Jerusalem muslim council: Those annoyed by Adhan should leave

The Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem on Saturday said that the Adhan (call for prayer) is a Muslim ritual and those “annoyed” by it can leave the city.

The council said in a statement that despite the Israeli Knesset’s failure to issue a final decision on the Adhan in Jerusalem in particular and in the occupied Palestinian territories in general, Israel has never stopped searching for a way to silence Muslims’ call for prayer.

According to the statement, the head of the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem municipality has recently initiated a proposal to place a limit on the volume of loudspeakers calling for prayer in Jerusalem.

The council stressed that the Adhan is an important ritual that is linked to one of the major pillars of Islam, prayer, noting that the Adhan has never been silenced in Jerusalem and Palestine over the past 15 centuries.

Adhan is an Islamic ritual recited five times a day to invite Muslims to perform their religious prayers. It was first chanted by Bilal, the Companion of Prophet Mohamed, centuries ago.