When Duke University decided to reverse course on its decision to allow the recitation of the adhan, the traditional Muslim call to prayer, from its chapel bell tower, a university spokesman said in an official statement that this “effort to create unity was not having the intended effect.”
This narrative simplifies the manufactured controversy that caused the cancellation.
Duke’s attempt to “create unity” within the confines of a traditionally Methodist campus was quickly chosen as a target of criticism for conservative commentators, most notably evangelical Franklin Graham, who falsely associated the peaceful effort to worship with violent extremism.
Graham’s statements and their popularity are a prime example of the domination of Islamophobia within our culture and the ease with which a gross stereotype of Islam as equivalent to terrorism is wielded by those with no interest in pluralism. The narrative of Graham and his supporters is one of Judeo-Christian supremacy that rejects difference as a threat.
While there have been reports that angry callers made numerous threats against the adhan, Duke was misguided in its decision to cancel.
Instead of distancing themselves from the effort to accommodate Muslim community members, Duke administrators should have acted to ensure that the bell tower plan would have proceeded safely without capitulating to the threats of right-wing extremists.
Moving forward, we should stand with the Muslim community against the defamation of their faith and act instead with the compassion necessary to dispel anti-Muslim sentiments.
