JEDDAH: Sheikh Ali Ahmad Mulla has been muezzin (the caller for prayer) of the Grand Mosque in Makkah since 1975. He is considered one of the most famous muezzins at the Grand Mosque for the past 40 years and his voice is recognized by most guests that visit the mosque. Mulla was born in June 1945 in Makkah, and grew up in a family where working as a muezzin is a family tradition. His maternal uncle, Hafeez Khoja, his paternal uncle, Abdul Rahman Mulla, and his grandfather, Ahmad Mulla, were all muezzins at the Grand Mosque of Makkah. He received Islamic education from a young age, and graduated in 1971 from the artistic education department at the Model Capital Institute in Riyadh. He later received his master’s degree in the same field. After his graduation, Mulla worked as a teacher at Abdullah ibn Al-Zubair Intermediate School. In 1974 he was officially appointed muezzin at the Grand Mosque. Since then, calling for prayer is his main career, in addition to working in his own business. Mulla began practicing performing Adhan (prayer call) when he was 13 and practiced the call to prayer from the minaret of Bab Al-Zeyada in the Grand Mosque. He moved to the minaret at Bab Al-Mahkma and then became the muezzin for the entire mosque. In 1979, during the Grand Mosque seizure, Mulla was a witness to the incident where the Adhan stopped in the mosque for 23 days. After the siege was lifted he was the first to raise the Adhan of Maghrib prayer (sunset prayer) in the Grand Mosque, and King Khalid attended the prayer.