A young Egyptian woman residing in the United States has obtained official permission to raise the call to prayer during the five prayers over loudspeakers in the mosques of the Astoria neighborhood (west of Queens, New York).
Rana Abdul Hamid and her mother, Mona al-Baghdadi, applied to the competent authorities to obtain permission to raise the call to prayer over loudspeakers in the mosques of the Astoria neighborhood, where they have lived for three decades, which the two immigrants considered a historic victory for Muslims in the United States.
The mother posted through her Facebook account a set of videos that monitor the raising of the call to prayer in the city, and commented, saying, "Praise be to God, praise be to God, dear Islam and Muslims, after 31 years in America, I wish to hear the sound of the call to prayer in the street. Today, Rana received the call to prayer with mosque loudspeakers for the first time in Astoria during the month of Ramadan." She pointed out that the call to prayer will be raised by the muezzins and not by Rana.
Rana Abdel Hamid, who describes herself as a community activist and daughter of immigrants and was born and raised in Queens County, New York City, wrote on her Facebook account, "Historic news! Just a Muslim girl from New York in Ramadan who has 3 adhan permits for the Astoria mosques where she grew up, which means you'll be walking down Steinway Street and hear the call to prayer soon."
"For those who don't know, Muslims pray 5 times a day, in those prayers we have a beautiful call to prayer, the call is made loudly in the gatherings of the Muslim majority. Our societies yearn for that call... If the church bells are ringing, why can't our prayer be announced too?"
Rana and her mother, Mona, participate in community activities for Muslims in New York State, and have previously published a range of their activities affiliated with an Islamic relief organization, by providing Iftar meals to fasting people and food commodities to low-income families.