Deadly Oxford Adhan

CAIRO - Supporting a proposal to raise the adhan (Muslim call to prayer) over loudspeakers could cost Oxford bishop his life, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday, March 11. "I received extraordinary mail," Rt Rev John Pritchard told a public meeting discussing the issue.

"One said, 'resign' six times in a large font. One called for me to be beheaded and another said: 'I wish I lived closer so I could spit on you.'"

The Oxford Central Mosque is proposing to broadcast the adhan for the Zhuhr (noon), `Asr (afternoon) and Maghrib (sunset) prayers over loudspeakers.

Since backing the proposal, Bishop Pritchard has been flooded by hate messages and death threats.

"The dark underbelly of British society was coming out."

The adhan proposal has provoked uproar in Oxford, a historic city that is home to some 7,000 Muslims.

Dozens of residents oppose the measure, claiming it will turn their community into a "Muslim ghetto" and impose Islam on a Christian-culture community.

Pragmatic Muslims

Muslims are not proposing to broadcast the Adhan at Fajr (dawn) or `Isha’ (night) prayers so as not to cause any inconvenience for non-Muslims, who are traditionally not awake at these times.

They insist the whole issue has been taken out of proportion.

"It was basically a romantic idea from pure hearts," Altaf Hussain, the Oxford Central Mosque's general secretary, told the same meeting.

"It was something that people wanted to share without any intentions of asserting a theology or culture on anyone."

For the mosque to go ahead with the broadcast it must get permission from the city council.

But Muslim leaders said that given the level of controversy the proposal has earned, they have not yet applied.

Hussain affirmed they will not go ahead with the proposal before consultations involving the community.

"We're producing an information pack and a questionnaire for the neighborhood," he said.

"No steps will be taken without consulting them."

Source: IslamOnline.com