The South Kalimantan chapter of Indonesian Ulema Council has proposed an edict that bans the use of loudspeakers if it is considered disturb other people, even though they are used to broadcast the call to prayer five times a day or a sermon. Council member Muhammad Noor, who is a lecturer at Antasari State Islamic Institute in the provincial capital of Banjarmasin, told Antara state news agency Monday that a group of ulema attending a discussion in Tabalong regency recently concluded that deafening loudspeakers, albeit for good purposes, could spark disagreement among Muslims and non-Muslims due to the noise and discomfort caused.
Noor said the ulema suggested that Muslims exercise their freedom of religion without sacrificing the rights of other people. Participants of the discussion agreed that the use of loudspeakers was aimed at propagating Islam, but its excessive application might be counterproductive.
Your comments:
A very good initiative to enable the peaceful coexistence of different religions. I hope it will be successful!
Michael Kreuzberg
Tarakan, East Kalimantan
Ulema from all across Indonesia should follow this example.
Brian
Jakarta
I am not a Muslim but I live 20 meters from a mosque, I would not mind the loudspeakers if they were tuned properly and not turned up so loud as to distort the sound. Distorted voices are probably the most disturbing thing I can think of.
Bob H
Jakarta
A similar move may need to be followed in Jakarta. Call of the prayers done naturally by a well-versed adult voice is totally soothing even comforting. But unnecessary sermons on broken loudspeakers in the early morning or during the day are a disturbance to the ears.
Why the need to propagate Islam furthermore in a majority Muslim country? Religion is a private matter in my opinion. Certainly Indonesian Muslims will find a common harmonious understanding in their neighborhood since Islam claims to be a religion of peace. Hope my next visit to Indonesia will not be startled by a broken loudspeaker in the wee hours of the morning.
Andrea L
Pittsburgh, PA
I am an atheist and support this brilliant idea. I 100 percent agree!
Lianto Osa
Jakarta
Congratulations to the Council for its enlightened attitude.
Karim
Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara
Show respect for your neighbors' rights; issue bleepers or telephone devotees to prayers. Personally I do not mind when the call to prayers by mosques is well done, even when it is at dawn.
What I object to is the "right" for people with the worst chanting voices in the village to wreak revenge on their non-Muslim neighbors. Singapore has the right idea!
GS
Britain
I feel that in a city where there are many small neighborhood mosques the muezzin's unaided voice would be sufficient.
A loudspeaker is only necessary in areas where there is only one mosque and the individual call to prayer is to be broadcast over a wider area.
Furthermore, the sound of an unaided voice can be quite pleasant, certainly nowhere near as intrusive as the early morning wake-up blast at 90 decibels. I do like to hear the voices of young and upcoming muezzin.
While their voices may be a bit shaky, it indicates a living faith that is inclusive of young people. In this case also their voices should not be distorted by loudspeakers.
I personally look forward to a time, perhaps in the not too distant future, when the voices of women and girls are considered to be of equal value as male voices when it comes to pronouncing the faith of Indonesia's majority.
Step O'Rafferty
Bingil Bay, Australia
I think the idea is very interesting and worth consideration. I mean, I can't understand why a mosque allowed a little boy with a voice like a wrecking pot deliver an adzan call when he doesn't even know how to pronounce/read the adzan correctly!
I don't like humiliating adzan at the first place. Adzan should be delivered by someone with a beautiful voice, who knows the essence of such a call. Not by someone with some awful voice that would scare people away.
Vera Tobing
Jakarta
