MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 on March 29, 2023.
Mosques in Minneapolis will soon be allowed to publicly broadcast the adhan, or Islamic call to prayer, five times a day following a unanimous vote by the Minneapolis City Council to amend what constitutes a noise violation in the city's Code of Ordinances.
On Thursday, 12 of the 13 council members voted to pass a resolution that amends Title 15, Chapter 389, which makes "sounds associated with religious worship" exempt from noise violations. One council member, Andrew Johnson, was absent from the vote.
The resolution amends the ordinance to allow "sounds created by bells, chimes, carillons, amplifying equipment, or sounds associated with religious worship no more than ten (10) six (6) minutes in any one (1) hour and no more than sixty (60) minutes in a twenty-four-hour period, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m."
The move makes Minneapolis the first major city in the country to allow the call to prayer to be broadcast for each of the daily prayers.
“This is a historic victory for religious freedom and pluralism for our entire nation. We thank the members of the Minneapolis City Council for setting this great example, and we urge other cities to follow it," CAIR-Minnesota Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a statement. “We would particularly like to thank Councilmember Aisha Chughtai, who led the effort to pass the resolution."
"To be clear, the language does not give preference to one religion over another. In the simplest term, we are aligning our ordinance with what the state law allows," Councilmember Chughtai said at a city council meeting last month.
In the previous version of the ordinance, the call to prayer was allowed three times a day instead of five.
According to CAIR, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is expected to sign the resolution on Monday, April 17.
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