12-mosque town in heart of America
Hamtramck became the first in America to elect a Muslim majority to its city council We have no problem with the Polish, we have no problem with the black community. We are living together peacefully. Nobody complains about the call to prayer... Masoud K
Hamtramck in Michigan made history in November when it became the first US town to elect a Muslim majority to its Council
Three faces from afar — a man in a headdress and a veiled girl and woman — greet patrons at a Yemeni restaurant in the US city of Hamtramck, gazing into the distance from a mural outside the eatery.
The colourful painting is just another piece of the everchanging backdrop in this industrial Michigan town, which made history in November when it became the first in America to elect a Muslim majority to its city council.
Amid heated rhetoric on Muslims across the county during the presidential campaign season, Hamtramck — located just a 15-minute drive from Detroit — has embraced them. The Paris attacks and San Bernardino killings sent a knee-jerk reaction through some quarters, with Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump going so far as to call for an outright ban on Muslims entering the country.
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Proud announcement
But such is not the case here. Hamtramck is “a manifestation of what America is meant to be. A place of opportunity,” said Mayor Karen Majewski, who proudly announced that Syrian refugees were recently welcomed into the city.
One-storey houses squeeze in tight next to each other in Hamtramck, which is home to 22,300 residents and has a total area of just over 5 sq km.
On its two main streets, women in hijabs and niqabs — the latter cover the face completely except for an opening for the eyes — girls in tight jeans, men with closely shaved heads and youths in baggy pants pass by each other.
Stores, restaurants and supermarkets are equally diverse, welcoming Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian and Polish clientele. Kebab vendors coexist alongside Indian food joints.
Sitting across from a church is Al Islah Mosque, one of the largest of the city’s 12. Since 2004, a muezzin has called the faithful to prayer from makeshift minarets. “We have no problem with the Polish, we have no problem with the black community. We are living together peacefully. Nobody complains about the call to prayer anymore,” said mosque secretary Masoud Khan.
Muslim holy days, he noted, are public holidays here, and schools and city offices close on those days.
A five-minute walk away, an imposing statue of late pope John Paul II serves as a reminder of a Catholic past in the city of immigrants.