Mayor Adams Allows Azan to Resound in New York Without Special Permission

Illustration of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. (Wikimedia Commons/Sousi4)

JAKARTA - New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday that the call to prayer can be heard in the city without requiring a permit under new rules, which are hoped to foster a spirit of inclusivity.

Under the new rules, Adams said, mosques do not need special permission to call the call to prayer on Fridays and at sunset during the Holy Month of Ramadan or the call to prayer for the Maghrib prayer, which marks the time of breaking the fast.

The police's Bureau of Public Affairs will work with mosques to communicate the new guidelines, ensuring devices used to broadcast the call to prayer are set at the appropriate decibel level, Adams said.

"For too long, there has been a feeling that our community is not allowed to say the call to prayer," Adams said, as reported by The National News, August 30.

"Today, we cut bureaucracy and state clearly that mosques and houses of worship are free to call the call to prayer on Fridays and during Ramadan without requiring permission," he explained.

Accompanied by Muslim leaders at a press conference at City Hall, Adams said Muslim New Yorkers "would not be living in the shadow of the American dream when I become Mayor of New York".

The Azan, which marks the start of prayer time, is a familiar sound in Muslim-majority countries but less common in America.

Somaia Ferozi, principal of Ideal Islamic School in Queens, said New York City's new regulations send a positive message to her students.

"Our children are reminded of who they are when they hear the call to prayer," said Ferozi, who attended Adams' news conference.

"Getting an echo like that in a New York City neighborhood will make them feel part of a community that recognizes them," he said.

Separately, officials in Minneapolis made news last year, when they allowed mosques to broadcast the call to prayer publicly.

It is known, Mayor Adams who is a Democrat politician, has close ties with religious leaders from various traditions, promoting the role of religion in public life.