english values and customs ..

does he mean binge drinking, big macs and pizza hut or the local indian restaurant?

maybe he means the humble potato and sweetcorn .. not to mention tobacco, coffee, tea and cocoa ..

it probably the tolerance of an empire that sought to eliminate or subjugate the indigenous peoples into the britsh way?

im wondering considering all of the noise pollution that we experience why this liberal man has a problem with 3 short calls to prayer ... ahh of course its the english way of course ..

What is it about the fools that run our mosques that they cannot see that minarets and loudspeakers are seen as a high profile threat to British culture.
The buildings may as well have been approved by Tony Blair or the BNP.
There are many synagogues in England which are in the local design to blend in. You would not believe that they were there.
Now that's smart, whereas the fools amongst us tend to shoot us all in the feet.

It's a breath of fresh air to hear Bishop John Pritchard calming fears. We need more intelligent people to counter the propaganda and hate being spread and spewed by certain elements in our society under the false pretext of nationalism.

He knows that irrational xenophobia leads to needless discrimination.

Where will those with extreme feelings stop? I mean after banning mosques from "English culture" what next? Synagogues? Hindu Temples? Sikh Gurdwaras?

Why can't we just live together in peace?

Assalaam walaikum and Greetings

As a Muslim living in Oxford (why do you think I have "Oxford" against my user name), I have to say that there is ONLY one Mosque in Oxford who wished to put PROPOSALS to have the Adhan (call for prayer) on FRIDAYS only.

This is the one to be found on MANZIL way, "The Oxford Central Mosque", although I am not sure if this extents to the beautiful "Centre of Islamic Studies" which is part of the Oxford University.

The management of this Manzil Way Mosque, (like most Mosque Commitees) have mismanaged this proposal. Citizens of Oxford thought permission had actually been put forward, and that the call to prayer was to be done 5 times per day.

The local media latched onto this and there were serious concerns from the residents. Once pastor (a Christian Bishop) who saw no issue with the call to prayer actually received death threats for supporting the call to prayer.

Most arguments against the call to prayer are from people who are "anti-religious" (secular) as opposed to "anti-Islam" (per say) because they think such a call to prayer will make Cowley into a Muslim only Ghetto, when it should be left "multi-cultural". They also claim that if permission is granted then other faiths will follow suit (from Temples, Synagogues, etc) and the apparent peace and harmony of the area will be undermined.

The residents state that they gave permission for that Mosque to be built with the condition that no-call to prayer should be done. The residents anger is one where they feel the Muslims have gone back on that condition.

The Mosque committee are now going through, what I see, as a damage limitation exercise and saying that the 'request' for an Adhan was only a 'proposal'. They are now re-evaluating this entire 'proposal'.

As a Muslim, here is what I think.

1) While I would love to hear a 'call to prayer', I feel the call to prayer is not necessary. This is not an Islamic state.

In any case, Muslims who go for prayers already know what time they need to be in a Mosque. So a call to prayer makes no difference to those who go to Mosque to pray. It makes no difference to those who do not pray, who will still not go to a Mosque if a call to prayer existed.

2) We already have FM 'transmitters' which can broadcast Adhan (call to prayers) into Muslim peoples homes. So, make use of these and listen to the Mosques adhan at home.

3) Muslims can receive text messages from the Mosque that a prayer is due. They can they go to a Mosque just in time to hear the adhan (within a Mosque).

4) We should be much more appreciative that this 'kuffer' (inverted commas) country allows (and continues to allow) Muslims to build Mosques and Muslim Schools, and gives us the freedom to practice our religion.

PLEASE DON'T test the boundaries or invite a backlash, by asking a 'call to prayer' to be transmitted when it is not absolutley necessary. Muslims have been doing without such calls for decades.

5) I see a call to prayer as really "My Mosque is better than yours" exercise.

We Muslims have much more worries to think about.
The conduct of ourselves is damaging our religion and we need to fix this.

The typical statement made by those who do not wish to see a call to prayer is

"We have bent backwards to accommodate their religious beliefs. Can they say the same for us in Islamic Countries. How many Churches or Church-Bells have they allowed in Islamic Countries ? And they say, Islam is a religion of tolerance.

Don't get me wrong. I would like to hear a call to prayer. But when the Community is very much against this, we should not 'test the waters'. If we enrage the community of little issues then this will have dire consequences later on when permission for another Mosque or an extension to a Mosque is sought.

LETS BE SENSIBLE HERE.

Wasalaams

Sultan (Oxford) - I totally agree with you. Thanks for the feedback as a local.

We Muslims are advised not to attract attention when we practice our religion. As it has been said there are bigger issues that needs our focus. We need the backing of all the communities, not just the Muslims to tackle the issues that plague our society.

I have just returned from a holiday in a north african muslim country. There were mosques everywhere, and a lot of them were just yards away from each other. I listened to the call of prayer and I did think at the time (because I was told the Imam was payed by the congregation) that they were trying to 'out-do' each other, but I may be wrong. Anyway, I had no objections, I was in their country and I found the whole experience interesting. You cannot say, however, that minarets and the call to prayer is normal in the UK and I am surprised that some in the Muslim community want to try and antagonise the local non-muslim population. The comment from Sultan above is spot on, well done.

I agree with K. Urban

Those who approve these high profile visual signs such as minarets are being extremely short sighted.
Muslims have enough problems without these backward types who run mosques drawing attention to Islam in this way.

to wendy mann

Your remarks can safely be discounted as every comment you post is filled with contempt for this country, its people and their values.

Since Islam is "for all time" and "unchanged from the Koran", I suggest the answer to this problem is to have the call to prayer made by an UNamplified muezzin from the minaret. There would be no problem with noise pollution, and there could be no complaints from the worshippers as the Koran and hadith make no mention of the use of electronic amplification.

True we might not need loudspeakers to make a call to prayer, true we have FM radio systems , true we have monthly time tables published , true we should work with the neighbor's , true we need planning permission to broad cast call to prayer over loud spekaers , true we have right to apply , true we should be treated equal not just on paper
true we shouldn't bent back wards to please any one, true we should care for ALL sensitives , true we shouldn't give unnecessary ammunition to people to attack us just cause we are Muslims , true its a continues barrage of weekly, timely high profile attacks on Muslims, true we feel NOW we are not wanted, true we will over come, true British society ,over all,is generous and kind,
True as a Muslims we feel lost and abandoned
true we face discrimination........
True we need to face truth.