Muslim Dearborn mayor defends 'loud' mosque call to prayer, says noise level ‘within legal limits’

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN: Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud responded to noise complaints about a mosque's call to prayer, defending it and saying it is "not an issue."

Hammoud addressed the concerns on the November 3 episode of the 'Not From Here' podcast, as local Dearborn residents have complained in recent months that a nearby mosque has been broadcasting the call to prayer on loudspeakers multiple times a day.

Notably, when residents raised concerns during a September 2025 city council meeting, the mayor said that the call to prayer is permitted under city ordinances as long as it remains below a certain decibel level.

Abdullah Hammoud says decibel readings are 'within legal limit'

Abdullah Hammoud said, "I would tell you is, you know, those complaining about the call to prayer, I mean it's a very, very few, you still want to respect the wishes and, if you have a serious concern, I have to uphold the law across all boards."

"But we've done decibel readings at these mosques, all within threshold, all within legal limit. And so for me, it's not an issue," he added. 

The mayor further said, "We also have to uphold our constitutional rights to freedom of religion. And I would say this, you know, that's the thing. I'm saying this as a Muslim. People, of course, are going to say this is a call to prayer, but like, you know, why are these complaints just coming forward now?"

Meanwhile, podcast host Jaafar Issa remarked, "Yeah, elections are coming up."

Interestingly, Hammoud did not directly respond to the comment but said, "Call to prayer has been happening since the 1970s in Dearborn." According to city ordinance, noise in residential areas cannot exceed 55 decibels at night (after 10 PM) or 60 decibels during the day (7 AM to 10 PM).

Moreover, loudspeakers are prohibited between 10 PM and 7 AM.

Abdullah Hammoud compares the sound to church bells

Abdullah Hammoud also noted that most mosques in the city do not make a call to prayer at “Fajr,” or dawn, and he compared the sound to church bells.

Meanwhile, Dearborn resident Andrea Unger, who has lived in the city for around 40 years, told Fox News in October that she had recorded the call to prayer for 30 consecutive days and found it consistently exceeded 70 decibels.

She said she raised concerns with the police department and the city council over the past two years, but the problem has persisted. She added that some of her neighbors were hesitant to speak out because they feared being labeled anti-Muslim.

Unger said, "I have heard a lot of people say, 'I'm glad you said something,' because people are afraid they'll get called names like ‘Islamophobic,’ like our mayor called [Dearborn resident and Christian minister] Ted Barham, because you disagree."

"We're not Islamophobic, we're not anti-Muslim, we just want to live in the community that it's always been [before] something changed two years ago to allow this," she added.