Other cities in the Netherlands have been blessed with the Islamic call to prayer, but not Amsterdam. That is about to change: the city authorities have agreed to allow the Blue Mosque to broadcast the Adhan every Friday.
In the following video, you’ll hear residents of Amsterdam voice their reactions to the news. Generally speaking, they’re down with it. It’s no big deal. It’s like an emergency siren — loud, but routine. Once you get used to it, it’s no problem. We’re a diverse city. We allow church bells — why shouldn’t the soldiers of Allah ululate “Allahu Akhbar” from their minarets?
Many thanks to C for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Video transcript:
| 00:00 | It concerns the weekly call to prayer on Friday. According to the mosque’s board, | |
| 00:03 | it is vital that Islam be normalized in the city. | |
| 00:06 | Allahu Akhbar has acquired a kind of negative reputation, even among Muslims, by the way. | |
| 00:11 | The moment you hear Allahu Akhbar, you’re supposed to think of a terror attack or something. | |
| 00:14 | And we want to normalize it. We want to show people Allahu Akhbar is something very beautiful. | |
| 00:19 | People also react like that when they see the mosque’s interior, then they say: | |
| 00:23 | it’s so wonderful, Yassin. And I think we can take away a lot of the negativity, | |
| 00:27 | and normalize Islam this way. So I say it’s not provocation, it’s normalization. | |
| 00:32 | There are some mosques in the Netherlands that do this. This doesn’t happen in Amsterdam; | |
| 00:36 | it would be a first. Why now? | |
| 00:39 | Well, as I said, it’s about the conversation who have to enter into together, | |
| 00:43 | and you should ask the question: Amsterdam, a cosmopolitan city, | |
| 00:46 | a tolerant city, where it just doesn’t happen, | |
| 00:49 | and I think, well, Amsterdam deserves a better calling card, and we want to contribute to that. | |
| 00:54 | The mosque is organizing an information evening for the neighborhood on October 20. | |
| 00:58 | The board would really like to communicate with the neighbors. | |
| 01:02 | Yes, I’ve read that they want to broadcast the call | |
| 01:05 | over a loudspeaker, yes. —What do you think of this? | |
| 01:09 | I had to get used to the idea, it seems quite… intense. Everybody has his own religion, | |
| 01:15 | everybody has his own culture, so, yes, just accommodate, and it’s only once a week, so… | |
| 01:19 | I’m Muslim myself, so I’d find it pleasant, | |
| 01:23 | because we hear on Sunday, we only hear the church, the church thing. | |
| 01:28 | And, if you hear the Friday prayer on Friday, it’s just… fair or something. | |
| 01:35 | With the call [to prayer]. like the air siren at noon on Monday, that’s quite, | |
| 01:41 | it’s startling, such a loud sound. | |
| 01:44 | We have the air siren once a month, and nobody reacts to that either, | |
| 01:47 | so after a while, it will be routine. | |
| 01:50 | We have good relations with the neighborhood, we want to keep it that way. | |
| 01:53 | We also have good relations with… it’s a mixed neighborhood, we want to keep relations that way. | |
| 01:56 | so we just want to do our part better [sic], so that conversation, | |
| 01:59 | we will have that with precision, and if necessary multiple times. | |
| 02:03 | What do you expect from the neighborhood meeting? I don’t know. I expect many, many people | |
| 02:07 | to show up, I hope, and we want to have an open, honest conversation about that. | |
| 02:10 | The weekly Friday call will last five minutes at the most and will stay within noise limits. |
‘…It’s no big deal. It’s like an emergency siren…’
No big deal. Oy yoy yoy!
Welp. It is an emergency siren. When the hooter blows, a normal person takes heed.
You either run for the shelter, put out the fire, or lock, load and stand to.
Standing there in the open, blandly chewing your cud is not a rational response.
However, I expect nothing less from the zeks of the EUSSR.
Maybe it is just a shower, eh?
taygeti
Abdullah Bozkurt
@abdbozkurt
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In his speech delivered yesterday, #Erdogan invoked Turks’ siege of #Vienna and lamented the withdrawal back to Evros river line, said his ancestors never lost their dignity nonetheless, emphasized great sacrifice, effort lie behind gains while there is great sorrow behind losses.
How Do I Know? The Bible Tells Me So!
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for
they love to pray standing in the synagogs and on the
street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you,
they have received their reward in full. (Matthew 6:5)
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door
and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your
Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward
you. (Matthew 6:6)
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites
do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they
are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their
reward in full. (Matthew 6:16)
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash
your face. (Matthew 6:17)
So that it will not be obvious to others that you are
fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and
your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will
reward you. (Matthew 6:18)