US College Drops Plan For Muslim Prayers Call

From Sky News

A North Carolina university has made an abrupt U-turn on its plan to allow the Muslim call to prayer to ring out every Friday from the bell tower of a chapel on campus.

Duke University spokesman Michael Schoenfeld said the arrangement for a muezzin to make the “adhan” did not have the intended effect of unifying people on campus. He said the college has received a number of critical calls and emails since announcing the plan two days ago.

Evangelist Franklin Graham, who has previously been accused of demonising Islam, had lambasted the college.

He said on Facebook: “As Christianity is being excluded from the public square and followers of Islam are raping, butchering, and beheading Christians, Jews, and anyone who doesn’t submit to their Sharia Islamic law, Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism.”

His Facebook post has been shared more than 57,000 times.

Mr Graham has welcomed the college’s rethink as the “right decision”.