By Andrew L. Jaffee

Get ready for another “controversy” over Muslim “sensitivities,” and to hell with everyone else’s feelings. Some residents of the Kensington neighborhood in Brooklyn are tiring of being blasted with the Muslim call to prayer five times per day. While most in the U.S. are used to hearing church bells chime, it is interesting to speculate as to where religious freedoms should be allowed to impinge on others’ peace and quite. Note that most church bells simply sound the hour and/or quarter and half hour, and limit special chimes solely to special occasions like Christmas. The Muslim Adhan is specifically religious in nature — and occurs five times per day, 365 days a year. Below, I present several viewpoints, as published by Courier-Life. Note the words of the Muslim Imam, who seems to be drawing a line in sand as to how much Islam should be restrained, if at all:

Marina Mouromoustakos, who lives three blocks away from the Church Avenue mosque, said she can hear the call to prayer even with her windows closed.

“They need to respect other people’s rights,” Mouromoustakos said. “I’m not telling them not to practice their religion. I just don’t want to listen to it five times a day.”

Ivan Selzer, co-president of the Dahill Neighborhood Association, described the debate as a “quality of life issue.”

“The noise seems to be above acceptable levels,” Selzer said.

Leaders from Masjid Nur Al-Islam were absent from the neighborhood gathering, saying they did not receive an invitation.

But Imam Abuismail Tahoor Ahmed expressed a willingness to meet with concerned residents and community leaders.

“If there’s anything we can do to ease tension in the community, we are willing to do that at any cost – provided it does not compromise our religion,” said Ahmed.