Frustrated New York City residents are flooding social media with complaints about the Islamic call to prayer blasting from mosque loudspeakers during Ramadan.

Muslims defend the broadcasts as their First Amendment right to religious freedom and cultural identity. 

However, a former Muslim explained that this is primarily a tool for asserting political dominance rather than fulfilling religious devotion. 

The wake-up call comes in the morning, and ready or not, it’s time to start the day. And we’re not talking about Cairo, Mecca, or Medina. It’s New York City.

The Adhan, or Muslim call to prayer, is ringing out in the Big Apple, especially during Ramadan, which began on February 17.

Many New Yorkers are speaking out against these amplified broadcasts of the call to prayer. 

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(TURN YOUR VOLUME UP)

My lord, America – the conquest we’ve warned about is exploding now. The Adhan isn’t a “beautiful call to prayer”; it’s a militant declaration: “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is… pic.twitter.com/9Vq4DfpZxW

— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) February 15, 2026

Some Americans see the call to prayer as a disturbance, while Muslims insist it is their constitutional right to express their faith freely.

It’s a delicate balance between community rights and America’s religious liberty.

“It has nothing to do with freedom of religion. It is projecting dominance,” Danny Burmawi insisted.          

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A former Muslim turned Christian, Burmawi is the author of Islam, Israel, and the West.

He said the call to prayer was more important in the early days of Islam. Back then, with no cell phones or alarms to wake people up, it helped bring people to the mosque to pray.

In 2026, he believes it is no longer needed.

“Many people are arguing that there is no need for the call to prayer to be broadcast and to bother everyone, because we have alarms. Muslims don’t need it, but political Islam needs it,” Burmawi explained.

So, where should New Yorkers draw the line? How do Americans balance the religious rights of minorities with the need for peace and quiet in their communities?

Burmawi said, “As long as Islam is categorized as a religion, exclusively a religion, then there’s nothing New Yorkers can do.”

He said the first move would be for them to try to redefine Islam.

Burmawi believes these broadcasts from mosques should be compared to if communists broadcast political messages through loudspeakers, which are not allowed in New York City neighborhoods.

He argues that Islam is not really a religion, but a political ideology with a religious side.

“When you go into your room, you close your door, and you pray to Allah. That is a religion that is a spiritual practice that belongs to the religion. But when you broadcast the call to prayer so that Muslims and non-Muslims will be disturbed by it, that has nothing to do with religion. That is a political signal. That is, a declaration that we exist politically and we are taking over the public space,” he explained.

Many are asking what can be done to ensure most New Yorkers can live their lives in peace, without being disturbed by the Muslim call to prayer.

Burmawi believes the answer will not come from their new mayor, who is both a Muslim and a declared Democratic Socialist.

“His allegiance to Islam comes first. It’s at the top of the list of, what, what gives you identity. So he will keep pushing for the normalization of Islam in the public square in New York, in a thousand different ways.”