US city of Minneapolis allows Muslim call to prayer on loudspeakers
NEW YORK – The Muslim call to prayer or the ‘Adhan’ can now be heard several times a day in Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota.
The city council has approved a bill presented by council member Jamal Osman, allowing the prayer to be played publicly by loudspeaker between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m, as long as local noise ordinances are respected.
Calling the measure a step in the right direction for religious equality, Osman said, “We have a lot of work still to do to make sure everyone is enjoying the same rights, every religion is enjoying.”
Mosques will now be able to make the call to prayer by loudspeaker three times a day, except for morning (fajr) and night (isha) prayers, provided that the volume is below a certain decibel limit.
Osman called the move “a signal of the equality and community we have built here. This is America and we are allowed to profess our faith from the rooftops, just like everyone else.”
Minneapolis will be the fourth American city to allow the ‘Adhan’, after Hamtramck in Michigan, Dearborn and Paterson in New Jersey.
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