Minneapolis change allows for broadcasting Muslim call to prayer
Minneapolis, MN – As part of their daily routine, religious Muslims pray five times a day. Since prayer times revolve around the lunar cycle, they change throughout the year. In many places around the world, a call to prayer is broadcast from mosques to announce those five Adhan prayer times so people who are Muslim know it’s time to pray.
In most cities in the United States including Minneapolis, noise regulations prevent the call to prayer from being publicly broadcast outside of certain hours. In Minneapolis the noise ordinance only allows broadcasts from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. At some times of the year the morning and evening Adhan prayer times fall outside of those hours. This means that Muslims in the city cannot fully practice their religion in the way people following other religions can.
To address this issue, on April 13, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed an amendment to its noise ordinance that was brought forward by Ward 10 City Councilmember Aisha Chughtai. This ordinance change would allow sounds associated with religious worship to be broadcast for up to six minutes per hour and 60 minutes per 24-hour period, which would allow the Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast five times a day.
Councilmember Chughtai brought forward this change to the city’s noise ordinance together with the two other Muslim members of the Minneapolis city council, Jeremiah Ellison from Ward 5 and Jamal Osman from Ward 6.
Minneapolis is now the largest city in the country to pass such a policy. A smaller city with a significant Muslim population, Paterson, New Jersey, has passed a similar policy.
Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations – Minnesota was a leader in working to bring this policy change to Minneapolis. Upon its passage, he said this policy “sends a message to the world that freedom of religion is practiced here.”
Councilmember Chughtai said, “It’s really important for the city to approach all issues from a lens of ensuring equal access for all people, and that’s what we’ve done here.”