Mosques get noise exemption for call to prayer during Ramadan

The City of Ottawa is exempting mosques from local noise bylaws during Ramadan to allow them to play a five-minute call to prayer at sundown, as the pandemic preventspeople from gatheringand hearing it inside.

Luqman Ahmed, an imam with Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at of Ottawa, said hearing the Adhaan(also spelledAzan or Azaan)while practising physical distancing will give comfort to many Muslims unable to attend their mosques.

"Muslims have an emotional attachment with it," he said. "That would bring back that joy ... that we usually feel in our mosques when we gather together."

During Ramadan, many Muslims would normally observe the holy month by praying, fastingand holding community feasts at sundown to break those fasts.

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However, all gatherings of more than five people, including religious ones, are currently prohibited in Ontario.

The Adhaan consists of standard spoken recitations delivered with a melody. In Muslim-majority countries,it's often played five times a day.

"It has a very simple message, and this is how Muslims are reminded of their daily prayers," Ahmed said. "Basically, it reminds Muslims that God should be the highest priority in their life."

Mosques in Ottawa are now able to broadcast the call to prayer each evening at sundown, until the end of Ramadan on May 23.

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Ahmed said his mosque, the Baitun Naseer Mosque in Cumberland, will not be broadcasting the call to prayer as it is "entirely optional," and he worries it might disturb non-Muslim neighbours.

During Ramadan, Ahmed is observing the holy month online through a webpage called Virtual Ramadan.

Ottawa's noise exemption follows similar moves by Torontoand Mississauga, Ont., which also gave permission to mosques to broadcast a sundown call to prayer during the pandemic.