Throughout the day and night, a ringing sound fills the air from the bells of The Church of the Sacred Heart, located at 1253 Shakespeare Avenue. 

Father Franco, one of the churches' priests, said that, in the Catholic faith, church bells have historically served as a reminder for believers to come to pray. The bells also serve as a reminder of other scheduled church activities such as mass.

Among Highbridge residents, both Christians and Muslims described the sound of the bells as a reminder to be faithful and prayerful.

"When I hear the bells ringing it makes me feel like praying," said Rosemarie Ortiz, a Christian who lives on Woodycrest Avenue, "and I do most of the time." 

Over on Anderson Avenue between 167th Street and 168th Street, the sound of the church bells is clearly audible. This area is home to many African immigrants, and a large  majority of them are Muslims.  Ms. Aminata Cisse, a Muslim who lives on Anderson Avenue stated that she finds the sound of the bells reassuring and that it reminds her of the Azhan, which is the Islamic call to prayer.  When asked if she thought the bells were a nuisance or a quality-of-life concern, Ms. Cisse said that, on the contrary,  they were beneficial for the community. 

Imam Ba Ba Jagana, resident Imam of Mackie Jamey Masjid, located at 115 East 168th Street, agreed with Cisse that  the ringing of  the church bells is a good idea as a reminder to faithful followers to be more conscious of God.    And he went on to state that the Azhan (Islamic call to prayer) is also called there five times a day to remind believers that it is time for prayer.

Imam Ba Ba Jagana stated they are very mindful as to not disturb the community with the call to prayer in the early morning; therefore the volume on their system is lowered for that time of the day.

But whether-and how- Christians and Muslims are conscious of each other is a different matter.

Ms Cisse stated that she thinks Muslims and Christians maintained decent relations in the community.

Ortiz stated she really did not know many Muslims, but described the few she did know as very friendly.

The issue of Christian-Muslim relations, of course, has been a hot topic globally for the past few years.
On a recent episode of PBS' "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly," New York Times religion reporter Laurie Goodstein cautioned that after the September 11 attacks, many non-Muslims have conceived Islam in different terms than before.

"Whereas a few years ago, people talked about 'the problem is Islamic militants' or 'Islamic extremists,'" Goodstein said on the program "now I think that's become generalized for people to be willing to demonize a whole faith, a whole people, and to hold everybody in that faith accountable for the actions of its most extreme wing."

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison recently became the first Muslim elected to U.S. Congress, and was sworn in during his private ceremony on a Holy Quran believed to have once belonged to President Thomas Jefferson.

Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode, a Christian, responded by writing a letter to his constituents arguing that Ellison's actions should serve as a warning that harsher immigration laws were needed against people from Middle-Eastern countries. "If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration," Goode wrote, "there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran."

Nya Ndelade, a Muslim and a resident of Highbridge for more than 30 years before recently relocating to Mississippi, said that because world events like this fostered a tense political climate, she did not think it was the best time for a discussion about the state of Christian- Muslim relations in this community.

Still, Ndelade acknowledged that how well Christians and Muslims get along is a significant question.  "The relationship between Muslims and Christians is very important," said  Ndelade.

Ndelade went on to say that in spite of the world climate at this time, the bond between Muslims and Christians is closer than many would care to acknowledge. She added that she felt there was a very powerful similarity in the ringing of Christian church bells and the Muslim call to prayer: Both, in her opinion, served as steadfast reminders for residents to pray and encouraged them to be more conscious of  God.