海角大神

As of听Friday, residents of Durham, N.C., near the Duke University Chapel bell tower will now hear the tones of a male听听member chanting the Muslim 鈥渁dhan鈥� or "call to prayer" at听1 p.m.听each week.听

听鈥淥n campus among students and faculty the response has been overwhelmingly positive,鈥� says听Duke spokesman Keith Lawrence in a phone interview.

鈥淭hose responding from the outside, particularly on social media like Twitter, have been mixed with some negativity that has begun to feed off of itself,鈥� Mr. Lawrence adds.

,听which announces the start of the group鈥檚 jummah prayer service, which takes place in the chapel basement each听Friday at 1 p.m., lasts about three minutes and will be moderately amplified, according to a听

Imam Adeel Zeb, Muslim chaplain at Duke听says in a phone interview that the addition of the chant was in the works months prior to the militant Islamist attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and are in no way in response or politically motivated.

Muslim students at Duke are supported by the university through the Office of Student Affairs鈥� Muslim Life department, which hosts religious services, community service projects, and interfaith events. The Center for Muslim Life provides on-campus social and spiritual meeting spaces for students as well as opportunities for counseling and advising.

听鈥淭his is not about politics,鈥� Mr. Zeb says. 鈥淭his is part of Duke鈥檚 mission to promote religious diversity on campus.鈥�

Zeb adds that he 鈥渄id not hesitate for a moment鈥� or waver at all in the plan following the Paris attacks or after learning about negative feedback on Twitter.

鈥淎s always, I advise my students to respond to negativity by being very positive and loving in their character,鈥� Zeb says. 鈥淚t is a tradition and an honor to carry on the chant and call to prayer.鈥�

听"Duke is in the minority for having the call to prayer," Zeb says. "I don't know of many others doing it."

听He adds that the service is open to the public.

The words will be chanted in Arabic, then spoken in English by either male or female students over the public address system, according to Zeb who offers the following English translation of the Adhan:

听God is Most Great. God is Most Great.

God is Most Great. God is Most Great.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipped except God.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipped except God.

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

Come to prayer. Come to prayer.

Come to Success. Come to Success.

God is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.

There is none worthy of being worshipped except God.

Zeb says that he has spent the past week training seven male students in the proper intonation, rhythm, and pronunciation of the chant. The adhan is traditionally performed by males unless it is a call to an all-female gathering, in which case, Zeb says, a woman would call the adhan.

"The adhan is the call to prayer that brings Muslims back to their purpose in life, which is to worship God and serves as a reminder to serve our brothers and sisters in humanity," Zeb explains. 鈥淭he collective Muslim community is truly grateful and excited about Duke鈥檚 intentionality toward religious and cultural diversity.鈥澨�

鈥淭his opportunity represents a larger commitment to religious pluralism that is at the heart of Duke鈥檚 mission,鈥� Christy Lohr Sapp, the chapel鈥檚 associate dean for religious life and a 海角大神, is quoted in a press release. 鈥淚t connects the university to national trends in religious accommodation.鈥�