(MEMRI) Dr. Salman Masalha, a Druze Israeli-Arab intellectual, writing in Al-Hayat on Nov. 19, discussed an Israeli bill seeking to ban the use of loudspeakers by houses of worship. "In the 1970s, renowned [Muslim] preacher Muhammad Metwali Al-Sha'rawi declared: 'If it were up to me, I would ban mosques from using loudspeakers to announce the dawn prayer.' The reason for this is obvious: these early morning hours are the quietest hours, when people are sound asleep and have not yet woken up to go to work and make a living." "People in the Arab world suffer greatly from this worrying phenomenon and are seeking a solution to it, and Muslim clerics are likewise working to resolve it. That is why there are debates about it and fatwas issued about it. Islamweb.net has posted fatwas by [Saudi Arabia's] Standing Committee [for Scholarly Research and Issuing Fatwas] stating that loudspeakers and microphones 'must be used only inside the mosque so as not to disturb people outside.'"
2016-11-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive