The word, SHARIA - strict Islamic law - has already made its way into democratic countries. It is incompatible with a free and humanistic way of life and it is important to understand all of the ramifications of this kind of ruling. The West is in great danger if it does not recognize the full meaning of that which is being imported into its borders; it is an aspect of the 'cultural war' against it.
The wife of the imam who is heading the Ground Zero mosque controversy is insisting that they refuse to back down - it is a matter of principle for them that their plan go through. What chutzpah! Has anyone ever considered the call to prayer several times daily that comes from a mosque?
Jihad Watch
Anger over plan to broadcast Muslim call to prayer on loudspeaker in Oxford
Un-neighborly, yes. In The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon wrote that if the Muslims had won the Battle of Poitiers, "the Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet." Well, this may come to pass after all, before too long.
From the Daily Mail (thanks to all who sent this in):
Muslim plans to broadcast a loudspeaker call to prayer from a city centre mosque have been attacked by local residents who say it would turn the area into a "Muslim ghetto".
Dozens of people packed out a council meeting to express their concerns over the plans for a two-minute long call to prayer to be issued three times a day, saying that it could drown out the traditional sound of church bells.
But a spokesman for the Central Mosque said that Muslim's also have the right to summon worshippers.
Dr Mark Huckster, who lives in Stanton Road and works at East Oxford hospice Helen House, told the Oxford Mail: "The proposal to issue a prayer call is very un-neighbourly, especially in a crowded urban space such as Oxford.
"I have lived in the Middle East and a prayer call has a very different feel to church bells and I personally found the noise extremely unpleasant, rather disturbing and very alien to the western mindset."
He added: "If an evangelical Christian preacher proposed issuing sermons three times a day at full volume there would be an outcry.
"There could be a sense of ghettoisation of East Oxford. Cowley Road would have a Muslim flavour and could become a Muslim ghetto which is contrary to what we want in a multicultural society."
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Amren
Cultures Collide in Diverse Hamtramck
Uproar over Islamic call to prayer pits tolerance, tradition
Ron French and Kim Kozlowski, Detroit News, Apr. 26
HAMTRAMCK — From her front porch, Alice Dembowski has watched her city change, one tidy house at a time.
“Chinese, Polish, Bosnian, Polish, Bengali,” she recites, her finger moving down the block. “They were all Polish at one time.
“I’ve made friends. I go to their weddings. (But) we’re losing our tradition and I’m getting mad,” Dembowski said. “If they’re going to live in America, why can’t they be more American?”
Next month, Hamtramck will become one of the few cities in the United States where the Islamic call to prayer is broadcast onto public streets. The impact of that decision is reverberating across the nation.
Loudspeakers on an old brick building in Hamtramck have become a symbol of the struggle between tolerance and tradition, and raise questions about what it means to be American.
Bisera Vlahovljak, a Muslim who moved to Hamtramck 10 years ago from Bosnia said the call to prayer is about religious freedom.
“This is why I came to America,” she said. “I think more people should be respectful of others’ traditions.”
But Jamil Olinger, who lives near the Al-Islah Islamic Center, said the call to prayer “gets on my nerves sometimes.
“I hear (the prayers) at night,” Olinger said. “I try not to pay attention to it, but it does bug me.”
City Council President Karen Majewski said the controversy is about “change.”
“People are hearing something in this story that may have very little to do with Hamtramck,” Majewski said. “It has to do with change.”
Tuesday night, the five-member City Council is expected to give final approval to an amendment to Hamtramck’s noise ordinance that will regulate the calls to prayer. Twenty days later, the amendment will go into effect, and the al-Islah Islamic Center will be allowed to broadcast its call to prayer over loudspeakers.
The call to prayer, lasting one to two minutes, has been an Islamic tradition for 1,400 years. Historically sung from the minaret of a mosque, today the call often is a recording played over loudspeakers.
Although it is a public event in other parts of the world, mosques in the United States generally give the call to prayer inside their walls.
In Hamtramck, the call will be made live, five times a day, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., said Masud Khan, associate imam and secretary at al-Islah.
While only one mosque requested permission to broadcast the calls to prayer, the ordinance would allow the city’s other two mosques to follow suit if they wish. The ordinance applies to any kind of religious announcement at any house of worship.
“We are just praising God and calling our brothers to prayer,” Khan said. “I’ve been surprised by the reaction.”
Calls stay inside
Most mosques even in heavily Muslim Dearborn do not broadcast calls to prayer.
Imam Hassan Qazwini, spiritual leader of the area’s largest mosque, the Islamic Center of America in Detroit, said his mosque has a call to prayer inside the mosque.
“The reason we don’t do that is because our neighbors are not Muslim,” Qazwini said. “Raising the call for prayer outdoors would be purposeless. The point behind raising the call for prayer is to invite neighbors to come and pray.”
For 15 years, Imam Mohamed Musa was the spiritual leader of the American Muslim Society, the only known mosque in the area that broadcasts over a loudspeaker five daily calls to prayer.
The Dearborn mosque has issued the call to local Muslims for more than 15 years because most of the people in the neighborhood are Muslims.
Only once did a neighbor complain, Musa said.
Musa’s current post, the Islamic Unity Center in Bloomfield Hills, does not issue prayer calls because there aren’t enough Muslims living nearby. But he does support the Hamtramck mosque’s plan.
“Every religion has its different ways to call for the prayer. In Christianity, they ring bells. In Judaism, they blow the horn,” Musa said. “If there is no violation of the law, we have to accept each other and respect each other. We are neighbors in this great country. It is a very unique country because every person has his own religion and he can practice it. We are proud of that as Muslims, and non-Muslims should be proud of that also.”
Hamtramck didn’t set a maximum decibel level for the calls to prayer. Police will respond to complaints over the volume of the loudspeakers in the same way they now respond to complaints of loud cars or music, Majewski said.
“This is a ground-breaking effort, and I hope it will set a precedent for other communities across the nation,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights organization in Washington, D.C.
“It sends a tremendously positive message to the rest of the world at a time when we face severe criticism. America supports religious diversity, particularly religious support for its Muslim citizens.”
City of immigrants
That such a controversy would arise in Hamtramck is not surprising. The city has become Michigan’s Ellis Island, with immigrants from Europe, Asia and Africa settling there. In the 2000 census, 41 percent of Hamtramck residents said they were born outside the United States; English is the only language spoken in less than half of the city’s homes; one-third of the 23,000 residents report speaking English “less than very well.”
Between 1990 and 2000, the city’s Arab population jumped more than fivefold, while its traditional Polish population dropped by more than a third.
Shabad Ahmed, the city’s first Muslim City Council member, estimates that Hamtramck’s population is now more than one-third Muslim.
Hamtramck also is a city with a long and colorful history of political dissent. Many elections are followed immediately by efforts to recall the winners. Currently, there is a petition drive to recall three school board members. But even that tradition has bowed to reality: Petitions are written in Polish, Bosnian, Arabic and English.
“People are so passionate about the city’s character, whatever they may imagine it to be,” Majewski said. “Here, it matters who your neighbors are and what you hear outside your window. It’s a glorious thing and a maddening thing as well.”
Lawsuits threatened
Residents are circulating petitions to ban the calls to prayer and are threatening lawsuits.
Donald Herzog, professor of law and political science at the University of Michigan, said he doubts a legal challenge could stop the calls to prayer.
That hasn’t stopped the outcry from people who view the broadcast onto public streets as forcing Islam on non-Muslims.
Council members have received hundreds of e-mails and telephone calls from across the United States, complaining about the ruling. Council member Ahmed said people don’t realize that less than half of the Muslims in Hamtramck are from the Middle East. Most are from Bangladesh, with other large Muslim contingents from Bosnia and Somalia.
“When there’s something new, people are afraid to change,” Ahmed said. “But as a government official, I don’t see we could do anything differently.”
The Rev. Stanley Ulman lives in a home and is the pastor of the Catholic church, St. Ladislaus, across the street from al-Islah Islamic Center.
He thinks the discussion about the prayer calls moved from noise to religion because some community members don’t want to see their neighborhood change.
“I sense a strong bias and an anger,” Ulman said. “There is this feeling they’re going to lose something in this deal, their identity, their place in the city of the Polish Catholic community. There is a sense that they may want to leave or have to leave or be forced to leave or they won’t feel comfortable being here. It’s a change they don’t want to see happen. But I think it’s an inevitable change.”
Ulman was building relationships with some of the imams in Hamtramck but will soon be leaving his parish after 25 years because he has been reassigned to a Rochester Hills church. He hopes others in the community will not choose to leave because of their discomfort.
“That’s a pattern. When people don’t feel comfortable with people moving in, they leave,” Ulman said. “The only way to counteract that is to dialogue, and the only way to incorporate the newcomer is to make them feel welcome.”
Majewski, a historian of immigration and former executive director of the Polish-American Historic Association, said Polish residents of Hamtramck today should remember that a century ago, they were the immigrants whom Americans feared.
“At the turn of the (20th) century, there was a great fear that the U.S. wasn’t going to be Anglo-Saxon Protestant anymore,” Majewski said. “They felt the whole fabric of the U.S. was being destroyed” by Eastern Europeans who were Catholic.
“They feared we were losing the America that our forefathers had created. In a sense, they were right — America became much more diverse.”
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Watchman network
Many of you are aware that the City Council of Hamtramck, MI has passed an ordinance that allows mosques to issue the traditional Islamic call to prayer over city loudspeakers. Barbara Yoder, who is the Michigan state coordinator for SPN, has provided the following information and prayer focus. We have also received a posting from the Tampa, FL area in which it was stated that Tampa is perhaps the southern gateway of Islam. Obviously there are likely many other gateways that provide opportunity for the entrance of this force. Once precedence is set regardless of the size of the gateway or Islamic community, it will be easier for other communities to follow. Please join with us and with those in the state of Michigan to guard our nation.
Thank you,
Martha Lucia
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Dear Pastors and Intercessors:
Background of Immediate Call To Prayer
Detroit Metropolitan area is the major gateway for Islam in the nation. Within the metropolitan area are 5 major gates for Islamic people of varying national origin, from Middle Eastern nations to Africa. What is allowed legally in Detroit and Dearborn relative to Islam will affect the whole nation. The cities of Dearborn and Hamtramck (a city of 23,000 people tucked inside the city limits of Detroit, within 2 miles of downtown Detroit, and historically a Polish community) have made critical decisions over the past few weeks in the following areas:
1) Hamtramck has approved the Islamic call to prayer to released five times a day over city loudspeakers and
2) Dearborn has agreed to consider making two Islamic holy days official city holidays.
These issues have drawn national attention and would set a precedent others would follow.
In Hamtramck, the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque petitioned the City Council to allow mosques to issue the traditional Islamic call to prayer over city loudspeakers. The Council unanimously passed this ordinance and it will take effect May 26. Mayor Tom Jankowski has 20 days to veto this ordinance. This issue is even more significant because leaders of the cities surrounding Hamtramck (Detroit and Highland Park) were contacted over this matter and gave their approval for the call to prayer. If this ordinance is not vetoed, we could quickly see other cities in Michigan and the nation adapt a similar ordinance further opening the door to Islam.
Dearborn is home to the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the Middle East. The American Muslim Society on April 6, asked Dearborn's City Council to authorize two Islamic holy days as official city holidays. Currently, the legal department of the City of Dearborn is considering this request. If this ordinance passes, the city of Dearborn could set the example for national policy in recognizing the holy days of a non-Christian minority.
We are asking you to mobilize prayer, and to pray now for this matter. Suzi Armstrong has written the following briefing. Utilize the guideline provided to pray for both Hamtramck and Dearborn Michigan. Without serious, intentional, and concerted prayer over this matter, nothing will happen and we will find ourselves overtaken in the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions. See Jer 12:5 in the AMPLIFIED Bible.
[But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah's impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take to flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?
Barbara J. Yoder, State SPN Coordinator
Update -- Hamtramck vote on Islamic call to prayer
The enemy is pushing to open door in Hamtramck that would allow the Islamic Mosques to release the call to prayer over loudspeakers throughout the city. On April 22, the Hamtramck City Council unanimously approved a change to the city's noise ordinance that would allow loudspeakers to carry the call to prayer in Arabic five times a day. Last night, the City Council set guidelines for this ordinance and announced it will take effect May 26. Mayor Tom Jankowski has 20 days to veto this ordinance if he chooses to do so.
Many Hamtramck Christians have been vocalizing their opposition to this ordinance change. "It is not my God. My God is Jesus Christ," Caroline Zarski, 81, said. Petitions opposing this ordinance have circulated through out the city. Believers everywhere need to join with the cry of Christians in Hamtramck who do not want the Islamic call to prayer broadcast in their city. Hamtramck is a small incorporated city inside the city limits of Detroit. Hamtramck is a gate to Detroit and Detroit a gate to the nation. We must fight the battle at the gate!
It is critical that we do not allow the atmosphere to be saturated with the sound of the Islamic call to prayer. Let's not give the enemy a foothold to our region and nation through Hamtramck. It is a "sound" that will gather but not in a way that will bring glory to God our Father through Jesus Christ. It will gather people around a demonic altar of worship which will ultimately affect our entire nation. Ps 89:15 says, "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance (in the light and favor of Your countenance).
Dearborn, Michigan already has established the Islamic call to prayer in its city. Now Dearborn could open another door in our nation by being the first city to establish Islamic city holidays. The City Council’s legal department is reviewing a petition from the American Muslim Society requesting that two holy days be established as city holidays.
PRAYER FOCUS
1. Psa 18:1-3 I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, In whom I will take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Worship the Lord. Declare that His name is above every other name. Declare that He is the Deliverer, He is the Shield and strong-hold for Hamtramck. Declare that the Pharoah spirit will not captivate the city of Hamtramck and Dearborn.
2. Psa 18:4-6 The cords of death entangle me [Hamtramck], the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me [Hamtramck]. The cords of the grave coiled around me [Hamtramck]; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD, I cried to my God for help; from his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
Cry out with those in Hamtramck. Cry out for the cords of death and destruction to be broken. Cry out for the Lord who is strong and mighty, mighty in battle, Lord Saboath is His name. Declare that Hamtramck and Dearborn will be a gate of righteousness to Detroit and the nation.
3. Psa 18:13-14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies, great bolts of lightning and routed them.
Declare that the voice of the Lord is over Hamtramck and Dearborn. Declare that our God is a covenant making and keeping God; that we are His covenant people, and as His covenant people we ask Him to shoot His arrows to scatter the enemy. Ask God to release warring angels against the enemy.
4. Psa 18:16-18 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.
Declare that Hamtramck and Dearborn will be rescued from its enemy. Declare that the door the enemy opened through the City Council be shut and locked. Pray for the heart of the mayors of Hamtramck and Dearborn, that they be turned toward God Almighty. Declare that these ordinances be canceled (vetoed).
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