The call to prayer over Cologne

Naive or tolerant?

Photo by Berkin Üregen on Unsplash

The Story

On Friday, the Muslim call to prayer echoed out from a mosque in Cologne for the first time. The muezzin's call was broadcast for a little over two minutes over speakers from the city's Central Mosque.

The project, announced by city mayor Henriette Reker last year, will be limited initially to two years. Meanwhile the noise level is not to rise above 60 decibels. Given that the mosque is situated on a busy road, the call was reportedly barely audible across the street.

When announcing the plan last year, Reker described it as a “sign of respect” and pointed out that Muslims have to hear the sound of the city’s famous cathedral bells.

For worshippers, this was an important moment. "It makes me feel seen and accepted as a Muslim woman,” one woman outside the mosque told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Actually, this wasn't a first for Germany. At least a dozen other mosques already broadcast the call to prayer.

But the fact that this has happened in one of…