Jakarta –
Germany’s largest mosque began calling the prayer call for the first time on Friday (14/10). The decision comes as part of an agreement between the Cologne Central Mosque and the city government.
“We are very happy,” said Abdurrahman Atasoy, general secretary of the Turkish government’s religious affairs authority in Germany, DITIB, which runs the mosque.
“The call to prayer is a sign that Muslims are at home here,” he added.
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Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker said allowing the call to prayer was a “sign of respect” for many Muslims in the city.
Cologne has more than 100,000 Muslim residents.
The mosque adheres to strict rules
Mosques in several German cities have long been allowed to say the call to prayer, but Cologne only approved it late last year.
The grand mosque in the Ehrenfeld district will be the first mosque in the city to announce the call to prayer for Friday prayers. Other mosques in the city have also expressed interest in participating in the two-year pilot project.
Under the agreement, Cologne’s central mosque will be able to play a call to prayer over loudspeakers for up to five minutes on Fridays, between noon and 3pm local time. The volume must not exceed 60 decibels.
Controversy over the mosque’s financiers
Cologne’s central mosque has been a point of anti-Muslim sentiment in the past and has been criticized above all for DITIB’s involvement.
Critics accuse the organization of spying on Turkish dissidents living in Germany.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the mosque itself during a controversial visit to Germany in September 2018.
pkp / ha (AFP, EPD)
(it it)
