The Muslim call to prayer, known as the adhan, will echo from loudspeakers through parts of Minneapolis five times per day for the entirety of Ramadan in what is believed the be the first time the Islamic call has been publicly broadcast in a major U.S. city.
Recited by different representatives from mosques around the city, the call to prayer is expected to reach thousands in the Cedar-Riverside neighbourhood in Minneapolis, according to Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
The first call went out late Thursday:
An English translation of the adhan:
Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest!
Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest!
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Hurry to prayer, hurry to prayer.
Hurry to salvation, hurry to salvation.
Imam Abdisalam Adam, who is on the board of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque, from where the adhan will be broadcast, said, "There's definitely a lot of excitement ... Some people see it as historic."
The city granted a noise permit for the broadcasts.
? The area of Minneapolis blasting the call to prayer lies in the district of controversial Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.
