Outrage: Proposals for a loudspeaker to call Muslims to prayer in central Oxford have been attacked by local residents
Posted on 01/14/2008 6:55:39 AM PST by Stoat
Outrage: Proposals for a loudspeaker to call Muslims to prayer in central Oxford have been attacked by local residents
Local residents have attacked the idea saying it would disrupt the peace and turn the area into a 'Muslim ghetto'.
But the elders said they still intend to seek planning permission to install the loudspeaker.
If granted, they would broadcast a two-minute long call three times a day from the Central Mosque, where up to 700 people gather to worship every Friday.
The idea has gained support from the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, who last week said those in opposition to the idea should "relax" and "enjoy community diversity".
But residents, who packed out a council meeting last month to signal their outrage, remain set against the plan which they say is an "un-neighbourly intrusion".
They said they would rally to block the proposal when it is submitted to the council in nine months time, when construction on the mosque is complete.
Dr Allan Chapman, 61, who lives near the building, said: "The response against this has been incredible, we have been indundated with calls ranging from stiff upper lip outrage to sheer screaming fury.
"The universal message is what an utter cheek to inflict this on a non-Muslim area of Oxford. If this application goes forward then a large number of angry people are poised to form an opposition to it."
Dr Chapman added the broadcast is not to comparable to the ringing of church bells because: "They are just a signal. The Muslim call is a theological statement."
Residents have said the main objection is the loud amplification of the broadcast.
Elizabeth Mills, 56, said: "We don't have a problem with the Imam climbing to the top of the minaret and shouting.
"But we object to electronic amplification. The Bishop of Oxford might say it's ok but he doesn't have to listen to it."
Martin Stott, 53, a member of the Oxford Oratory, added: "This is not an anti-Muslim thing, it is more about community cohesion."
A spokesman for the Central Mosque said that sounding the call to prayer is a traditional part of the religion.
Sadar Rana, 68, said: "Building work will take another nine months to a year, it is then that we plan to make an application to the council.
"We want to fix a loudspeak to our minaret to broadcast our call to prayer. We would like to have it three times a day but if that is not accepted, then we would like to have it at least on Fridays.
"We do not need the volume to be loud but we want to have the call in some form because it's our tradition."
Anger over plan to broadcast Muslim call to prayer on loudspeaker in Oxford
Get used to the broadcasts.
Next up, Shari'a Law coming to a neighborhood near you...
That’s what they do everywhere in the Middle East. It was only a matter of time. Eventually, as their numbers grow, expect more and more of these developments, eventually you can expect them to make “demands” once their numbers are large enough and they feel they have some power.
Memo to Oxfordians; You allowed them in. Now enjoy.
I am guessing that there are numerous muslim countries where even the notion of a Christian Church being built there, much less ringing it's bell, would result in anyone proposing the construction of the Church to be beaten, stoned, and then hung in the village square.
Uh, perhaps every church in the area could ring its bells at the same time. Loudly. And then, occasionally ring them at random times just to keep everyone on their toes. Sauce for the goose...
Yes, you're right. It's probably too late for England and for the whole of Europe as well. Let's hope that it's not too late for us.
What kind of religion has to yell at its members so they will pray?
What did they do before loud speakers? That had to be new at one time..in recent history.
I have been subjected to the listening of that crap and it drove me up the wall.
Hey, any of you folks knowledgeable about weapons care to opine on what it would take to silence these speakers from say 500-750 yards away?
Perhaps after replacing them a few times they may decide on a different way to notify their assemblage. Perhaps automated cell phone calls?
I'm pretty sure Mohammad never used a megaphone...
On a related note...there’s a Muslim hadith that says bells are an instrument of Satan. (If anyone wonders whether they’d be as tolerant, if the situation were reversed.)
Sadly, I believe that your excellent, worthwhile, highly effective and just generally-delightful idea would result in the Church being instantly shut down by local authorities as an "organization of racist hatred"
And some authorities may be quite enthusiastic in the notion of shutting down a Christian Church:
Revealed The hijab-wearing 17-year-old Muslim girl hired as a community police officer (U.K.)
They say they won’t turn it up too loud.
I’m betting the volume gets louder and louder each day/week, until it’s as loud as the moslems want it to be in the first place.
Oh well. The UK is determined to be PC. I hope they enjoy it.
With the expansion of Islam in American communities, It’s only a matter of time before we hear of musilm complaints about pork BBQ smoke drifting through their neigborhoods from a smokehouse restaurant they’ve encroached upon.
People laugh when you say such things, but what they don’t realize is that Lebanon was Christian up into the 60s and today is more or less under Sharia law. Look at what is happening in Sudan......... That’s exactly what will happen eventually. However, this reality is so far removed from the “paradigm” of most secular progressive liberal types that stating the obvious will only see a laugh, a shoulder shrug, and ill be blown off as some stupid radical comment.
The European lives mostly in a secular world. What he can’t come to grip with when he preaches multiculturalism and an agnostic value system, is that to the Muslim, Islam is the sole means of societal organization. The European can be as inclusive, open minded, etc. as he wants, he’s an infidel or at best a person of the book (Dimmih) according to most Muslims.
It is interesting how the pendulum swings. In Reston, VA, the melodious chords of three church bells made in Belgium have been silenced by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for a Catholic church. Whereas in Michigan, all in a small town listen to the Muslim call to prayer. I listened to the call to prayer five times a day in Saudi Ariabia. It was not a bad thing, but not something I would want to listen to here in the States. To me it was a strange religion in a strange land. But given the open border policies in the UK and the USA, given the waning interest in Christian religions, we can only expect more requests for the public broadcast for the Muslim call to prayer by people who practice their religion, who support large families, and by people increasing in numbers, political and economic power.
You might be onto something there. We could smoke them out.
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