القاهرة تستغني عن أربعين ألف مؤذن........

Quote: Al Ain set to have unified prayer call By Lana Mahdi 31 May 2005 AL AIN — In a bid to standardise the Azaan (prayer call), all the 783 mosques in Al Ain city will be linked electronically, and a single prayer call will be put out simultaneously from all the mosques under the national programme to unify the prayer call. The new system is designed to avoid prayer alerts at different times from mosques in the same area. According to a Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs source, the new system of prayer call will be extended to other areas in the UAE in stages. The regular call is broadcast by means of a wireless set network at the same time accurately. Unifying the call for prayers was applied in Abu Dhabi in October, 2004, for the first time from Khaleefa bin Zayed Mosque located in the central market of the capital as a pilot project, in the presence of Mohammed bin Nakhira Al Dhaheri, Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs and Auqaf. While Islamic Muftis in some parts of the Islamic world consider the unified prayer call as heresy, majority believe that it does not go against the laws of Islam and Shariah. Some Al Ain residents told Khaleej Times that the new system unifying the prayer calls was causing some confusion. "For Juma'a prayer, the Imam is accustomed to call for prayer from inside the mosque, but now we hear it being electronically broadcast," said Mohammed Ali, an expatriate. Another expat, Salih Abdu, said the unified prayer call went well with the quiet and peace associated with Al Ain. Several Arab countries implemented the unified prayer call successfully many years ago.