Hamtramck, Mich., Split Over Muslim Chant

1010 WINS New York ^ | April 19, 2004 | SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer

[LurkedLongEnough]

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) -- Long known for pierogi and polka, this bustling city is now debating whether to add an amplified Arabic chant to the local sights and sounds.

In a sign of the deep changes in this once predominantly Polish town, City Council is expected Tuesday to pass a noise ordinance amendment that would permit mosques to issue the traditional Islamic call to prayer over loudspeakers.

But some longtime residents are resisting what they consider an affront to non-Muslims.

Hamtramck, a city of 23,000 completely surrounded by Detroit, has an old-fashioned, small-town feel, with mom-and-pop stores and American flags adorning many of the tightly packed houses. Polish groceries and restaurants abound, and if you stop someone to ask for directions, there is a good chance that person speaks only Polish.

But in recent years, the city has become much more diverse. Stores selling saris and halal meat have opened, and signs in Bengali, Arabic and Bosnian compete with signs in Polish and English. Only 23 percent of the city's residents specified Polish ancestry in the 2000 census. The town also has a sizable black population - 15 percent.

The relationship between old Hamtramck and new Hamtramck has not been without friction. On Election Day in 1999, members of a residents group questioned would-be voters of Middle Eastern or Asian appearance on their eligibility to vote. In response to complaints of discrimination, the Justice Department sent monitors during local elections in 2001.

Now the request by the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque for permission to air the Arabic call to prayer via loudspeakers five times a day has again revealed tensions.

City Council president Karen Majewski said she expects the council to unanimously approve the amendment allowing the call to prayer - which was traditionally sung from a minaret but today is generally recorded - despite some protests at a hearing last week.

Joanne Golen, a lifelong Hamtramck resident, said she finds the content of the call to prayer offensive.

"It says Allah is the one and only God. I am Christian. My God is Jesus Christ. That is my only objection - that I have to listen to a God other than the one I believe in praised five times a day," said Golen, 68.

Caroline Zarski, 81, said allowing the call would put Islam above other religions.

But Masud Khan, secretary of the al-Islah mosque, said the purpose of the call, which lasts less than two minutes, is not to proselytize.

"We are not inviting" non-Muslims, he said. "We are calling our Muslim people, reminding them they are obligated to come to pray."

Hamtramck's Bosnian and Yemeni communities each have their own mosques, but neither has raised the issue of the call to prayer.

Many Hamtramck Muslims said the call to prayer is equivalent church bells. And Hamtramck has several churches that ring their bells.

Opponents take issue with that comparison, saying that church bells today are used to mark the time of day and have no religious significance. If the bells are the issue, then turn them off, they say.

The call to prayer can be heard elsewhere in metropolitan Detroit. The city of Dearborn, home to one of the largest communities of Arab Americans, has allowed the call under its general noise ordinance, without a specific amendment.

Hamtramck's amended ordinance would prohibit the call before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. That will not always fit in with the Islamic schedule, but it is a compromise the mosque says it is willing to make.

The Michigan chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee urged tolerance over the issue, condemning the "resentment and negativity" expressed during the debate.

City Council member Shahab Ahmed, who is Bangladeshi and attends al-Islah, said he was surprised the call to prayer turned into a big issue. But he said he previously experienced anti-Muslim sentiment in Hamtramck - particularly during his 2001 council bid following the Sept. 11 attacks.

But Majewski, the City Council president, said: "I think the people of Hamtramck are extraordinarily tolerant, just as evidenced by the fact that they choose to live in Hamtramck with people from all over the world."

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[kezekiel]

Religious tolerance aside, I don't think I could stomach being in earshot of one of those things. They would sing Alllllllllllaaaaahu ackbaaaaaaar... and I would hear "Death to Jews and Christians everywhere!"

[IamHD]

Don't they have alarm clocks? 5 times a day? ugh.

[CatoRenasci]

Revolting. Why can't they just have a low powered radio station that transmits the call to Moslems, like a weather alert radio that automatically comes on and broadcasts at the proper times. Gets the word out to the Moslems, doesn't bother normal people.

[Iron Matron]

They would not be split over the muslime chants if they'd quit bowing and scarping to them.

Disturbing the peace is illegal.

Broadcasting where everyone can hear muSlime prayers even within the privacy of their own homes, not able to turn it off - is government sanction of religion.

As soon as the muslimes get this authorized, all christians need to begin praying in public and at schools, their radios on christian stations turned up to the max, driving thru muslime neighborhoods.

I am not letting ,uslimes take over this country - no way! They'd best sit doen and STFU unless they want to see what REAL AMERICANS do when pushed around.

[monkeywrench]

Because a radio is so, I don't know, this century.

[thoughtomator]

If I had to listen to that 5 times a day, within a week I'd be ready to start killing people, too!

[SouthernFreebird]

Why don't they just go back to the ME where they belong. They are fish out of water in America. Oppressive religion doesn't belong here.

[Snoopers-868th]

I think this is outrageous in light of the fact that cities and counties have been forced to withdraw anything relating to religion. I have even read where communities are complaining about church bells. We don't celebrate Christmas anymore we celebrate the winter "holiday." To even consider an ordance that would allow this special treatment is simply because these people are muslims and it is purely disgusting.

When are the people that immigrate here going to assimilate? This is what I find fault with regarding the whole of immigration. Our country was started because we wanted religious freedom and we are now shutting all those doors to ourselves. The doors should be shut to the immigrants who seem to be setting new standards for our country. Why is this happening--for tolerance? BAH HUMBUG!!

[freeangel]

Handels' Messiah being played in stores might be a nice touch too.

[Montaignes Cat]

The Saudis have a Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. This is the first attempt by the Islamic thought police to enforce their anti-Constitutional rules here. Don't citizens have the right not to be subjected to this noise?

[Master of Orion]

They'll probably illicit the help of the ACLU and they'll start the ball rolling by trying to silence church bells.

[Iron Matron]

Handels' Messiah being played in stores might be a nice touch too

Perfect!

If muslimes are allowed to spread their religion of hate, all christians need to get in gear and fight back.

Remember our GOD is MIGHTIER than any musime god!

[tkathy]

Maybe enterprising Christians should blast religious hymns at them 5 times a day.

[Xenalyte]

Isn't it bad enough that they have to live in a town named Hamtramck? How the hell do you say that? If I lived there, I'd drink in the mornings.

[OpusatFR]

This isn't about prayer. This is about creating mini-Islamic states within the USA. They have no intention to assimilate. They aren't Hassidic, or Amish as they claim to imitate.

http://www.youngmuslims.ca/articles/display.asp?ID=47

"I used to have contact with a unique community in the heart of Detroit, Michigan. It was originally settled by Yemen immigrants about ten years ago. Those Muslims could have gone the way of others and lost their Iman. But as you'll see, something quite different occurred.

I still remember my first visit to the area fondly. I was attending a meeting of the newly-formed local ICNA group and had never been exposed to the place before. What I saw amazed me. I was elated, in fact! Children were saying salaams to me on the street and women (in hijab) were walking around and going places leisurely and confidently. I saw Muslims who were Arab, Black and Bengali. But what took the cake for me was when out of nowhere I heard the adhan outdoors over a loudspeaker. They fought the city council and won the right to do adhan five times a day in the community!"

The organization of the religion is such that it cannot be one on one or even personal. It has to be within the community and the community does not assimilate.

[Snoopers-868th]

Wish I could remember the article but I think I saw it on FR. And I think there was some agreement to turn it down. I am so disgusted by this type of crap. Why are the ACLU not standing up for our rights? What is the deal on that? Or are we not taking it to them?

[Knute]

That is a MINIMUM of 5 times a day. There are also "special" calls to prayer if a member of the mosque dies, or any of several other occurances. In Istanbul a year ago, could hear the call from at least 5 mosques from our hotel. It sent a chill down my spine.
Give me church bells ANY time!