(Paterson Times) A proposed ordinance before the City Council will allow mosques in Paterson to broadcast the Adhan or the Muslim call to prayer.
Under the ordinance, mosques will be allowed to use loudspeakers to announce the call to prayer during a 16-hour span. The ordinance states: “The city shall permit ‘Adhan,’ ‘call to prayer,’ ‘church bells’ and other reasonable means of announcing religious meetings to be amplified between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for duration not to exceed five minutes.”
Councilman Shahin Khalique proposed the ordinance on Tuesday night as an amendment to the existing noise control ordinance.
Council members spent three minutes discussing the measure.
