Editorial: Sects and the city

The Bishop of Rochester has said that Islamic extremism is creating ‘no-go areas’ for non-Muslims in Britain. Muslim communities, he says, are making it difficult for those of other races to live or work amongst them. He criticised the adhan – the call to prayer – and suggested that some parts of the country are too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter.Leaders at Oxford Central Mosque have said that they would like to broadcast a call to prayer three times a day, at sociable hours, and are perfectly within their rights to do so. The majority of us, with no great religious feeling, might be allowed a grumble about noise pollution, but to raise a fuss in a city plagued at all hours by the clangour of bells surely stinks of hypocrisy.Cowley is often celebrated for its alternative, ‘ethnic’ vibe – a reputation it has gained partly thanks to the high number of immigrants in the area – and along with the sheesha pipes and falafel come Islam and the adhan; we cannot pick and choose.Just last week it emerged that two local writers have penned a screenplay entitled ‘The Cowley Road Drinking Club,’ which aims to celebrate the quirkiness of the area before eccentric local shops are replaced by identikit chain stores. Inevitably, the writers have their own romanticised vision of Cowley, slightly askew from the reality. Cowley Road has long been the preserve of middle class students whose parents happily pay for them to ‘slum it,’ Cowley-style. A few Polish groceries do not make a truly multi-cultural society. If anything, we need more mosques to balance out the churches.Nor is Cowley the last word in sink-estate dystopia. For true grit, head to Blackbird Leys. It adds a little perspective when moaning about grimy college rooms.The relative aesthetics of these areas are debatable, but surely drugs and dole queues are more pressing problems than the adhan. If we’re really after a vibrant and representative society, Oxford’s sandy spires can surely make room for a single minaret.Laura Pitel and Tom Seymour, Cherwell editors