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7:30am Friday 11th January 2008
THE BISHOP of Oxford has rejected another senior clergyman's fears that piping out the call to prayer in East Oxford could create a "no-go area" for non-Muslims.
The Rt Rev John Pritchard backed plans for the call to prayer in Oxford - rejecting controversial comments made by the Anglican church's only Asian bishop, the Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, of Rochester.
Bishop Michael had said that attempts were being made to impose an "Islamic character" on communities, creating "no-go areas" where people of different faiths would find it hard to live and work.
But Bishop John said: "I want to distance myself from what the Bishop of Rochester has said.
"I have been with the House of Bishops for the past three days and we agreed there are no no-go areas in this country that we are aware of, and that in all parts of the country there are good inter-faith relationships developing."
In November, it emerged that leaders at Oxford's Central Mosque, in Manzil Way, were considering asking for planning permission to issue the call to prayer from the mosque - and Bishop John said he was "very happy" with the move.
He said: "I believe we have good relationships with the Muslim community here in Oxford and I am personally very happy for the mosque to call the faithful to prayer in East Oxford.
"Faith is a very important factor in the lives of 80 per cent of the world's population and a public expression of that faith is both natural and reasonable."
Bishop John said practical issues over the number of times the call went out, the volume and whether a trial period would be required would need to be ironed out, but said in principle it was "entirely reasonable".
He said: "It is good that we should be reminded of the faithfulness of many members of the community.
"It is natural that Muslim communities will gather in a particular area and what matters is that we demonstrate the kind of respect that is the basis of any civilised society."
Bishop John added: "I would say to anyone who has concerns about the call to prayer to relax and enjoy our community diversity and be as respectful to others as you would hope they would be respectful to you."
Bishop John said his role meant he acted as a community leader for all faiths, and believed he was respected as such by the Muslim community as by his own.
He added that it was his duty to open the door for all faiths to be part of the public arena. He continued: "I sympathise with those who find any kind of expression of public faith intrusive, but I think part of being part of a tolerant society is saying, 'I don't agree with this but I accept it as part of my responsibility as being part of a diverse community'."
Bishop Michael wrote in the Sunday Telegraph this weekend that non-Muslims faced a hostile relationship in places dominated by the ideology of Islamic radicals.
He argued: "Attempts have been made to impose an 'Islamic' character on certain areas, for example, by insisting on artificial amplification for Adhan.
"Such amplification was, of course, unknown throughout most of history and its use raises all sorts of questions about noise levels and whether non-Muslims wish to be told the creed of a particular faith five times a day on the loudspeaker."
He added: "There has been a worldwide resurgence of the ideology of Islamic extremism.
"One of the results of this has been to further alienate the young from the nation in which they were growing up and also to turn already separate communities into no-go areas where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability."
Sardar Rana, a spokesman for Oxford Central Mosque, has also attacked Bishop Michael's claims, and said the bishop should be more "broad-minded".
He said: "It will not create a no-go area. We welcome every religion and we respect other people.
"I am 100 per cent sure people will like it when they hear the holy verses on the loudspeaker. We are not saying anything bad."
J, east oxford says...
4:02pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Dave, Kidlington says...
4:39pm Thu 10 Jan 08
J wrote:Originally it was a pagan country. So-called Christian festivals like Christmas and Easter were old pagan seasonal festivals that were hijacked by the Christian church.
Faith is outdated, and if people wish to practice a faith, they should do so in private, and not flaunt it in other people's faces. Saying that, the UK is originally a christian country, and at least church bells are somewhat cheerful and tuneful! The call to prayer noise, however, is hideous!! As a resident of east oxford, I will tolerate the church bells in the name of tradition, but do NOT want to listen to a ghastly screaching sound!
DanOxford, Oxford says...
5:08pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Apeasement, Oxford says...
5:15pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Trevtt, BFD says...
6:24pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster says...
6:35pm Thu 10 Jan 08
J, east oxford says...
6:38pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Originally it was a pagan country. So-called Christian festivals like Christmas and Easter were old pagan seasonal festivals that were hijacked by the Christian church.
Religion is just a conspiracy to stop poor people killing rich people anyway.
Tq, says...
6:42pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster says...
6:57pm Thu 10 Jan 08
DanOxford, Oxford says...
7:12pm Thu 10 Jan 08
L Kelly, London says...
7:18pm Thu 10 Jan 08
john, says...
7:27pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Tq wrote:Is that right? In that case they must know the God they worship had a son called Jesus Christ.
I think Christians in this country needs to take a step back and start reading their bible again. They\'ll find a lot in there about tolerance and its importance.
One of the most amusing things about this all is that essentially, Muslims worship the same god Christians do. It wouldn\'t surprise me if half of the ignorant Christian population thought they worshiped Muhammad as their god, that would be wrong. He was just a prophet, the final and most influential one.
As a Christian myself i would applaud any call to prayer as a good effort to integrate mankind into greater acceptance of each other.
Stephanie Anderson, Raleigh, NC USA says...
7:34pm Thu 10 Jan 08
STOP POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, and make decisions based on merit says...
8:57pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Stephanie Anderson wrote:SPOT ON
From the article: "whether non-Muslims wish to be told the creed of a particular faith five times a day on the loudspeaker." This is exactly right. Who wants to hear "there is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet" 5 times a day on a loudspeaker, and furthermore, why do Muslims feels the need to do so? They know when their prayer times are. The rest of us don't need to know. Stay out of my living room, my life, my yard, my childrens' schools, and my workplace Islam! Your beliefs are just that YOUR beliefs, not mine and I do not wish to have them forced upon me or my children!
J, Oxford says...
9:56pm Thu 10 Jan 08
DanOxford wrote:That's because the Christian religion is a lot more tolerant that than the Islamic faith.
I've said it before, I'll say it again...
how many churches in Saudi Arabia? None.
Why is this? because the open worship of any other religion is punishable by... a slap on the wrists? A small fine? A telling off? What does the 'religion of peace and understanding' decree? Oh- that would be death then.
Extremist literature found at Oxford Mosque, Azad University accused of bullying and discrimination when a female administrator refused to help in obtaining illegal visas...
Never mind waiting for the call to prayer- where do I sign up?!!
gabe, dublin says...
12:56am Fri 11 Jan 08
LW, Oxford says...
2:35am Fri 11 Jan 08
sheik yer'mami, Mecca says...
4:13am Fri 11 Jan 08
Kurt Bronson, USA says...
5:02am Fri 11 Jan 08
Aiddy, says...
5:23am Fri 11 Jan 08
Tq, says...
8:44am Fri 11 Jan 08
Keith Lonsdale wrote:Well i believe you do need a dear sight large amount of tolerance to survive in the UK to begin with, by doing a call to prayer i really do doubt that any of Oxfords Christian population is going to suddenly become Muslim. When the Church bells stop ringing you can start complaining that the integration has gone to far.
Tq, whilsit I understand that tolerance and acceptance is a fundamental tenet of your creed, I\'m afraid that you are being rather naive.
Fundamentalist Muslims understand this only as weakness. Their concept of integration is somewhat different than ours. In their view the only acceptable transition is assimilation; that is to say, our assimilation into their culture and religion.
The naive and apathetic of Britain and other Western democracies really do need to get their collective heads around this concept.
dave, says...
9:06am Fri 11 Jan 08
"Faith is a very important factor in the lives of 80 per cent of the world's population and a public expression of that faith is both natural and reasonable."
British Bulldog, says...
9:26am Fri 11 Jan 08
Dan Oxf, Oxf says...
9:58am Fri 11 Jan 08
Dan OX, Oxf says...
10:01am Fri 11 Jan 08
aryan, oxford says...
10:39am Fri 11 Jan 08
dan Ox, Ox says...
10:48am Fri 11 Jan 08
Sally, says...
11:07am Fri 11 Jan 08
dan Ox wrote:But these ethnic minorities as you keep spouting are mostly Bristish born and have as much to be here as you.
No mate i'm just pi**ed off with ethnic minorities coming in to my country which i have put a lot of money in to coming here and shouting the odds. and if we don't cower down and meet their demands we are labelled as rascist. we should have at least have a simple policy " these are our rules this is our country. if you don't like f*ck off" then there is no confusion
J, oxford says...
11:11am Fri 11 Jan 08
dan Ox wrote:Agree.
No mate i'm just pi**ed off with ethnic minorities coming in to my country which i have put a lot of money in to coming here and shouting the odds. and if we don't cower down and meet their demands we are labelled as rascist. we should have at least have a simple policy " these are our rules this is our country. if you don't like f*ck off" then there is no confusion
J, oxford says...
11:18am Fri 11 Jan 08
Sally wrote:SO what next, sharia law in the UK?
dan Ox wrote: No mate i'm just pi**ed off with ethnic minorities coming in to my country which i have put a lot of money in to coming here and shouting the odds. and if we don't cower down and meet their demands we are labelled as rascist. we should have at least have a simple policy " these are our rules this is our country. if you don't like f*ck off" then there is no confusionBut these ethnic minorities as you keep spouting are mostly Bristish born and have as much to be here as you. I hope if you have children you don't pass your views on to them
Lloyd, Oxford says...
11:26am Fri 11 Jan 08
Prof. A F Fort, Oxford says...
11:51am Fri 11 Jan 08
DanOxford, Oxford says...
12:12pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Ed, Oxford says...
12:25pm Fri 11 Jan 08
John, says...
12:37pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Tq wrote:Point being that they do not worship the same God which is what the original poster stated..
Keith Lonsdale wrote:Well i believe you do need a dear sight large amount of tolerance to survive in the UK to begin with, by doing a call to prayer i really do doubt that any of Oxfords Christian population is going to suddenly become Muslim. When the Church bells stop ringing you can start complaining that the integration has gone to far.
Tq, whilsit I understand that tolerance and acceptance is a fundamental tenet of your creed, I\'m afraid that you are being rather naive.
Fundamentalist Muslims understand this only as weakness. Their concept of integration is somewhat different than ours. In their view the only acceptable transition is assimilation; that is to say, our assimilation into their culture and religion.
The naive and apathetic of Britain and other Western democracies really do need to get their collective heads around this concept.
"Is that right? In that case they must know the God they worship had a son called Jesus Christ."-john on 7:27pm Thu 10 Jan 08
Surprisingly enough they don't think that Jesus was Gods son, however they do believe in Jesus's existance as a prophet... So essentially Islam is closer to Christianity than Judaism is.
Bex, OXON says...
12:48pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Richard, Oxford says...
12:50pm Fri 11 Jan 08
CB, Abingdon says...
1:06pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Kurt Bronson, USA says...
1:13pm Fri 11 Jan 08
DanOxford, Oxford says...
1:36pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Richard wrote:Richard- although I am not myself gay, I am 'intolerant' 'racist' and a 'bigot' for objecting to this call to prayer PRECISELY because I feel that it is symbolic of a belief system that is INHERENTLY sexist, intolerant, homophobic and discriminatory.
Sirs. I am gay :I would find it incredibly offensive to hear a regular call to worship a God, for a religion which actively condemns my sexuality. At least churches only ring bells, and I can step into a church anywhere in the country without persecution. I have no wish to walk down the Cowley Road hearing calls to Allah. It would just be an audible reminder of oppression intruding upon my thoughts.
Trev, BFD says...
2:47pm Fri 11 Jan 08
J wrote:Sharia law is already being practiced in many parts of West Yorkshire. Take Dewsbury for instance, Muslims in this area are practicing it and the government won't do anything to stop it.
Sally wrote:SO what next, sharia law in the UK?
dan Ox wrote: No mate i\'m just pi**ed off with ethnic minorities coming in to my country which i have put a lot of money in to coming here and shouting the odds. and if we don\'t cower down and meet their demands we are labelled as rascist. we should have at least have a simple policy \" these are our rules this is our country. if you don\'t like f*ck off\" then there is no confusionBut these ethnic minorities as you keep spouting are mostly Bristish born and have as much to be here as you. I hope if you have children you don\'t pass your views on to them
I\'m sure you wouldn\'t be too keen if your daughters were forced to cover themselves head to toe and treated as lower class citizens.
British born or not, religion is a private affair that people should keep to themselves. They should live by the rules and laws of the government, and religion should not affect their daily life other than on a personal level.
boris, oxford says...
2:53pm Fri 11 Jan 08
DanOxford, Oxford says...
3:28pm Fri 11 Jan 08
George, Washington DC says...
4:09pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Paul O, Oxford says...
4:49pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Johhny, Oxford says...
5:08pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Pork Chop, says...
5:12pm Fri 11 Jan 08
quote"I have been with the House of Bishops for the past three days and we agreed there are no no-go areas in this country that we are aware of, and that in all parts of the country there are good inter-faith relationships developing."
Obviously not a well travelled man - take of you Dog Collar Mr Pilchard and walk around predominant asian areas in The North of England and see how long you last , what a ****
quote
Iftikhar, Forest Gate London says...
6:02pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Farouk Patel, Chepstow says...
6:15pm Fri 11 Jan 08
Tracy, Oxford says...
3:53pm Thu 10 Jan 08