A Call to Prayer

Dr. Karen Majewski understood why the request for the call to prayer was challenging for her small community of Hamtramck, Michigan. As city council president, long-time resident, and scholar of immigration, she appreciated the divergent points of view in the small, diverse city. For some in Hamtramck, the call to prayer was a sound that connected residents to their faith and signaled they were home; for others, it was an unwelcome noise that was yet another reminder of the ways in which the city was changing. Once a majority Polish city, Hamtramck was transforming to a plurality Muslim city, with large Bangladeshi, Bosnian, and Yemeni populations, as well as a small but longstanding Black community and a newer Hindu community. As Majewski sought to help Hamtramck navigate the divisive issue over the call to prayer, she also faced calls from the press, contentious public hearings, and ongoing political opposition. Strictly speaking, she noted, it was a constitutional issue, and the city should not prevent free expression, but how might they avoid greater division? 

As a leader of a rapidly changing city, what resources might she seek? What, if anything, does she need to know about the call to prayer? How is sound different from—and similar to—visual expressions of difference? What is at stake?

The complete, updated case is included in the volume Pluralism in Practice.

Read more about this case in the Journal of Interreligious Studies.