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Letter: Unplugged mosque
I have read the comments for and against the actions of a sleep-deprived American in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, who stormed into the mosque beside his house and unplugged their microphones, creating an angry mob that then destroyed his house
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I
have read the comments for and against the actions of a sleep-deprived American in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, who stormed into the mosque beside his house and unplugged their microphones, creating an angry mob that then destroyed his house. Many have condemned his actions. Few have supported them. I agree he acted unwisely and impolitely. But would talking have worked?
In this country, it seems that when groups of Muslims gather together and create local traditions or otherwise decide upon some course of action, they create a tidal wave of behavior that few can alter or stop. The result is that those with the loudest voices or strongest determination get to establish “correctness” and all others get pushed aside, regardless of what Islamic teachings might have to say on the matter.
I know a devout Muslim lady in Jakarta who often feels disturbed by her local mosque. The “noise” from the mosque situated right beside her house would always disturb her two small boys, and they would wake up in a fright (sometimes crying) because of the loud noises coming from mosque next door. This was not the call to prayer lasting only two to three minutes, but numerous other events such as Koran recitals and discussion groups lasting for hours in the middle of the day, and at night, all broadcast at full volume to the neighborhood.
She tried to speak nicely to the mosque leaders, and asked them to not use their very large outdoor loudspeakers for every single activity and just use the internal sound system instead for the benefit of those attending. They laughed at her and said, “Are you really a Muslim?” Then she was basically told to go away and not come back.
Unfortunately, the Muslim leaders of Indonesia have yet to address this issue seriously. I have wondered why they did not use the media reports of the American in Lombok as an opportunity to open up and discuss the issue of whether some mosques go too far with their continual broadcasts.
Why is it so hard for Muslim leaders to discuss such real issues and find solutions? Perhaps people are afraid that complaining about the constant noise from some mosques will be seen as a sign that those complaining are not devout enough. However, I believe that those two issues have nothing at all in common.
The need of any person (or child) to sleep at certain times has nothing to do with each individual’s level of devoutness. And if anything, those who are disturbing their neighbors are proving through their actions that they are less devout, as the instruction to avoid disturbing one’s neighbors was mentioned repeatedly by the Prophet Muhammad. But does anyone care?
Destroying a person’s house for unplugging a microphone is an example of how over-emotional and unconcerned some Muslims are about their neighbor’s condition. Their concern is only for the “correctness” that has already been established by the group with the loudest voices (and the biggest fists).
Gene Netto
Jakarta
