This Ramadan is like no other for Minneapolis Muslims.
Marking the holy month of fasting at homes, with mosques being shut, Muslims listened to the public adhan, or call to prayer, for the first time on Friday, April 24.
It came after the Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis was allowed to make adhan publicly, first time ever.
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The adhan will be broadcast five times a day during the month of Ramadan to provide the city’s Muslim minority a sense of normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Though the public adhan summons Muslims to pray five times at mosque, this one was followed by an announcement urging people to stay at home.
“To protect human life is essential,” Imam Sharif Mohamed of Dar Al-Hijrah said as a dozen people watched from the rooftop, Star Tribune reported.
“Even though we are telling people to come to the mosque, we’re also are telling them ‘Stay in your home.’ That was broadcast in Arabic, Somali, English and Oromo.”
Many religious leaders urged Muslims to pray at home, confirming that the whole Earth is a mosque for Muslims.
“Islamic centers are not the only place where we communicate with the divine,” said Imam Abdul Mawgoud Dardery of the Brooklyn Park Islamic Center.
“Islam teaches that you can do that from the whole Earth.’’
The adhan is the call to announce that it is time for a particular obligatory Salah (ritual prayer).
Last February, Muslims in Paterson, New Jersey, were allowed to recite the Adhan publicly thanks to a new ordinance.