Duke University to Hold Weekly Muslim Call to Prayer from Chapel Tower

BY JONATHAN DREW
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke University says it will hold a weekly call-to-prayer chant for Muslims from the bell tower at its famous chapel, a move that has drawn the ire of evangelist Franklin Graham.

The school said in a news release that members of the school’s Muslim Students Association will recite the call lasting about three minutes from the bell tower, and that it will be moderately amplified. The call to prayer coincides with the group’s prayer service in the chapel.

The chapel’s associate dean for religious life, Christy Lohr Sapp, says the move shows the school’s commitment to religious pluralism. The university was founded by Methodists and Quakers and its divinity school has historically been connected to the United Methodist Church.

Graham urged Duke alumni to withhold support because of violence against Christians that he attributed to Muslims.