MINNEAPOLIS — Authorities in Minneapolis will allow the adhan — the Muslim call to prayer — to be played over a loudspeaker at any time of the day. It will be the first major city in the United States to allow mosque muezzins to call the adhan over a loudspeaker five times a day at any time of the year.
On Thursday, the city council unanimously agreed to change the city’s noise regulations, which previously did not allow adhans to be broadcast at dawn and late at night at certain times of the year, reported the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The vote took place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“The constitution does not sleep at night,” said Jailani Hussain, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, after the vote. According to him, the decision shows the world that “a country founded on freedom of religion keeps its promise”.
Minneapolis has had a thriving East African immigrant community since at least the 1990s, and mosques in the city have become commonplace. Three of the 13 members of the city council consider themselves Muslim. The decision did not provoke organized public opposition. Mayor Jacob Frey is expected to sign it next week.
“Minneapolis has become a city of all religions,” said Imam Mohammed Doukuli of the Masjid al-Noor mosque in Minneapolis, who along with other Muslim leaders oversaw the vote.
Three years ago, the city authorities, in collaboration with the Dar Al-Hijra mosque, authorized the muezzins to broadcast the azan through loudspeakers five times a day during Ramadan. Prayers are said at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, at sunset and when the night sky appears. In the state of Minnesota, summer dawn can occur before 5:30 a.m. and solstice sunset after 9:00 p.m.
Last year, the city allowed the adhan to be broadcast through loudspeakers year-round, but only from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., which generally excluded the first morning prayer and the last evening prayer.
Interestingly, in recent public hearings, Christian and Jewish leaders have supported Muslim activists and have also spoken out in favor of extending the period during which the broadcast of the adhan is possible.
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