Mississauga council has voted to allow mosques in the city to do calls to prayer during Ramadan.

Council unanimously passed a motion Wednesday to temporarily relax city noise bylaws for the calls, which alert Muslims it’s time for prayer, up to the end of Ramadan on May 24.

During the exemption, Mississauga mosques and “other non-residential buildings regularly used for worship” can send out only one call to prayer in the evening, according to the motion moved by Ward 9 Coun. Pat Saito.

The motion also said that calls can’t be longer than five minutes or encourage people to physically gather, which would be a violation of COVID-19 emergency closures.

Mississauga Imam Nafis Bhayat, who is head imam at Jame Masjid, said the call usually acts as an alert for the congregation to stop other activities and come to pray up to five times a day.

While service in mosques are not allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said hearing the call to prayer will help Muslims in Mississauga prepare for prayers at home

“It will help them stay connected, because a lot of the times when we are at home, we get involved in some stuff and we forget the prayer timing,” he said.

In a press release following the motion to allow the calls, the Muslim Council of Peel (MCP) said that physical distancing had made Ramadan “very difficult” for those seeking a sense of community during the month.

“The decision gives the community great solace during Ramadan, when we would be assembling at the mosque every evening breaking fast in Ramadan — our holiest of months,” said MCP director Rabia Khedr.

Because the calls to prayer are broadcast on loudspeakers, they would normally violateMississauga noise bylaws.

Except for some exempted events and construction activities, city bylaws prohibit electronic devices intended “for the production, reproduction or amplification of sound” in residential areas between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. the next day.

In the city’s “quiet areas,” which are mostly around health facilities and seniors’ homes, no amplified sounds are allowed.

Violating the city’s noise bylaws can mean a fine of up to $5,000.

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Bhayat said if allowed by the city, his mosque would be sending out the calls.

“Maybe (Muslims) will be able to hear it in the home; it will give them some sort of satisfaction,” he said.

Steve Cornwell is a reporter with the Mississauga News and Brampton Guardian. Reach him via email: scornwell@metroland.com

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