Update to this story.
DURHAM, N.C. — Two days after announcing that Islamic students would be broadcasting a weekly call to prayer from the Duke Chapel bell tower, Duke University officials abandoned that plan Thursday, citing the furor the move had created.
Members of the Duke Muslim Students Association will chant the call, known as adhan or azan, were supposed to start the three-minute weekly chant Friday afternoon. Now, the call to prayer will take place in a quad outside the chapel.
“Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students,” Michael Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president for public affairs and government relations, said in a statement. “However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect.”
Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham and the head of the international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, on Wednesday blasted Duke’s decision to allow Islamic prayers from the bell tower. In a post on his Facebook page, he said followers of Islam are “butchering” people who don’t share their beliefs.