Will you wake up to Islamic prayer call?

worldnetdaily.com ^ | April 15, 2004 | worldnetdaily.com

[ovrtaxt]

A holy war of sorts is heating up in a Detroit suburb, where members of the local Muslim community want loudspeakers on mosques to announce the Islamic call to prayer five times each day.

But the idea is running into opposition from other residents of Hamtramck, Mich., many of whom are Christian, who think the prayer calls as early as 6 a.m. and as late as 10 p.m. would be disruptive.

"When you call to prayer, you are proselytizing, and as a citizen of the United States I don't want to hear it," Bob Golen, 68, told the Detroit Free Press.

"It is not my God. My God is Jesus Christ," Caroline Zarski, 81, said. "I don't want this noise invading my home at 10 p.m."

The Al-Islah Islamic Center asked the city three months ago to alter its noise ordinance to allow the calls to prayer. In February, the council reportedly supported the change but sought a public hearing before making any change.

"We don't want to make it a big deal," said businessman Abdul Algazali, according to the Free Press. "It's a low-pitched voice. It's not going to wake up anybody."

City Council President Karen Majewski compared the call to prayer to bells ringing on Christian churches, though other residents were said to disagree at Tuesday's meeting.

Majewski says the loudspeaker measure is likely to pass at next week's meeting, and would subsequently take effect in late May.

"Petitions have circulated among mainly white and Christian members of the community for weeks asking the council not to amend the ordinance," said Councilman Scott Klein. "Both sides have issued threats of federal lawsuits based on the constitutionality of the ban or the removal of the ban."

There are five mosques in Hamtramck, and three others just over the border in Detroit.

On its website, the city says it provides "A Touch of THE WORLD In America," touting itself as "the home of the most varied ethnic mix of people and customs from around the world."

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[MarMema]

thought you might like to see this ping.

[CedarDave]

Give them all pagers set on vibrate.

[MarMema]

Replace the Catholics with Orthodox and keep the Jewish people, and you have a replay of Kosovo taking place, without the church burnings.

[theDentist]

Excuse me, but I'm from a small town, and I'd hear the bells toll for morning services (about 8 am), in afternoons about 1 pm, and toward end of day, every day. And Sundays I'd hear them before each mass.

It's much more appealing than someone shouting into a megaphone, but I think a good lawyer could make the same argument between bells and a muslim call.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

Because it is a disturbance. There is no rational reason for such.>>>

Ultimately there's no rational reason for church bells either. It's a matter of faith, not reason.

[MadelineZapeezda]

Thanks, MarMema, You are right.

[bk1000]

"The screeching and banging were enough to rattle your fillings."

You'd think the train would drown all that out.

[bk1000]

"I think a good lawyer could make the same argument between bells and a muslim call."

You are probably right. This may be one of the drawbacks to our open society. I don't think I would miss the bells as much as I would detest the shreiking.

[auboy]

Give them all pagers set on vibrate.

Surgically implanted, even. Sheik, rattle, and troll.

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[adam_az]

But I am tempted to go gnaw on a big slab of ribs in front of the local mosque. Do they go to hell if they just breathe the smoke?

Set up across the street, BBQ some ribs and hand out bibles. ;)

[adam_az]

Also, in terms of content, a bell is just a bell. Yes they are on churches and churches use them for a specific purpose. But all they say is "BONG!". The Islamic call to prayer is a verbal statement, saying a certain thing ("Yo! Dude! Get thee to the Mosque!", I would imagine). So the bell/loudspeaker analogy misses another crucial distiction.

[DTA]

see post #71 "Then came the Albanians. The Albanians came in the 80s and keep on coming. They are your Muslims. There were constant clashes between the old Catholic Poles and the Albanian gangs. The Poles started moving out of the town and it is now a hell hole on the same level as surrounding Detroit. "

Cat wallering today. The next move? Christian churches will start to 'nerve them' so they will set tehm ablaze, just like back in Kosovo

[nmh]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Not likely. Besides there must be SOME law that discourages repulsive callings such as this.

[Teacher317]

How well do loudspeakers work with bullet holes in them? This IS Detriot, after all! ;^)

[DonaldDuke]

When the call goes out, a little red LED on the chip starts to flash

How about a bone conductor speaker implanted right behind the ear? Jack the imam caterwauls up to 150db, broadcast, and the good muslims can keel over on their prayer mat. As soon as their heads stop vibrating, that is.

[Dan from Michigan]

And this is in one of the most famous Polish areas in the world.

[junta]

Or strips of bacon strategically placed.

[thoughtomator]

...and beer, lots and lots of beer

[fortunecookie]

Sadly, the ACLU is likely to rear it's ugly head in just a little while to help the Muslim group prevail in their legal suit to alter the city ordinance and have their loud-speaker call to prayer. Sigh...