Published on Jan 16, 2015
In
the face of mounting controversy, Duke University reversed itself
Thursday afternoon and announced it will not allow a Muslim call to
prayer from its iconic chapel Friday.
The Durham university had said earlier in the week it would permit a weekly, three-minute chant by members of the Duke Muslim Students Association to be “moderately amplified” via speakers in the Duke Chapel’s bell tower.
That decision was met with growing anger in some corners of social media and elsewhere. Evangelist Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, denounced the move Wednesday and called for people to stop funding Duke until it reversed its decision.
“What began as something that was meant to be unifying was turning into something that was the opposite,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “It was clear we needed to reconsider.”
A Duke administrator had earlier touted the move as a way to promote religious inclusiveness at the school. But the university received hundreds of calls and emails, “many of which were quite vitriolic,” Schoenfeld said. “The level of vitriol in the responses was unlike any other controversy we have seen here in quite some time.”
There also were security concerns, Schoenfeld added.
Muslim community members will instead gather on the quadrangle outside the chapel and do the call to prayer, called the “adhan,” before moving to their regular location in the chapel basement for prayers. They have met there for the past several years.
More than 700 of Duke’s 14,850 students identify themselves as Muslim, according to the university.
Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, took to Facebook to lace into Duke’s initial decision.
“As Christianity is being excluded from the public square and followers of Islam are raping, butchering, and beheading Christians, Jews, and anyone who doesn’t submit to their Sharia Islamic law, Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism,” Graham wrote on Facebook.
In an interview Thursday before the reversal, Graham told The Charlotte Observer that Duke should not allow the chapel to be used for the call to prayer. “It’s wrong because it’s a different god,” he said. “Using the bell tower, that signifies worship of Jesus Christ. Using (it) as a minaret is wrong.”
Graham did say Muslim students should be allowed to worship on campus. “Let Duke donate the land and let Saudi Arabia build a mosque for them.”
And referencing the recent terrorist attacks in France, Graham added, “Islam is not a religion of peace.”
Schoenfeld declined to comment on criticism by Graham or others.
Late Thursday afternoon, Graham applauded Duke’s reversal in a Facebook post. “They made the right decision!” he stated.
Osama Idlibi, president of the Muslim American Society of Charlotte, decried Graham’s earlier statements and called him “an Islamophobe.”
Idlibi said it was unfortunate that Duke had changed its plans.
“I don’t think it accomplishes the religious pluralism that they want to promote at the university,” he said.
The Durham university had said earlier in the week it would permit a weekly, three-minute chant by members of the Duke Muslim Students Association to be “moderately amplified” via speakers in the Duke Chapel’s bell tower.
That decision was met with growing anger in some corners of social media and elsewhere. Evangelist Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, denounced the move Wednesday and called for people to stop funding Duke until it reversed its decision.
“What began as something that was meant to be unifying was turning into something that was the opposite,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “It was clear we needed to reconsider.”
A Duke administrator had earlier touted the move as a way to promote religious inclusiveness at the school. But the university received hundreds of calls and emails, “many of which were quite vitriolic,” Schoenfeld said. “The level of vitriol in the responses was unlike any other controversy we have seen here in quite some time.”
There also were security concerns, Schoenfeld added.
Muslim community members will instead gather on the quadrangle outside the chapel and do the call to prayer, called the “adhan,” before moving to their regular location in the chapel basement for prayers. They have met there for the past several years.
More than 700 of Duke’s 14,850 students identify themselves as Muslim, according to the university.
Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, took to Facebook to lace into Duke’s initial decision.
“As Christianity is being excluded from the public square and followers of Islam are raping, butchering, and beheading Christians, Jews, and anyone who doesn’t submit to their Sharia Islamic law, Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism,” Graham wrote on Facebook.
In an interview Thursday before the reversal, Graham told The Charlotte Observer that Duke should not allow the chapel to be used for the call to prayer. “It’s wrong because it’s a different god,” he said. “Using the bell tower, that signifies worship of Jesus Christ. Using (it) as a minaret is wrong.”
Graham did say Muslim students should be allowed to worship on campus. “Let Duke donate the land and let Saudi Arabia build a mosque for them.”
And referencing the recent terrorist attacks in France, Graham added, “Islam is not a religion of peace.”
Schoenfeld declined to comment on criticism by Graham or others.
Late Thursday afternoon, Graham applauded Duke’s reversal in a Facebook post. “They made the right decision!” he stated.
Osama Idlibi, president of the Muslim American Society of Charlotte, decried Graham’s earlier statements and called him “an Islamophobe.”
Idlibi said it was unfortunate that Duke had changed its plans.
“I don’t think it accomplishes the religious pluralism that they want to promote at the university,” he said.
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