MINNEAPOLIS NEIGHBORHOOD TO BROADCAST ISLAMIC CALL TO PRAYER
OVER LOUDSPEAKERS FIVE TIMES A DAY
BY ROBERT SPENCER
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research
purposes:
Here is some exciting news for those who are impatient for our glorious multicultural future to arrive. This is only supposed to be for Ramadan, but in today’s Minneapolis, it is extraordinarily unlikely that the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood will stop broadcasting the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, once Ramadan is over. A cultural line has been crossed. And the implications of this, beyond the expected hosannas from the usual proponents of globalism and multiculturalism, are ominous.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a friend and supporter of Ilhan Omar, is no doubt thrilled to do this, as it demonstrates how “inclusive” his city is. And that’s wonderful, but when the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood broadcasts the Islamic call to prayer, what exactly is it broadcasting? The adhan, prayed in Arabic, goes like this:
Allah is greater (Allahu akbar); intoned four times.
I testify that there is no God but Allah (Ashhadu anna la ila ill Allah); intoned twice.
I testify that Mohammed is Allah’s Prophet (Ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah); intoned twice.
Come to prayer (Hayya alas salah); intoned twice.
Come to security/salvation (Hayya alal falah); intoned twice.
Allah is greater (Allahu akbar); intoned twice.
There is no God but Allah (La ilah ill Allah); intoned once.
Dr. Gavin Ashenden, former chaplain to the British queen, who resigned his position in protest against a Qur’an reading in a Scottish church,
observed that “the Muslim call to prayer is a dramatic piece of Islamic triumphalism. It proclaims Islam’s superiority over all other religions, and in so doing casts Jesus in the role of a charlatan and a liar. The Muslim god, Allah, is unknowable and has no son. Jesus was, therefore, a fraud in claiming He and the Father are one.”
Is the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis really wise to broadcast repeatedly a declaration of the superiority of Islam, a faith that directs its adherents to make war against Christians and other non-Muslims and subjugate them as inferiors under the hegemony of believers (cf. Qur’an 9:29)?
Is the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis wise to broadcast the cry “Allahu akbar,” beloved of jihad terrorists the world over? Chief 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta wrote this in his
letter to himself before carrying out his jihad mission: “When the confrontation begins, strike like champions who do not want to go back to this world. Shout, ‘Allahu Akbar,’ because this strikes fear in the hearts of the non-believers.” This is why the Fort Hood jihad killer, Nidal Malik Hasan, shouted it as he shot thirteen Americans in November 2009, and why so many other jihadis have used it essentially as an announcement that non-Muslims are about to die.
But in Minneapolis today, any such concerns will be dismissed out of hand as “Islamophobic.” Jacob Frey and other Minneapolis officials are no doubt certain that Muslim communities in the city will be grateful, and will redouble their efforts to become loyal, productive citizens, marching together with non-Muslims in Minnesota into the glorious multicultural future. That’s the way it will work out. Isn’t it? No Muslims will take seriously the adhan’s declarations of Islamic superiority and heed the Qur’an’s calls to wage war against unbelievers. Will they? In multiculti Minneapolis today, such an idea is inconceivable!
“Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast in Minneapolis neighborhood,” by Jean Hopfensperger,
Star Tribune, April 22, 2020:
The Muslim call to prayer will be broadcast the traditional five times a day in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, beginning with the start of Ramadan this week and continuing through the end of the religious holiday in May.
It will be the first time the call to prayer, commonly broadcast from mosques in Muslim nations, will be heard in Minnesota.
Designed to encourage Muslims to maintain safe distancing during a holiday typically marked by community prayer, the arrangement was approved Tuesday by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, working in collaboration with Minnesota’s Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque.
“At a time when physical distancing requires we pray apart, it’s incumbent on leaders to create a sense of togetherness where we can,” said Frey in a news release. “Adhan [the call to prayer] provides solidarity and comfort, both of which are essential during a time of crisis.”
The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is home to one of the largest populations of Muslim Americans in Minnesota. The majority are from east African nations such as Somalia and Ethiopia.
Imam Sharif Mohamed of the neighborhood’s Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque said the broadcasts are a way to remind the faithful that they “are not alone,” even as they’ve spent weeks inside their homes.
“This is a reconnection, a calming, to give people assurance that we are with you,” said Mohamed. “That’s what we try to achieve.”
While not unprecedented, the broadcasting of the Muslim prayers in a U.S. city is unusual, said Jaylani Hussein, director of CAIR-Minnesota. The city of Dearborn, Mich., has permitted the broadcasts for a number of years, and the city of Paterson, N.J., approved a request in March, according to news reports.
Minneapolis is a little different, because the prayers will be broadcast in the heart of a large metropolitan area, Hussein said. The common thread linking the cities with broadcasts is their large number of Muslim residents, he said…
“Just as we have historically allowed churches to call out for prayers using a bell, this is a continuation of the same freedom that other faiths have had,” Hussein said.
CAIR provided the funding for the audio equipment that will be used to broadcast from the mosque. The broadcasts will begin at sunrise and end at sunset. They will run through the evening of May 23, the end of Ramadan.
