Mosques can broadcast calls to prayer during shutdown
Council motion allows for ‘symbolic’ twice-daily adhaan until end of Ramadan
Hamilton mosques will soon be able to broadcast daily calls to prayer during the pandemic lockdown that prevents gathering at places of worship.
City council approved a motion from Coun. Jason Farr Wednesday to allow “symbolic” twice-daily broadcasts of the call to prayer, or adhaan — once at noon and again a half-hour before sunset — until the close of Ramadan May 24.
“Essentially, they want to chime their church bells,” said Farr, comparing the broadcast to the regular ringing of bells in Christian places of worship across Hamilton.
It is not meant to be an actual call to gather in person at local mosques, which are closed along with all places of worship by provincial order to try to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Imam Sayed Tora said he was “thrilled” council was open to the request from the downtown and Mountain mosques. The Mountain mosque leader said the pandemic lockdown is particularly hard on members forced to stay apart during Ramadan, a time when local mosques are normally “buzzing beehives” of activity.
Tora said each broadcasted call to prayer in Arabic will last about two or three minutes.
While such calls traditionally happen five times a day, the imam said community leaders wanted to avoid neighbourhood disruption. “Many people are probably still sleeping at dawn,” he said with a chuckle.
Other regions in Canada and worldwide have also temporarily allowed the calls to prayer to be broadcast, including Peel, Halifax and cities in Germany and the Netherlands.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger praised the idea, noting he previously asked Christian churches to ring church bells in solidarity with front line health care workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
The city’s permission is needed for a noise bylaw exemption, an exception that already exists for Christian churches.
Eisenberger said the city will alert the public to the plan in a release and at an upcoming virtual town hall because the unfamiliar broadcast might catch some people by surprise.