Sweden's First Prayer Call Recited At Stockholm Mosque

STOCKHOLM: First-ever call was heard for the Friday prayer at Fittja Grand Mosque. Muslim worshippers today gathered for the Friday prayer, or Jummah, at a mosque in Stockholm which saw the first-ever call to prayer to be recited in Sweden.

Sweden's state-run television broadcast live while Fittja Grand Mosque's imam recited the prayer call (adhan) via a loudspeaker from the minaret.

"I have been living in Sweden for 25 years and this is the first time I have ever heard the adhan from the minaret. I am very happy," Guluz Kayhan told the Anadolu Agency as she tried to hold her tears back.   

"This is a historic day," said Iman Upmann, a Swede converted to Islam 13 years ago.

Earlier in April, local police ruled to allow the prayer calls following a September 2012 decision by local government to remove a ban on reciting the adhan from minarets.