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Cairo Seeks to Tone Down Noisy Call to Prayer

Government says it's too 'chaotic'

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 2, 2010 2:44 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The morning call to prayer in Cairo is a powerful experience—as daylight creeps over the city, the voices of thousands of holy men (aided by microphones and loudspeakers) fill the air. The ritual fills some residents with holy peace—and strikes others as a terrible racket. Namely the Ministry of Religious Endowments, which overseas the city's mosques. It's decreed that the call (it's repeated five times a day) eventually be delivered by a single man broadcast over a network linking the city's 4,500 mosques, reports the Los Angeles Times.

"The call to prayer in Egypt has recently become a very chaotic process involving a war of microphones and sound disruptions that do not suit the spirituality of calling for the prayer," said one official. Cairo's larger mosques have the technology to support the plan, but others wonder how the city intends to hook up thousands of small, unofficial mosques known as zawiyas. It'll never work," one prayer caller tells the Times. "It's too expensive to coordinate such a plan."

A man reads verses of the Quran at a mosque while waiting for the call to sunset prayer in Cairo.
A man reads verses of the Quran at a mosque while waiting for the call to sunset prayer in Cairo.   (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Several mosques with high minarets, used to broadcast the call for the five daily prayers, are seen in Cairo.
Several mosques with high minarets, used to broadcast the call for the five daily prayers, are seen in Cairo.   (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
A mosque with a high minaret, used to broadcast the call for the five daily prayers, is seen in Cairo, Egypt.
A mosque with a high minaret, used to broadcast the call for the five daily prayers, is seen in Cairo, Egypt.   (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
hatchling1
Sep 2, 2010 3:54 PM CDT
When I was in Morocco earlier this year, the "call to prayer" was loud and annoying, especially early before dawn. But I figured it was part of their culture so I wore ear plugs. After I'd been there awhile, talked to many locals, I realized that most Moroccans, even those who described themselves as "good Muslims" ignored most of the calls to prayer because they were too disruptive in their lives. Seems that many Muslins can be just as big hypocrites as Christians.
Realist
Sep 2, 2010 3:25 PM CDT
Give them pagers instead - it's still a mysterious message from the ether :)
fuguestate
Sep 2, 2010 3:17 PM CDT
Probably because it would annoy the hell out of the neighbors. As an aside, I am going to Cairo in a few days and I'll let you know exactly how annoying it is..:)

 
Egypt • Cairo • prayer

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