A Line Has Been Crossed

Many are surprised, even shocked, to learn that a major US city is permitting the Muslim call to prayer (the adhan), to be broadcast publicly during the 30 Days of Ramadan. The Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota allowed a Cedar-Riverside mosque to declare the adhan over a loudspeaker five times a day. This neighborhood has become one of the most densely populated areas of Islamic immigrants, mostly coming from Somalia and Ethiopia. Locals have called the city Little Mogadishu. Several other smaller communities have also permitted the adhan to be heard daily in Michigan and New Jersey.

In a first, during Ramada 2020, the BBC (British Broadcasting Company) began broadcasting Muslim prayers in Britain on its network as mosques remain closed because of the COVID-19 virus. One commentator said, “In today’s Britain, it is extraordinarily unlikely that the BBC will stop broadcasting the adhan, once the coronavirus pandemic is over. A cultural line has been crossed.”

Many mosques in European cities this year are also broadcasting the adhan, including mosques in Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Stockholm, Hannover in Germany, and Oslo in Norway.

Just before dawn, the adhan is called out by a muezzin from the mosque. To each direction he cries, “Allah is greatest. I testify that there is no God but Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah. Come to prayer.”  Traditionally it is heard from the minaret five times a day, summoning Muslims for obligatory prayer and can often be heard by all from several miles away. The fifth call will be late in the evening.

Many traditional churches have a history of the ringing of the church bells as a joyful noise to signify it is time for worshippers to gather for a church service. No declarations are expressed. 

The adhan prayer call is different than when the church bells ring. The Muslim call to prayer is like a mission statement. It is controversial because it declares over the city or community five times a day that the Muslim god, Allah is greater, that Mohammed is Allah’s prophet, and there is no God but Allah. 

Dr. Gavin Ashenden, a former Chaplain to the British Queen, resigned his position in 2017 in protest against a Qur’an reading that denied the divinity of Christ in a church in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Ashenden strongly 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.”

PRAYER POINTS

• We proclaim into the atmosphere today: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF ALL. JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF MY NATION! All false proclamations that do not declare Christ’s Lordship will fall to the ground and have no effect (based upon I Samuel 3:19)!
• Lord God, we pray for Muslims in our nation and worldwide that their eyes will open spiritually, and they will receive the revelation that these rote prayers five times a day do not bring spiritual life or peace. Lord, draw them to Yourself, open their eyes to Truth, and reveal Jesus Christ is the true and living God.