Brooklyn —
Certainly, every Bed-Stuy resident has heard it at some point: “Allah u Akbar, Allah u Akbar” (Allah is Great). It is the Adhan – the Muslim call to prayer – and five times a day, it pulses over a loudspeaker, penetrating the ears of anyone within four to five blocks of its source.
For the Muslim owners of nearby stores on Fulton Street and Bedford Avenue, it signals closing time for an important religious observance. Others in the neighborhood call it a nuisance.
