Rahim Moazenzadeh Ardabili (; September 23, 1925 â May 25, 2005) was an Iranian muezzin. He is known as the "Bilal of Iran."
Moazenzadeh was born in Ardabil province to a religious Azeri-Iranian family. His father Abdul Karim Moazzen Zadeh Ardabili was the first Muezzin to call the adhan, or call to prayer, on Iranian television. His voice was broadcast by radio from 1943âÂÂ1947, and he carried out the morning program of radio at the Imamzadeh Mosque in Tehran, until 1947 when he died. Rahim continued to issue the call to prayer after him.
His adhan is recited in the dastgah of Bayat-e Turk, a musical scale in Azerbaijani traditional music. It can still be heard on Iranian radio and is regularly played on television. Moazenzadeh has stated:
Moazenzadeh died in Tehran at the age of 80.
Moazenzadeh's adhan, recorded in 1955 while fasting, has been officially registered as an item in Iran's national List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. It is the first adhan to be included in the registry, according to Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization. It was also added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2012.
Iranian singer and ostad Mohammad-Reza Shajarian says about Moazenzadeh's Adhan: Shahram Nazeri, another ostad and Iranian classical musician, says: