then the funeral party disperses. Burials are not made in this manner today.

Salat-i Ummiyye: It is recited lyrically in some religious ceremonies and on certain religious holidays, in short, wherever it is necessary to make an invocation to the Prophet Muhammad. The work in our hands today was composed by Itri in the ancient segah mode.

In addition, there is the sala beginning with the line “Allahumme salli ala’l- Mustafa” which is customarily recited in the mahur mode after the teravih prayer (supererogatory prayer performed after the night prayer during Ramadan) and the salat-i kamaliyye and salat-i munciya chanted at meetings of various Sufi orders.