Above: Duke University students to begin call to prayer. Ibrahim Saber with the Duke Muslim Students Association rehearses the traditional Muslim call-to-prayer from the Duke Chapel bell tower. Photo courtesy of the university.
Friends, the photo above was not taken in Mecca, nor in Cairo, nor in Ramallah. It is not even from Tehran. It was taken at Duke University – the $60,000-a-year renowned “Ivy of the South” in Durham, NC, a school also known for its storied college basketball program and a famous incident involving the lacrosse team.
How far must political correctness be stretched? Was another “Middle East” studies chair recently endowed by a Saudi prince?
Above: Duke University Chapel Photographer: Kaitlin Montgomery
Durham, N.C. — A weekly call to prayer for Muslims will be heard at Duke University starting Friday, school officials said.
Members of the Duke Muslim Students Association will chant the call, known as adhan or azan, from the Duke Chapel bell tower each Friday at 1 p.m. The call to prayer will last about three minutes and be “moderately amplified,” officials said in a statement Tuesday.
The announcement by Duke drew criticism from Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. He took to social media on Wednesday to express his views and urge Duke donors to suspend support.
“Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism. I call on the donors and alumni to withhold their support from Duke until this policy is reversed,” he said on his Facebook page.