Community in Mülheim application for a muezzin call via loudspeaker
First application for a muezzin call in Cologne
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Call to prayer with 85 decibels
Exclusive Cologne Nothing happened for a long time after Cologne started a model project at the beginning of October. Now a small mosque community in the Mülheim district would like to submit an initial application to be allowed to broadcast the muezzin call outside via loudspeaker. We visited them.
Again and again the door opens early on Friday afternoon at the association of the Turkish-Islamic cultural community in Cologne-Mülheim. There are tea and biscuits on the table, before the Friday prayer in the Ehl-i Beyt mosque there is still time for a short chat for the men who are there too early to die. Ekrem Yanar is the muezzin of the congregation, between noon and 1 p.m. he has been calling the believers to pray together for many years. “I do that with a microphone here in the prayer room, nothing can be heard outside,” says the 58-year-old.
This is about to change soon. The mosque community was the first in Cologne to apply for approval of a public muezzin call. Yanar’s voice would then echo outside through a loudspeaker. Ilhan Kilic from the association’s board has submitted the application to the city of Cologne. “I didn’t realize that we would be the first to die,” says the 51-year-old.
Mosque communities have been able to apply since October 8th – Cologne’s Lord Mayor Henriette Reker (non-party) presented the two-year model project and spoke of a sign of mutual acceptance and the right to exercise one’s religion freely. “When we hear the call of the muezzin in addition to the church bells in our city, it shows that diversity is valued and lived in Cologne,” said Rekers. However, none of the more than 40 mosque communities showed interest. “Maybe some are afraid that something could happen, that there will be displeasure, maybe even an attack,” says Ilhan Kilic. With the presentation of the model project, Reker made headlines nationwide. Although the city did not receive a single application for weeks, there was criticism, the muezzin reputation could be understood as a show of power by controversial Muslim associations, conservative currents could be in the communities, it said.
“There are many prejudices,” says Ilhan Kilic. “But what the church bells are for Christians, the muezzin’s call to prayer is for us, Ms. Reker’s step made us very happy.” The congregation has existed since 1980. “So far we have never had problems here in the neighborhood.” Small, about 40 believers usually come to Friday prayer, the most important prayer of the week in Islam. The peculiarity is that the imam of the mosque gives the Friday sermon before prayer. Before the city decides on the application, Kilic has to inform the neighbors about the plans by means of an information letter and name a contact person. The flyer must state that the Islamic call to prayer will sound on Fridays between noon and 3 p.m., for a maximum of five minutes.
For the small Mülheim mosque it was determined in advance that the loudspeaker in the courtyard must not exceed the sound level of 85 decibels. “We were a little disappointed there,” says Ekrem Yanar. The traffic on a main road causes roughly this noise level. “If I speak a little louder, that’s probably 85 decibels – without an amplifier,” says Yanar. Actually, a muezzin climbs onto a minaret, the narrow tower of the mosque, for the call to prayer. “Unfortunately we don’t,” says the muezzin.
The mosque is not far from Keupstrasse, where Meral Sahin runs a wedding goods shop. As the chairwoman of the Keupstrasse interest group, she has been advocating local residents’ concerns since 1995. She does not believe that the mosque communities have not made applications out of fear. “There’s just no need,” she says. “Today we all have smartphones and that means we know when the prayer is.” “There are bigger problems that we have to solve, and if only two out of ten residents are upset about the call, that’s too much.” She emphasizes to be a believer myself and to pray, “but I don’t need that signal. “It is much more important to understand each other. “I wish that we all respect each other.” A man who lives across from the mosque says: “As long as the call is not in the early morning hours, that wouldn’t bother me.” An older woman says: “I have to say , I would find it strange. “
The central mosque of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Establishment of Religions (Ditib) in Cologne-Ehrenfeld reported on the model project: “In other cities, the public call to prayer for Friday prayers has long been possible and unproblematic.” The city’s decision is expressly welcomed. “This is an expression of the home of the Muslims, who have been living in Germany for generations as a natural part of German society.” However, it is still unclear whether Ditib will take part in the project. “We have not yet received another application, but ten municipalities have expressed interest,” said a city spokeswoman on Friday. The Ditib has five other mosques in Cologne.
And so the small Mülheim community remains the first to take the risk. “We are now obviously attracting attention, but that doesn’t matter,” says Ilhan Kilic. “We’re not a backyard community – the door is open to everyone here.”