McMINNVILLE, Ore. (BP)–Imagine you are nestled comfortably in your bed. It is officially morning but still dark outside. Suddenly a loudspeaker blaring an announcement accompanied by music invades your peace. The audible intrusion continues for almost two minutes. Now imagine this scenario occurring 365-days a year. The aforementioned is soon to be reality in the community of Hamtramck, Mich.
The City Council of the Detroit suburb voted unanimously April 20 to allow the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque to broadcast a call to prayer to its Muslim members via loudspeaker. The announcement will take place five times a day. Mosque leaders have agreed to refrain from airing the call before 6 a.m. and after 10 p.m.
Some said the call to prayer is the equivalent of church bells. Opponents argued that church bells have no religious significance. Both sides missed the point. Anything broadcast for two minutes over a loudspeaker before 9 a.m. is intrusive, regardless of content.
I consider myself a fairly serious practitioner of Christianity. That being said, if a local church — say MY church — wanted to start ringing bells at 6:30 a.m., I would protest. Even if they wanted to broadcast a lovely verse or two of “Amazing Grace,” I would ask that it be aired at a time that would not disturb most residents. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself. Since I would not want my neighbor cranking up a stereo (or anything for that matter) at dawn’s early light, I should refrain from the same.
Many communities have noise ordinances restricting not only decibel levels, but also the time of day when loud activity can be conducted. If Hamtramck does not yet have such an ordinance, I wonder how long it will be before it does? And will such a law be viewed as an infringement on the mosque’s right to practice its religion?
Beyond the noise issue, I do have to take issue with the argument that the Muslim call to prayer is the same as church bells. Followers of Islam are expected to pray five times a day while facing Mecca. The call to prayer is a signal for members of a mosque to call on Allah.
The call to prayer is recited in Arabic. According to Ergun and Emir Caner, authors of “Unveiling Islam,” the call is as follows:
God is great.
God is great.
God is great.
God is great.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
Come to prayer!
Come to prayer!
Come to success!
Come to success!
God is great!
God is great!
There is none worthy of worship except God.
Most church bells indicate the time. Some play a portion of a hymn unaccompanied by lyrics. I have yet to encounter a church that broadcasts anything close to a message like the Muslim call to prayer.
If a Christian church wants to begin broadcasting a statement of faith five times a day will the Hamtramck City Council approve? What if a Baptist church wants to air a verse of scripture like John 17:3 which states, “This is eternal life that they might come to know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent,” will it be accommodated?
While prayer five times a day is required of Muslims, I have found nowhere that a public call is mandated. The British Broadcasting Company once carried a report about a mobile phone company in the United Arab Emirates that offered Muslims the option of receiving the call to prayer via their cell phones.
An electronic organizer regulates my schedule. If I were Muslim, I could easily program my personal digital assistant to “call” me to prayer via an alarm.
It is my understanding that there are other communities with significant Muslim populations that also allow the call to prayer to be broadcast. The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State seem to be missing in action on “the call to prayer” issue. Usually when there is a situation that even hints at a state accommodation of Christianity, the two groups are Johnny-on-the-spot to insist the public display or practice be stopped.
If the public display of the Ten Commandments, the mentioning of Jesus’ name in a student-initiated prayer, and the recitation of “under God” in the pledge are viewed by “civil liberties” groups as an establishment of religion, then why is a Muslim call to prayer broadcast five times a day, 365 days a year, over a loud speaker not viewed in the same light?
Can you say “hypocrisy?” Say it louder. Say it five times a day. Say it over a loudspeaker at 6:30 in the morning; the ACLU and AU don’t seem to be able to hear.
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Kelly Boggs, whose column appears each Friday in Baptist Press, is pastor of the Portland-area Valley Baptist Church in McMinnville, Ore.
