(CBC) 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 prevents people from gathering and hearing it inside.
Luqman Ahmed, an imam with Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at of Ottawa, said hearing the Adhaan (also spelled Azan 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, fasting and holding community feasts at sundown to break those fasts.
