Weekly Loudspeaker Call to Prayer Resumes at Mosque in Canada’s Saskatchewan
Regina City Jamia Masjid started broadcasting the three-minute call to prayer, known as the adhan, on Fridays over the noon hour in June. The practice was put on hold that month amid criticism.
After getting a freshly renewed noise permit from the Regina Police Service, the mosque resumed the broadcast through a loudspeaker on its roof last Friday, adding an English translation after the Arabic call to prayer.
M. Anisur Rahaman, the mosque's director, said the English translation is meant to clear up misinformation about the call to prayer.
"If somebody doesn't know what we are saying in Arabic, they obviously have misunderstanding," he said.
Rahaman said the mosque will have to apply for a new noise permit each time it broadcasts the call to prayer.
The mosque conducted a survey alongside the police last month to help decide whether it would continue the broadcast.
Rahaman said of the 219 responses to the survey, only 30 of them came from people who lived within a one-kilometer radius of the mosque and would be affected by the noise.
Eight of those 30 people are in favour of the broadcast, Rahaman said. Of the other 22, only two people said the noise was the reason they were opposed to the broadcast, he said.
"The issue is Islam as a religion," Rahaman said.
He said misinformation about Islam was the main reason people opposed the call to prayer.
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Despite the earlier threats to the mosque, Rahaman said he doesn't think resuming the broadcast poses a safety risk.
"The fears that we had at the very beginning, I think those are reduced. We don't have any harm that we think that we should face. The Regina downtown is very good," he said.
Rahaman said he's been in talks with other religious leaders and that they have supported him.
He said he hopes continuing to broadcast the call to prayer will help people learn more about the Muslim faith and come to a better understanding.
"We are very positive that, like, as time [passes], we are talking and meeting with the community members and they understand," Rahaman said.
Source: Cbc.ca
