Michigan mosque to broadcast call to prayer via loudspeaker

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AFP) — Long known for pirogi and polka, this bustling city is now debating whether to add an amplified Arabic chant to the local sights and sounds.

In a sign of the deep changes in this once predominantly Polish town, the City Council is expected Tuesday to pass a noise ordinance amendment that would permit mosques to issue the traditional Islamic call to prayer over loudspeakers. But some longtime residents are resisting what they consider an affront to non-Moslems

Hamtramck, a city of 23,000 completely surrounded by Detroit, has an old-fashioned, small-town feel, with mom-and-pop stores and American flags adorning many of the tightly packed houses. Polish groceries and restaurants abound, and if you stop someone to ask for directions, there is a good chance that person speaks only Polish.

But in recent years, the city has become much more diverse. Stores selling saris and halal meat have opened, and signs in Bengali, Arabic and Bosnian compete with signs in Polish and English. Only 23% of the city's residents specified Polish ancestry in the 2000 Census. The town also has a sizable black population, 15%.

The relationship between old Hamtramck and new Hamtramck has not been without friction. On Election Day in 1999, members of a residents group questioned would-be voters of Middle Eastern or Asian appearance on their eligibility to vote. In response to complaints of discrimination, the Justice Department sent monitors during local elections in 2001.

Now the request by the Bangladeshi Al-Islah Islamic Center for permission to air the Islamic call to prayer via loudspeakers five times a day has again revealed tensions.

City Council President Karen Majewski said she expects the council to unanimously approve the amendment allowing the call to prayer, which was traditionally sung from a minaret but today is generally recorded, despite some protests at a hearing last week.

Joanne Golen, a lifelong resident of Hamtramck, said she finds the content of the Moslem call to prayer offensive.

"It says Allah is the one and only God. I am Christian. My God is Jesus Christ. That is my only objection: that I have to listen to a God other than the one I believe in praised five times a day," said Golen, 68.

But Masud Khan, secretary of the Al-Islah mosque, said the purpose of the call, which lasts less than two minutes, is not to proselytize. "We are not inviting" non-Moslems, he said. "We are calling our Moslem people, reminding them they are obligated to come to pray."

Hamtramck's Bosnian and Yemeni communities each have their own mosques, but neither has raised the issue of the call to prayer. Many Hamtramck Moslems said the call to prayer is equivalent to church bells — and Hamtramck has several churches that ring bells.

Opponents take issue with that comparison. They say that church bells today are used to mark the time of day and have no religious significance. If the bells are the issue, then turn them off, they say.

The call to prayer can be heard elsewhere in metropolitan Detroit. The city of Dearborn, home to one of the largest Arab-American communities, has allowed the call under its general noise ordinance, without a specific amendment.

Hamtramck's amended ordinance would prohibit the call before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. That would not always fit in with the Islamic prayer schedule, but it is a compromise the mosque says it is willing to make for now.

(UPDATE -- In a 5-0 vote, the City Council gave its preliminary approval to the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque to carry the Arabic call to prayer five times a day. The mosque compromised by agreeing not to air the call before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. )

CFPA: Where is the ACLU on this issue? They're always there to stop public displays of Christianity which they find so offensive...but not a peep out of them when it comes to Islam. This is how it starts...as soon the Moslems gain in population they start with pushing their religion on others. This whole idea of a public calling to prayer is not only offensive but obnoxious as well. It's time for Christian and yes Jewish citizens also to nip this in the bud....it is an outrage to have this satanic religion impose this kind of junk on America. The citizens of Hamtramck need to run their City Council out of office on a rail and elect a council that will do what's right...what's next Koran reading in public schools?

5.23.04