The spokesperson for the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, has described as unreasonable, calls by the Environment, Science, Technology and Innovations Minister for Muslim leaders in the country to consider using text messages in inviting Muslims to prayers instead of megaphones.
Resorting to text messages, according to Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, would help reduce the noise pollution levels in Ghana.
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“In the house of worship, why is it that the noise will [not] be limited to the house of worship…and again maybe from the mosque, why is it that time for prayer would not be transmitted with a text message or WhatsApp so the Imam will send WhatsApp messages to everybody that the time for prayer is up so appear,” the minister pondered when he took his turn at the Meet the Press series in Accra on Tuesday.
Prof Boateng’s suggestion comes as the Rwandan government in a bold move in March issued a ban on loudspeakers from mosques in its capital, Kigali.
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Muslims in that country have largely complied with the ban despite criticising the move, a Rwandan local official from Nyarugenge, Havuguziga Charles, told the BBC.
A Ghanaian Islamic cleric Sheikh Bagaya has welcomed the suggestion by the renowned heart surgeon’s suggestion.
“It is possible for us to adapt to text messages to call Muslims to prayer,” he said.
But in a fiery reaction on Accra-based Starr FM Wednesday, the National Chief Imam’s spokesperson dismissed the suggestion as improbable.
“If you listen to the soundbite you’d notice that he [Minister] himself has indicated that the suggestion can start controversies. In other words, he knows the consequences of such a thing,” said Mr. Shaibu.
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“For us the impracticability is clear; The unreasonability is so clear”, asking the Chief Imam to have the list of all adherents of Islam and to send them a text message to call them to prayer [is not reasonable], he added.
“It is not practical as it would be a complete departure from the Islamic tenets”, he said.
The call to prayer, he explained, is “something divinely determined” beyond one’s wisdom from which “we do not intend to depart.”
Touching on the genesis of Islamic call to pray, Mr. Shaibu said it has a textual basis in the Quran.
Thus for him, the departure from the textual requirement of the Islamic religion and ritual will be a “violation of our religious rights.”
The call to prayer in Islam (azan) is very important. It’s one of our Islamic practices since the time of the prophet MOHAMMED (S. W. S). We can’t remove it or change it in some other way of calling. We are worn against innovation in the religion. We are not like the Christians who change our religious beliefs, practices and books. The Christian have succeed in editing their bible and now the bible has many contradictions. Don’t ask us to remove something in our religion when you don’t have any knowledge about our religion.
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MUSLIM LEADERS IN GHANA ARE CALLED UPON TO CONSIDER USING TEXT-MESSAGES TO INVITE MUSLIMS TO PRAYER INSTEAD OF THE USUAL MICROPHONES,IN OTHER TO REDUCE NOISE POLLUTION IN THE COUNTRY- By prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng,minister of Environment,Science,Technology and innovation.______________________
1.Frimpong Boateng, if you think Islam or some of its teachings can be abdicated as was done to the bible to suit your heart desire which you call as innovation,then you are dreaming. If you want innovation “Use your car at home as your office to reduce traffic on the road” a wise man said.
2. You are a minister for all in the country,did you call upon “fathers” at the catholic churches to tell their members to use whatsapp or text messages to invite people instead of the BELLS to reduce noise pollution in the country?
Did you tell pastors in the various churches to stop using microphones in their all-nights worship( which they do when people are asleep) to reduce noice polution in the country?
3. Azan is IBAADA or worship,and worship is constitutionally a right which no one has the warrant to tell muslims to use any method instead of Azaan unless what the religion says. In fact,if you say microphones should not be used in any activity nationwide,then that will comply with the natural justice.
4. Are you aware that hundreds of bible preachers use megaphones in Kumasi markets and in other markets in the nation to preach for hours ? Did you invite their leaders to tell them to stop doing that to reduce noise pollution in the country?
5. To the level you have reached now in education,i dont doubt that you have a great capacity of reasoning and thinking,but it appears to every reasonable person that you are being bias in this step you have taken.
6. If your environmental,scientific,technological and innovational ideas tell you that using text messaages instead of microphones to invite muslims to prayer will bring development then go back and revise your notes,because Roman has ever been the word super power,by then they used bells to invite people to worship and that did not affect them in any way. Moreover,the muslim khaliphate had the world power and led the world for centuries without stopping the normal Azan. It was that time they taught the europeans how to clean themselves by bathing,cleaning the tooth with chewing sticks and covering themselves.Are you aware of that? That was the time europeans sent their children to muslims to study,that was the time muslims took the world from darkness to the real light and enlightment. Its Islam that taught the world what pollution was all about. At this level you should know that pollution cannot be eradicated completely in human life,be it air or noice poluution.
7. I have a lot to tell you but Islam has taught us to value time,so i will go and do other important activities,but you should bear in mind that if your intention is to fight Islam with the position you occupy now then the God/Lord of Islam will deal with you as was done to the king of Egypt,in the history of Moses( peace be upon him)
Once again,i say unto you: if your target is to fight Islam and Muslims, then you will not reach anywhere.
Please if you are not prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boaten reading this message then kindly pass it on till it reaches him. May Allah bless you as you keep passing it on____________________
By: Abu Hajjaj Algani