In Egypt, for example, authorities have unsuccessfully attempted to unify the timing and to restrict the call to prayer to only the largest mosques in order to reduce noise. A few years ago, then-Religious Endowments Minister Mahmoud Zakzouk maintained that loudspeakers undermine Islam and are an invention with no connection to Islamic law. Tamar Sternthal, JerusalemThe writer is director of the Israel office of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. ..To the editor: In the 21st century, why does a muezzin need to use a loudspeaker to recite the call to prayer for nearby Muslims? Doing this five times a day — and starting before dawn — may be appropriate in a theocracy, but not in religiously diverse countries.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 22, 2016 17:24 UTC