An American Muslim activist has successfully obtained an official permit to raise the sound of Adhan, or call to prayer, five times a day in Astoria, New York.
“Just an Astoria Muslim girl with three sound permits for outloud Athan/call-to-prayer for the mosques she grew up in! Alhamdulilah,” Rana Abdelhamid wrote on Twitter.
Just an Astoria Muslim girl with three sound permits for outloud Athan/call-to-prayer for the mosques she grew up in! Alhamdulilah 🥹 pic.twitter.com/vB8AwAZpAg
— Rana Abdelhamid رانا عبدالحميد (@RanaForNY) March 28, 2023
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The Adhan is the call to announce that it is time for a particular obligatory Salah (ritual prayer).
Breakthrough
Abdelhamid shared a video on instagram showing the first adhan from her local mosque. This marks the first time in more than three decades that the Adhan can be heard loudly on the streets of the city.
“For those who don’t know, Muslims pray 5 times a day, in those prayers we have a beautiful call to prayer, a loud call to the Muslim majority, and our societies often become more nostalgic for it,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Many of our team members worked in coordination with local leaders, writing proposals to make this moment possible, and I couldn’t be happier, especially during the month of Ramadan.
“Here are our streets, which now reflect our most authentic space, and all minority people can create their own complete and authentic communities,” she concluded.
Rana is a 29-year-old Egyptian from Queens, New York. She is also the founder of Hijabis of New York and the Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE).
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