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Indonesia: Should Mosques Lower Prayer Volume?

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By Agung Harsya

In a speech delivered during the national congress of the Indonesian Board of Mosques (DMI) last week, Vice President Boediono sparked a debate when he suggested that mosques should lower the volume of loudspeakers during the daily prayer call.

Mosques in Indonesia use loudspeakers to broadcast the “adzan” five times a day reminding people to pray. Boediono warned that the loud volume might disturb other people, including fellow Muslims. He added that a less noisy call to prayer is more likely to enter a person’s heart rather than loud sounds.

But many Indonesians advised Boediono to address other more important issues. Blogger happydsf [id], voices his concern:

Too bad that this country even tries to intimidate freedom of religion in the most populated Muslim nation. There are still a lot of problems that should be solved by the lawmakers rather than taking care of the prayer’s call volume.

Another blogger, Tototapalnise [id], tries to understand the Vice President’s message:

If we try to think about it carefully, the statement is a soft warning for Muslim people to maintain the adzan’s quality and also the mosques’ sound system quality…

…So why we have to be angry with that and losing our temper? As the majority religion in the country, why are we so angry when we receive criticism?

Haris El Salman [id] said that the loudspeaker’s volume has never been an issue in the real world:

We still have great tolerance among different religions. In where I live, there’s a mosque and a church only separated by a thin wall, but I never see a conflict between people. They get along together when practising their religions…

…It will only provoke non-essential arguments. His intention might be right, but not in the right place. Great idea in the wrong place?

There were also mixed reactions on Twitter [id]:

@fgaban: In case of the speaker’s volume, Boediono’s statement is a good self-criticism for Indonesian Muslims.

@anatriyana: Why it should be a problem? All this time adzan has never been disturbing.

@gitaputrid: I’m happy VP Boediono talked about speaker’s volume for adzan. At least someone bravely started a discussion against the majority opinion.

Previously published on globalvoices.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

 

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