“In Arabic, the imam made the declaration: ‘Allah is the greatest; I bear witness that there is no other God but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.'”
In traditional Islamic theology, that makes the cathedral a mosque. In any case, this has caused an uproar in Britain, which will doubtless lead to charges of “Islamophobia” against those who are upset. Peter Howell-Jones, the dean of Blackburn Cathedral, however, agrees with those who are angry: “I don’t think this should have happened here. If people are going to call for my resignation there’s nothing more I can say or do to people to pacify them because actually I agree with their arguments.” So it was all a mistake, apparently, but it’s noteworthy that Christian professions of faith are never mistakenly sounded out in mosques.
“Row as imam recites the Muslim call to prayer during a Church of England cathedral’s Armistice concert without permission,” by Connor Boyd, Mailonline, November 18, 2018 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
An imam was filmed reciting the Muslim call to prayer in a Church of England cathedral the night before Remembrance Day.
He performed the call to worship in front of an audience of around 400 people in Blackburn Cathedral last Saturday.
In Arabic, the imam made the declaration: ‘Allah is the greatest; I bear witness that there is no other God but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.’
It was part of a concert to commemorate the armistice and was carried out without the church’s permission.
It was part of an organised concert to commemorate Remembrance Day – but his call to worship was carried out without the church’s permission
Peter Howell-Jones, the dean of Blackburn Cathedral, has said he ‘partially agrees’ with calls for his resignation.
He told The Sunday Times: ‘I don’t think this should have happened here. If people are going to call for my resignation there’s nothing more I can say or do to people to pacify them because actually I agree with their arguments.’
The call to prayer was part of Welsh composer Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man – an anti-war Mass – organised by Blackburn Music Society.
The second movement, which is sometimes omitted, is a traditional Muslim adhan recited in Arabic.
The dean only realised that the Muslim call to prayer was in the piece shortly before it began and didn’t want to cause upset by removing it, the newspaper reports.
Mr Howell-Jones said he never looked into the contents of the Mass because the Blackburn Music Society regularly held events at the church and no controversy had ever come of them.
It’s thought the music society asked the imam, rather than a musician, for the part on the advice of the Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum….