Mosque may be Sweden's first to issue call to prayer
People living in southern Stockholm could soon hear the call to prayer echoing from Sweden's first fully functioning minaret.
The mosque is in Fittja, and the local planning committee has just decided to tear up an earlier clause in the building's planning permission, which banned it from using the minaret to issue the call to prayer.
Only the Christian Democrat Party opposes this change.
Ismail Okur is the head of the Botkyrka Islamic Association, who made a so-called citizen's proposal that prompted the new decision. "The mosque was built by the first generation of Turks, our parents" he says to Swedish Radio. He says that the new generation are committed only to Sweden, and want religious freedom.
The Christian democrats in Botkyrka say that they have nothing against muslims, but that the local councillors are not qualified to judge whether a call to prayer is appropriate. Christian Democrat Stefan Dayne says to the Dagen christian newspaper that some may find the call to prayer offensive, and so it is the police who should decide whether or not to allow it.
On the 8th of October Botkyrka council will make a statement on the planning committee's decision, and on the 25th of October the council will decide whether or not to allow the minaret to be used, in conjunction with the Friday prayer.
