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On Thursday morning, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance that allows for the public broadcast of the Islamic call to prayer, also known as the adhan, five times a day year-round. This decision is a significant change from the previous policy, which only allowed for three to four broadcasts a day to comply with city noise ordinances, and excluded early morning and evening broadcasts. The Muslim community had been seeking a change in policy, as Muslims pray five times a day and having access to the call to prayer is important for their religious observance.
Council Member Aisha Chughtai, who represents Ward 10, emphasized the importance of equal access for all people and noted that this decision would benefit people of all faiths. Mayor Jacob Frey has stated that he will sign the ordinance into effect when it reaches his desk. The ordinance was written by three Muslim City Council Members, Chughtai, Jamal Osman, who represents Ward 6, and Jeremiah Ellison of Ward 5.
The adhan is recited in Arabic throughout the world and begins by saying God is great, there is no God but Allah, and tells Muslims: “Come to pray. Come to salvation.” It is typically broadcast publicly while a community leader recites it inside a mosque. Last year, the adhan was first broadcast in Minneapolis for Ramadan at the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
Ellison explained that he and Chughtai had discussed how previous broadcasts of the adhan were limited to Ramadan, and that it did not make sense to require people to jump through hoops every year to ensure access to the call to prayer.
The decision to allow for year-round broadcasts comes with a week left of Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic calendar when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. Prayer, especially praying in congregation at a mosque, is particularly emphasized during this month, and it is also a time for enhanced spiritual reflection, reading the Qur’an, and spending time with family.
The Minneapolis City Council passed a resolution last March allowing the broadcast of the adhan year-round, but a noise ordinance still disallowed broadcasting it over a loudspeaker during the early morning and late night. As Islamic prayer times depend on the position of the sun, the exact times of each prayer vary from day to day. All mosques in Minneapolis are permitted to broadcast the adhan, and Muslim community leaders expressed hope that more mosques will exercise that right by next Ramadan.
