Al-Islah Mosque

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Al-Islah Mosque is a Muslim Mosque following the Sunni tradition. It is located in the city of Hamtramck, Michigan. It was founded in 2000 by immigrants from Bangledesh (of which a large community exists in Hamtramck).

The mosque attracted national attention in 2004, when it requested permission to broadcast its call to prayer. This upset many of the non-muslim residents of the area, which has a large and long established Polish Catholic population. Proponents pointed out that the city was already subject to loud bell ringing from the local church, while opponents argued that the church bells served a nonreligious purpose. Though nothing prevented the mosque from broadcasting the Adhan to begin with, the city council nonetheless added an official OK in May, 2004. Later that year, the city amended its noise regulations to limit the volume of all religious sounds. Prior to this, other mosques in the Detroit area had been using loudspeakers to broadcast their calls to prayer without incident.