Minneapolis allows five daily Islamic call to prayers
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Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the first significant US city to allow mosques to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer, or “adhan,” five times a day.
The Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed a noise regulation resolution that allowed limited morning and evening calls during specified seasons.
“This is a historic victory for religious freedom and pluralism for our entire nation,” said Jaylani Hussein, director of CAIR Minnesota, after the vote. “We thank the Minneapolis City Council for setting this great example and urge other cities to follow it.”
Local Muslims celebrated the vote during Ramadan. Next Monday, the mayor will sign the resolution.
The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today welcomed passage of a resolution by the Minneapolis City Council allowing the adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, to be publicly broadcast from mosques five times a day. https://t.co/Oxj7uaNGg5 pic.twitter.com/eDlZWZDMMn
— CAIR MN (@CAIRMN) April 13, 2023
“Minneapolis has become a city for all religions,” said Minneapolis Masjid An-Nur Imam Mohammed Dukuly.
Last year, the city broadcast the call to prayer from 7am to 10pm, eliminating morning and evening services.
Prayers occur during sunrise, noon, late afternoon, sunset, and nightfall. During certain seasons in Minneapolis, sunrise is 5:30am and sunset is 9pm.
Minneapolis has had a robust East African immigrant community since the 1990s, and three of the 13-member city council are Muslim.
At a recent public hearing, Christian and Jewish leaders supported extending the hours.
In a country where mosque promotion has occasionally been met with Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment, there was no organised resistance.
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