Paterson: 3rd US city greenlights Muslim call to prayer

Paterson City Council passes measure allowing adhan by 5-4 vote, with support of city council president

By Mucahit Oktay

NEW JERSEY (AA) - The third-largest city in the U.S. state of New Jersey has greenlighted mosques making the call to prayer over loudspeakers.

The city council of the city of Paterson made the move in a 5-4 vote late Tuesday, with the support of Maritza Davila, the council president.

The measure allows the adhan, or call to prayer, to go out over speakers from mosques between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a maximum decibel level and the time allotted to not exceed five minutes.

Davila told Anadolu Agency that she supported the bill "with the idea of equal freedom for everyone."

The vote made Paterson the third city in the U.S. allowing the call to prayer, following Hamtramck and Dearborn, both in Michigan, a Midwestern Great Lakes state.

Paterson has some 30,000 Muslim residents in a population of about 146,000.

*Writing By Beyza Binnur Donmez

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