Mehwish, Cologne,
Azan on loudspeakers allowed for Friday prayers at Cologne’s Grand Mosque on Friday. A large number of Muslims attended and offered Friday prayers in congregation.
All 35 Cologne mosques will now be allowed under a two-year pilot project to call of Azan for five minutes on Fridays between 3pm. Cologne Mayor Henriette Ricker wrote on Twitter,
“It is an honor for me to allow Azan for prayer. He said the call to prayer is similar to the church bells in Cologne.
The city administration said that mosques call for prayers on Friday afternoon must abide by the limits of their loudspeaker sound, and neighbors must be notified in advance.
Germany, with a population of over 81 million, has the second largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Nearly 4 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish descent, which is now the largest religious minority in Germany.
The ruling has sent happiness among Muslims across Germany and Muslims now hoping in other cities that loudspeakers will soon be allowed in mosques.
