Loudspeakers were invented in the early 20th century, and they were introduced in mosques in the 1930s, where they are used by a muezzin for the adhan ("call to prayer"), [1] and sometimes for khutbah in Islam. Outdoor loudspeakers, usually mounted on tall minarets, are used five times a day for the call to prayer. [2] Loudspeakers are sometimes also used inside mosques to deliver sermons or for prayer. [3] Electrically amplified adhans have become commonplace in countries such as Turkey and Morocco, [4] whereas in others such as the Netherlands only 7 to 8% of all mosques employ loudspeakers for the call to prayer. [5]
The loudspeakers are also used as an early warning system and function as civil defense sirens in countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The first known installation of a microphone–loudspeaker set occurred in 1936 in the Sultan Mosque in Singapore; it was reported that the summons to prayer could 'carry more than a mile'. Though some mosque attendees were sceptical of this new electric system, most believed it was necessary to empower the muezzin's voice to transcend a modern city's noises. [6]
The loudspeakers also function as early warning system and can work as sirens in countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to warn of emergencies or disasters. [7] [8]
Modern mosque loudspeaker volume can generate noise pollution, which prompted Saudi Arabia's Ministry Of Islamic Affairs to issue a directive in late May 2021 to restrict mosque loudspeaker volumes to "one third of maximum". [9] The Ministry also stipulated that loudspeaker use was to be restricted to the calls to prayers only. [10]
In areas where more than one mosque is present, the loudspeaker sounds may overlap one another. [11]
Limitation on calls to prayer by Muslims exist in countries including Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, the UK, Austria, Norway, and Belgium. [12]
Some cities have independently banned or restricted the use of loudspeakers by mosques, including Lagos, Nigeria, [13] and some communities in the US state of Michigan. [14] [15] [12] [16]
In Malaysia in July 2024, a royal command from the reigning King of the country, directed that the Adhan be the only service to be broadcast through external loudspeakers, with recitations of the Quran, prayers and religious lectures to be restricted to the premise's internal loudspeakers. [17]
In Cologne, Germany, the proposed construction of the Cologne Central Mosque encountered strong criticism from some area residents; a ban on broadcasting the call to prayer over loudspeakers outside the building was among the first stipulations that the mosque's supporters had to agree to when seeking a building permit. [18]
In India, noise pollution activists have called for restricting the use of loudspeakers, stating religion is not a ground to violate noise rules. [19] In 1999, in debating a proposed blanket ban on loudspeakers atop mosques, some political leaders in India alleged that loudspeakers had been used to create communal tension, and that they had been used to incite a riot in Nandurbar, Maharashtra state, on November 10, 1999. [20]
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has recognized that the overzealous use of sound amplification by its many mosques is an environmental issue and appears to be taking official measures to curb the problem. [21] However, in August 2018, a woman who complained of the volume of her local mosque's speakers was eventually given an 18-month prison sentence for blasphemy, while mobs burned 14 Buddhist temples following the news of her complaint against the loudspeakers. [22] As a direct response to this incident, Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a circular on Adhan or the Islamic call to prayer, with guidelines on when and how it ought to be broadcast by mosques. [23] The issue continues to divide as of March 2022 when the Ministry issued even stricter guidelines, which included restricting sound levels to 100 decibels and any pre-call to prayer sermons to 10 minutes duration, down from the previous 15. [24] [25]
On 5 May 2020 Waltham Forest council, London, gave eight mosques permission to publicly broadcast its call to prayer during Ramadan. [26] On 14 May 2020 Newham Council followed suit, granting permission to nineteen mosques within the London borough to publicly broadcast its call to prayer during Ramadan. [27] [28] Many residents in the area of Newham, in dispute of the decision, wrote to the Mayor's office occupied by Rokshana Fiaz. On the 20 May 2020 residents concerned with the public broadcast to prayer received a response back from the Mayor in which she stated: "I am sorry if you were offended by the call to prayer, but the Council does not propose to take any further action or correspond further on this matter."
Harrow Council proposed a planning application to allow Harrow Central Mosque to publicly broadcast its prayer call every Friday at 6 pm for three months. [29]
On 31 May 2020, Maidenhead Mosque was given permission by Maidenhead council to publicly broadcast its call to prayer on a one-off occasion. [30]
In 2004, the Al-Islah Mosque in Hamtramck, Michigan, US, attracted national attention when it requested permission to broadcast its call to prayer. This upset many of the non-Muslim residents of the area, which has a large and long-established Polish Catholic population. Proponents pointed out that the city was already subject to loud bell ringing from the local church, while opponents argued that the church bells served a nonreligious purpose. Later that year, the city amended its noise regulations to limit the volume of all religious sounds. Prior to this, other mosques in the Detroit area had been using loudspeakers to broadcast their calls to prayer without incident. [14]
A mosque, also called a masjid, is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed, such as an outdoor courtyard.
The athan is the first Islamic call to prayer, usually recited by a muezzin at five times of the day in a mosque, traditionally from a minaret. The adhan is also the first thing recited in the ear of a newborn baby. It is often the first thing recited in a new home.
The muezzin is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer (ṣalāt) five times a day at a mosque from the minaret. The muezzin plays an important role in ensuring an accurate prayer schedule for the Muslim community.
In Islam, Friday prayer, or Congregational prayer is a community prayer service held once a week on Fridays. All Muslim men are expected to participate at a mosque with certain exceptions due to distance and situation. Women and children can also participate but do not fall under the same obligation that men do. The service consists of several parts including ritual washing, chants, recitation of scripture and prayer, and sermons.
Iftar is the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of adhan of the Maghrib prayer.
Sultan Mosque or Masjid Sultan is a mosque located at Muscat Street and North Bridge Road within the Kampong Glam precinct of the district of Rochor in Singapore. It was named after Sultan Hussain Shah. The mosque was inaugurated on 27 December 1936. In 1975, it was designated a national monument.
Islamic religious leaders have traditionally been people who, as part of the clerisy, mosque, or government, performed a prominent role within their community or nation. However, in the modern contexts of Muslim minorities in non-Muslim countries as well as secularised Muslim states like Turkey, and Bangladesh, the religious leadership may take a variety of non-formal shapes.
The bedug is one of the drums used in the gamelan. It is also used among Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia to signal mosque prayer times. The hitting of the instrument is particularly done according to a rhythm that goes in an increasingly rapid pace.
The East London Mosque (ELM) is situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate East. Combined with the adjoining London Muslim Centre and Maryam Centre, it is one of the largest mosques in Western Europe accommodating more than 7,000 worshippers for congregational prayers. The mosque was one of the first in the UK to be allowed to use loudspeakers to broadcast the adhan.
Ali Ahmed Mullah, is the veteran muazzin at the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the past three decades. Ali Ahmed Mulla is the longest serving muazzin for the Masjid al-Haram and has been following his family tradition in this profession since 1975.
Al-Islah Mosque, also known as the Al-Islah Islamic Center or the Al-Islah Jame Masjid, is a mosque following the Sunni tradition in Hamtramck, Michigan. It was founded in 2000 by immigrants from Bangladesh, of which a large community exists in Hamtramck. Al-Islah Mosque is currently expanding to a bigger building next door.
Didsbury Mosque is on Burton Road in West Didsbury, Manchester, England. The building was originally Albert Park Methodist Chapel, which opened in 1883, but closed in 1962 and was later converted into a mosque. It has an attendance of around 1,000 people. The mosque Sheikh is Mustafa Abdullah Graf.
The Blue Mosque is a mosque and cultural center in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, the Netherlands. Construction of the mosque was financed by the government of Kuwait through the offices of Europe Trust Netherlands and began in 2008. The mosque is architecturally significant for both its blue color and the fact that the structure lacks traditional minarets and other symbols associated with Muslim places of worship.
In the history of Islam, a muwaqqit was an astronomer tasked with the timekeeping and the regulation of prayer times in an Islamic institution like a mosque or a madrasa. Unlike the muezzin who was usually selected for his piety and voice, a muwaqqit was selected for his knowledge and skill in astronomy.
The Wembley Central Mosque is a mosque in the London Borough of Brent. The principal mosque in North West London, it is located on Ealing Road, Wembley, and serves the United Kingdom’s fifth largest Muslim community, which is predominantly Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Along with the adjacent Muslim Welfare Association, it can hold up to 2200 people.
The history of Islam in the Arctic starts relatively late in the chronology of Islamic history, the Arctic Circle being at a great distance from traditional Muslim bastions of power and settlement. The "climatic conditions, remoteness and heavy industrial character" of northern cities have resulted in a unique cultural shift for Muslims living in the region, including a tendency towards pluralism wherein sects like Sunni and Shia Muslims do not segregate themselves. In areas where the midnight sun or polar night renders the five daily prayers impossible to tie to dusk and dawn, congregants typically either use the same timing as a more southern region, the holy city of Mecca or their homelands.
The Floating Mosque of Palu, also known as Arqam Babu Rahman Mosque was a mosque in the city of Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The mosque is an icon of Palu, known for floating on Palu Bay.
The Omar bin Al-Khattab Mosque or Curaçao Islamic Center is a mosque in Willemstad, Curaçao.
A call to prayer is a summons for participants of a faith to attend a group worship or to begin a required set of prayers. The call is one of the earliest forms of telecommunication, communicating to people across great distances. All religions have a form of prayer, and many major religions have a form of the call to prayer.