Mosque’s request splits Michigan city

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Long known for pierogi and polka, this bustling city is now debating whether to add an amplified Arabic chant to the local sights and sounds.

In a sign of the deep changes in this once-predominantly Polish town, the City Council is expected today to pass a noise-ordinance amendment that would permit mosques to issue the traditional Islamic call to prayer over loudspeakers.

But some longtime residents are resisting what they consider an affront to non-Muslims.

Hamtramck, a city of 23,000 completely surrounded by Detroit, has an old-fashioned, small-town feel, with mom-and-pop stores and American flags adorning many of the tightly packed houses. Polish groceries and restaurants abound, and if you stop someone to ask for directions, there is a good chance that person speaks only Polish.

But in recent years, the city has become much more diverse. Stores selling saris and halal meat have opened, and signs in Bengali, Arabic and Bosnian compete with signs in Polish and English. Only 23 percent of the city’s residents specified Polish ancestry in the 2000 census. The town also has a sizable black population — 15 percent.

The relationship between old Hamtramck and new Hamtramck has not been without friction. On Election Day in 1999, members of a residents group questioned would-be voters of Middle Eastern or Asian appearance on their eligibility to vote. In response to complaints of discrimination, the Justice Department sent monitors during local elections in 2001.

Now the request by the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque for permission to air the Arabic call to prayer via loudspeakers five times a day has again revealed tensions.

City Council President Karen Majewski said she expects the council to unanimously approve the amendment allowing the call to prayer — which was traditionally sung from a minaret, but today is generally recorded — despite some protests at a hearing last week.

Joanne Golen, a lifelong Hamtramck resident, said she finds the content of the call to prayer offensive.

“It says Allah is the one and only God. I am Christian. My God is Jesus Christ. That is my only objection — that I have to listen to a God other than the one I believe in praised five times a day,” said Miss Golen, 68.

Caroline Zarski, 81, said allowing the call would put Islam above other religions.

But Masud Khan, secretary of the al-Islah mosque, said the purpose of the call, which lasts less than two minutes, is not to proselytize.

“We are not inviting” non-Muslims, he said. “We are calling our Muslim people, reminding them they are obligated to come to pray.”

Many Hamtramck Muslims said the call to prayer is equivalent to church bells. And Hamtramck has several churches that ring their bells.

Opponents take issue with that comparison, saying that church bells today are used to mark the time of day and have no religious significance. If the bells are the issue, then turn them off, they say.

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