US city allows Muslim call to prayer adhan ahead of Ramadan

Ahmed Jamal, the mu'adhin of Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque, gives the call to prayer (adhan) from the mosque's roof in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood on April 23, 2020. Credit: Ben Hovland | Sahan Journal

The city of Minneapolis in the U.S. Midwest has allowed the Islamic call to prayer, known as the adhan, ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.

The call to prayer can be recited by local mosques in the city of Minneapolis, the largest in the state of Minnesota.

The city council approved a bill, presented by council member Jamal Osman, allowing the prayer to be recited publicly by loudspeaker between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., so long as local noise ordinances are respected.

Calling the measure a step in the right direction for religious equality, Osman said, "We have a lot of work still to do to make sure everyone is enjoying the same rights, every religion is enjoying."

Under the measure, mosques will be able to make the call to prayer by loudspeaker three times a day, except for morning and night prayers, provided that the volume is below a certain decibel limit.

"The Adhan is one of the most important parts of our faith," Osman wrote on Twitter, adding that the call can be made at the same hours allowed for Christian church bells.

He called the move "a signal of the equality and community we have built here. This is America and we are allowed to share our faith from the rooftops, just like everyone else."

The call to prayer was first legalized in the U.S. in 2004 in the city of Hamtramck, Michigan, by a decision of the local government, followed by Dearborn, the only U.S. city in the same state where Muslims are a majority.

The city council of Paterson, New Jersey, where nearly 30,000 Muslims live, was the third city to pass a measure authorizing the call to prayer, in March 2020.