Not everyone likes the Cologne muezzin call project – and apparently neither does NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst. The CDU politician accuses the city of having started the controversial campaign “without effort”.
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), is critical of the city’s controversial muezzin call project in Cologne. Wüst told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) on Tuesday that the project would “possibly bring more controversy” into society – instead of helping to integrate Muslims in Germany.
Cologne had declared at the beginning of October 2021 that mosque communities would be able to call their believers to midday Friday prayers on request and subject to conditions. Among others, the Ditib central mosque in Ehrenfeld has registered for the project. So far, however, it is unclear when the calls may actually begin. The applications submitted by the Cologne mosques were still incomplete at the end of January.
The city of Cologne launched the project “without need or reason”, Wüst told the KNA. All mosques are now basically asked to submit a corresponding application for the muezzin call in their community, according to the prime minister.
Muezzin call project: Two mosques registered so far
The muezzin call project of the city of Cologne has been controversial for months – it has some conditions: This includes, for example, that the call to prayer lasts no longer than five minutes. There is a maximum volume for the volume, which is determined according to the location of the mosque.
In addition, the respective mosque community must inform the neighborhood at an early stage with flyers and appoint a contact person who can answer questions or receive complaints. The model project is initially limited to two years.
With its initiative, the city refers to the freedom of religious practice enshrined in the Basic Law. While the bells rang in Christian churches to call the faithful to worship, in the mosques of Muslim faith communities it was the muezzin’s calls that served this purpose.
