East Oxford Mosque Call to Prayer

A fuss has been rumbling for some time about the proposals for Muslim calls to prayer from the new East Oxford mosque. The Bishop of Oxford seems ok on the issue while many other Christians are concerned about the creeping Islamisation of Britain that this represents. Charlie Cleverly, rector of St Aldate's, Oxford, has been a vocal opponent, interviewed last week on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

It's another of those thorny problems that does require some reflection, some knowledge of Islam and touches on how the church views its role in national public life. In the discussion, comparisons are drawn between the ringing of church bells: custom and practice in many areas and indicative of a certain British cultural understanding of Christian presence. It's a not entirely helpful analogy because church bells, though signalling "church" and very specifically, the Church of England, are not voicing a creed. The Islamic call to prayer, though, is first and foremost an invocation to prayer ("make haste to prayer"), and in that sense can be welcomed by all people of faith, but it also contains the core creed of Islam. The shehadah ("I bear witness that there is no lord except God and Mohammed is his messenger") is one of the five pillars of Islam and is the starting point of Muslim faith. To that end, the call to prayer makes exclusivist and evangelistic claims.

Against this argument, you might say that church bells make such claims implicitly and in a plural society we ought to defend and affirm the freedom of all groups to make their claims in public. Queasiness about  more obvious signs of Muslim presence amidst the dreaming spires of Oxford might rather be suggestive of a certain cultural supremacy or religious nimbyism.

The debate is one containing a number of subtleties because there is no doubt that a Muslim call to prayer contains within it the sense of territorial claim: that the surrounding community are within the purview of Islamic allegiance, Muslim faith being determinedly public and political. Church bells too contain their territoriality drawn around the concept of "parish". Increasingly, we are recognising in the church that territorial claims to Christian allegiance are redundant and inappropriate, but British society is arguably ill-served by airbrushing all the various symbols of that historical presence (whether buildings, church-bell ringing, Christian values underpinning many laws etc etc).

So, what to do in east Oxford, then? I dare suggest to Christians in Oxford that this issue demands a workable compromise. All the above arguments have validity and, for me, a knee-jerk rejection of any call to prayer in Britain or conversely a passive acceptance that all public signs of faith are devoid of negative consequences are both poles that are to be avoided.

Questions that I would prefer being raised between church leaders, mosques and council leaders would seek to put any calls to prayer under the scrutiny of normative public acts of evangelism or marketing: is the city served by amplifying a call to prayer or can this proceed unamplified? It might be appropriate to allow a call to prayer just for the main prayers on a Friday afternoon, acknowledging some parallel with church bells. What do the local neighbourhood think about this? (Part of the anglican tradition is, rightly, a pastoral concern for the entirety of society: that means consideration for the freedom to worship of Muslims as it does for the fear of segregation and divisiveness that may exist among non-Muslims, Christian or otherwise. Do the mosque leaders have an understanding of their obligations to non-Muslim society in working towards constructive compromise?).

So, I do not see the need for a polarised debate but rather genuine dialogue, some uncomfortable and challenging conversations both ways. Interestingly, in my own city of Birmingham, there are very few places where the call to prayer is broadcast in the streets, and there is a far greater Muslim presence here. Muslims will hear the call via their radios, through various local and national Muslim radio stations. There is no evidence of pressure to make it otherwise. Let's use this scenario to build understanding; to work for the common good. My horrible fear is that so much of the impetus behind some of the church's response is a misguided attachment to a vision of middle-England, warm beer and cricket, that obvious signs of Muslim presence are clearly threatening.

Comments

[LauraHD]

I heard Rev Charlie Cleverly on Radio4 the other day too, and I know this is far too flippant for this thread - but what a great name?! BTW great to see you and thanks for sharing with S1 earlier this week.

[ChrisG]

A simple solution would be for mosques to use bells for their call to prayer. That is the current culturally acceptable way.

[mona youssef]

Peace. The objective of humanity is to find peace and serenity.Why do the descendants of Adam and Eve ("Adam and Eve" a reality agreed upon by everyone, thank God) find pride in being "the man"? Strength is not muscle power, though it may seem that way in life sometimes. But the God who created Adam and Eve is known for His Justice (a word used often to describe the good intent eg "with liberty and justice for all..."). Deep inside I believe we all know that to be true and are expecting it after we die-Justice after being judged by our Creator. A sane man/woman never judge or take sides by hearing one side of a story. Before condemning anyone the jury appoints a lawyer to see the accuseds' point of view and to be acquinted with his circumstances, and before uttering judgement every aspect of the case must be fully viewed so as not to give out a wrong verdict- As a Just God would never forgive injustice. If you don't want that hanging over your head on judgement day ("judgement day" another reality agreed upon by everyone thank God) then stop for an instant and ask yourself: what do I know about muslims? and who did I hear it from? and why were you brought up to hate them so? If you want to play Judge, then judge, but first get your facts straight and know about the accused before passing a judgement that will not only affect you, but also your children and your neighbours children and in fact "all" the children of the world. Remember when you condemn, you are also condemning babies in their cradles muslims, christians , jews ("muslims,christians, and jews" are all labelled Abrahamic religions Mohamad,Jesus,and Moses all follow the teachings of Abraham peace be upon them all) and every other born soul on the face of the earth under any religious label. My brother/sister in humanity if you want to know about flying please don't get a recipe from a cook, get flying instructions from a pilot … If you are serious about playing judge, then be fair and do your homework, don't mock what you don't know or understand or think you know because believe me you don't, follow your conscience to start visit sites like http://www.bibleislam.com/
http://www.rasoulallah.net/
http://english.truthway.tv/

[UKexec]

Fear the islamification of Europe and of course England. One thing will lead to the next and before you know what's happening those voices of those making requests will turns to shouts of demands and and there'll be no point bolting the stable gate once the horse has bolted. Just because we live in this advanced civilisation isn't to say we must pander to the needs of others who in their home countries would not give us a moments consideration or an iota of concession - yet we like fools continue to over analyse the situation - almost forcing ourselves to nurture other cultures in these lands of ours with the eventual result being what?

I'm worried. I hope the powers that be are aware.

[Smart One]

just don't do it
what is the big deal to say no
you know all the white people are going to move away if they start blaring that call prayer 5 times a day, I bet its their plan to want to turn the area into some sort of muslim majority

[ClubPenguinCheats]

Thanks! A simple solution would be for mosques to use bells for their call to prayer.

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