MINNEAPOLIS — Muslims in south Minneapolis will be able to maintain safe physical distance during the call to prayer throughout the holy month of Ramadan.
The call to prayer will be broadcast by speaker five times each day in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood to allow residents to pray together starting the first day of Ramadan and lasting throughout the holy holiday.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey facilitated the noise permit after the community requested the service. The Council on American-Islamic Relations paid for the audio equipment for the broadcast from the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque.
The broadcasts are expected to reach thousands of residents while allowing residents to maintain safe physical distance for prayer during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, Frey said the broadcast should offer "a measure of stability and reassure our entire city that we are all very much in this together.”
CAIR-Minnesota executive director Jaylani Hussein says the call to prayer will be especially meaningful to elderly residents in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood who have been isolated during the pandemic.
Ramadan starts Thursday and ends May 23.
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