Morocco - call to prayer

I have heard the call to prayer a few other times before we heard it in Morocco.  In Brooklyn when I visited with Bethany, she lived close to a Mosque and we heard it on our way to the subway.

However, for two weeks in Morocco, I grew very fond of this part of the Islam religion.  In Fes, we were staying right next to a Mosque within the Medina.  For me it was comforting to hear the 5am call to prayer both of those mornings.  While touring the Fes Medina with our local guide right inside all of that hustle and bustle was a Mosque, that Muslims took off their shoes and entered for the midday call to prayer.  In Marrakesh, as we watch the Square from one of the Terraces drinking our mint tea, we could hear and then see three different Mosques.  During this time we watched a Muslim climb up to his roof and face Mecca and pray from his rooftop.  On our final day we were in the Medina in Marrakesh and heard the call again.  It was amazing how the Medina got very quiet, during that time, for just 5 minutes.

During one of our home visits with Amina, we asked about prayer.  We had asked her about removing our shoes when we first arrived, and she had said "You only need to have them off when you enter the salon."  Mind you, her Salon, and two separate living areas were all one big room, but the Salon had a carpet. Notice in this picture that we all have our shoes off. 

After we asked about prayer, she actually demonstrated what she does for prayer.  She put on a scarf, took off her shoes, walked to a corner of her Salon and prayed for just a few minutes.  It was very powerful, how comfortable she felt with us within 45 minutes, and that she could perform her prayer in front of us.  We had the conversation about going to the Mosque or praying at home.   Amina said "It is between Allah and me where I pray."  We asked out guide about this and he said that men are supposed to go to the Mosque and that women do not have to. 

Of course we are not Muslim, and this is not one of our five tenants but somehow the practice of pausing 5 times a day and facing Mecca and praying for just a few minutes seems like a very good idea.  What if other religions in the world practiced this?  Are there other practices, like meditation, that are like this?  So among other things, I miss the 5 times a day call to prayer that we heard all over Morocco.