Here is another issue that has been clouded by talk of pluralism and religious freedom. That’s all very well; but pluralism and religious freedom are generally not allowed to non-Muslims in the countries from which the Hamtramck Muslims came to Michigan. Nor are they allowed under Islamic law. What demands will be made next upon the non-Muslims of Hamtramck?
Also note: the Muslims there weren’t going to respect the vote anyway. From AP, with thanks to KR Ingalls:
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Residents agreed Tuesday to include the Islamic call to prayer in the city’s noise ordinance, a victory for those in favor of allowing mosques to issue the call to prayer over loudspeakers.
Those in favor of allowing the broadcasts won the vote 1,462 to 1,200, or 55 percent to 45 percent, with all precincts reporting and all absentee ballots counted.
Opponents and backers of the measure acknowledged that the vote was merely symbolic. The ballot measure would not have stopped the amplified call to prayer; it would merely have repealed an amendment to the city’s existing noise ordinance. The amendment regulates the volume and timing of the call. City officials have said there would be nothing to prohibit the broadcasting of the call to prayer itself.
“Now we truly have approval from the residents of the city,” said Abdul Motlib, head of the al-Islah mosque, who joined others Tuesday night at city hall to await the results of the vote. “It’s a long time we are waiting for this.”
The City Council unanimously passed the amendment in April after a local mosque asked for permission to begin broadcasting the Arabic chants, traditionally issued five times a day.
The council’s action provoked an outcry among some longtime residents of Hamtramck, a once predominately-Polish city of 23,000 people that is surrounded by Detroit. In recent years, the city has seen a rapid influx of immigrants from Bangladesh, Yemen and other countries.
City Council president Karen Majewski has said that repealing the amendment would have left the city powerless to regulate the calls, but would not allow officials to stop them. Nothing in the current noise ordinance bans the practice, she says.
The al-Islah mosque began the call to prayer in May. Masud Khan, secretary of the mosque, said the broadcasts would have continued whatever the outcome of Tuesday’s vote. At least one other Hamtramck mosque also has begun the broadcasts via loudspeakers since May.