Religion
Related: About this forumWhy We Need the Islamic Call to Prayer at American Universities
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-denari/why-we-need-the-islamic-c_b_6532046.htmlJordan Denari
Researcher at Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; Former Fulbright Fellow in Amman, Jordan
Posted: 01/26/2015 8:48 am EST Updated: 01/26/2015 8:59 am EST
The average college student spends eight to 10 hours a day on a smartphone. Eighty percent of college students report feeling frequently stressed, and one in 10 have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression or other mental disorders. Like the rest of the country, universities are fraught with busyness and competing distractions. Students rush around, faces buried in smart phones and heads cluttered with things to do.
Given this grim reality of college life, it's too bad the Islamic call to prayer won't be proclaimed from Duke University's bell tower. The adhan can be an antidote to some of the challenges college students face.
Since Duke's decision last week to not broadcast the call to prayer from its chapel steeple -- prompted by Islamophobic rhetoric and threats against Duke's Muslim community -- the national discussion around the incident has centered around questions of pluralism and religion in the public space. But what was missed in those debates was the meaning and purpose of the adhan: encouraging deeper mindfulness among those who hear it.
The adhan, like the ringing of church bells, calls us to gratitude, appreciation and attentiveness--things that the modern American university desperately needs. This kind of practice is especially suited to universities with a religious heritage or mission -- like Duke or my alma mater, Georgetown -- where the balance between rigor and reflection is encouraged, but often hard to strike. Religious and non-religious students alike have much to gain from being called from the chaos of their days to remember the greater purpose and meaning of their lives.
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Response to cbayer (Original post)
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cbayer
(146,218 posts)disagree with?
edhopper
(33,615 posts)not sure how I feel about it. Because it would be a complex issue.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)I have been in places where there was the call to prayer. I found it inspiring and soothing and really pretty profound, even though it meant nothing to me religiously.
I would not mind at all if if were played in a place where I lived.
There is a single church in the little town we are near right now. They ring their bells at different times and I like that. They also shoot off cannons during the days they celebrate their patron saint, sometimes before dawn. That I could live without, lol.
edhopper
(33,615 posts)given the circumstances, I think they should have gone forward with that Friday afternoon (or was it one time) call.
Other places, it might be disruptive. There are places i find Church bells disruptive.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)I think the plan was to have it a weekly thing. The call is relatively brief, but it does tend to make you stop for a moment.
I think the author's point that that can be a very good thing is a good one. It doesn't have to be religious, just a quiet moment.
The author is right about that. Not sure if the Call to Prayer is the best way to achieve it. but as we said, complex.
gcomeau
(5,764 posts)This is no different than any other "what we really need is to get God back in the schools" nonsensical spiels. As if "gratitude, appreciation and attentiveness" require some kind of religiously motivated audio queue to occur.
Someone wants to pray 5 times a day, feel free. The rest of us however do not need to hear you broadcasting a signal to do it far and wide every time you do and the university has no business performing that function.
It's regrettable that they put themselves in the position where they now have attracted attention for not doing so as a reaction to unthinking bigotry rather than simply never entertaining the silly idea in the first place, but that's the only negative aspect of them not doing this.