Duke University Allows Friday Adhan

By OnIslam and News Agencies

Ibrahim Saber with the Duke Muslim Students’ Association rehearses the traditional Muslim call-o-prayer from the Duke Chapel bell tower.  Photo Credit:  Duke University.

Durham, North Carolina – Starting from next Friday, Muslim students at Duke University in the US eastern state of North Carolina will be allowed to raise adhan or call to prayer on a weekly basis for Jumu`ah prayer (Friday congregational Prayer).

“The adhan is the call to prayer that brings Muslims back to their purpose in life, which is to worship God, and serves as a reminder to serve our brothers and sisters in humanity,” Imam Adeel Zeb, Muslim chaplain at Duke, was quoted by wral.com on Tuesday, January 13.

“The collective Muslim community is truly grateful and excited about Duke’s intentionality toward religious and cultural diversity.”

Based on a statement by the university officials on Tuesday, members of the Duke Muslim Students Association will raise adhan or azan, from the Duke Chapel bell tower each Friday at 1 pm.

The call to prayer will last about three minutes and be “moderately amplified”.

The decision puts Duke University among few places in the US that allows adhan.

“This opportunity represents a larger commitment to religious pluralism that is at the heart of Duke’s mission,” said Christy Lohr Sapp, the chapel’s associate dean for religious life.

“It connects the university to national trends in religious accommodation.”

The Adhan is the call to announce that it is time for a particular obligatory Salah (ritual prayer).

The Adhan is raised five times a day.

But Muslims in the West were often unable to make Adhan for prayers as local authorities argue that the call would cause noise to residents.

In Muslim-majority countries, the adhan is broadcast from mosques and on television and radio stations five times a day to correspond with prayer times.

On Fridays, the day of worship in Islam, sermons are also broadcast.

The United States is home to a Muslim minority of between six to eight million.

A recent survey found that American Muslims are the most moderate around the world.

It also showed that US Muslims generally express strong commitment to their faith and tend not to see an inherent conflict between being devout and living in a modern society.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on OnIslam.net and is reprinted here with permission.

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