This article by Vaughan Roberts of St. Ebbe’s Church, Oxford, is directed at his own congregation. Although a local issue for them, the article might be a model to others in Muslim areas.
You may have noticed in the local press that the Central Mosque in East Oxford is considering making a request to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer (adhan). How should Christians respond?
We should certainly affirm the right of all citizens in Britain to choose whatever religion they wish and to practise it (within the bounds of the law). Some have argued that that this tolerance should extend to accepting the right of Muslims to issue the adhan, which they regard as the equivalent to the sound of church bells. That, I believe, is both wrong and naive. To understand the significance of adhan we should recognise it both as theological and territorial.
